The CLI interface is very good at enforcing you to be aware of the underlying model (local state and the repo’s history). This allows for the user to draw an accurate user-model in his understanding of the system.

I have been using Git for around 15 years, without a fuss. Maybe because I was lucky enough to have found a good tutorial.

Instead of hiding the abstractions behind a “friendlier” CLI, Git shows you its real power and that of VCSs in general, by having a lower-level API.

Not even the multiple GUIs built on top of Git, adventure themselves into hiding or dumbing down the abstractions that allow you to do quite complex things with the code and its history.