git_log_and_history

git log & history

View and navigate commit history.

📜 Basic Log

Full Log

git log

Shows complete commit history with full details.

Compact One-line Format

git log --oneline

Shows each commit on one line: short hash + message.

Last N Commits

git log -5

Shows only the last 5 commits.

Log with Diff

git log -p

Shows commit history with full diff for each commit.

Log with Statistics

git log --stat

Shows files changed, insertions, and deletions for each commit.

🎨 Formatting

Graph View

git log --graph

Shows ASCII graph of branch and merge history.

Graph with All Branches

git log --graph --all --oneline --decorate

Visual graph of all branches with decorations.

Custom Format

git log --pretty=format:"%h - %an, %ar : %s"

Custom format: short hash - author, relative date : subject.

Format with Colors

git log --pretty=format:"%C(yellow)%h%Creset %C(blue)%an%Creset %s"

Colored output: yellow hash, blue author name.

📊 Graph Visualization

graph TB
    A[HEAD] --> B[commit 3]
    B --> C[commit 2]
    C --> D[commit 1]
    E[feature] --> F[commit 4]
    F --> B

🔍 Filtering

Filter by Author

git log --author="John"

Shows only commits by authors matching "John".

Filter by Date Range

git log --since="2024-01-01" --until="2024-12-31"

Shows commits between two dates.

Filter by Relative Date

git log --since="2 weeks ago"

Shows commits from the last 2 weeks.

Filter by Message

git log --grep="fix"

Shows commits with "fix" in the message.

Filter by File

git log -- path/to/file.txt

Shows only commits that touched this file.

Follow File Renames

git log --follow -- path/to/file.txt

Tracks file through renames.

Filter by Code Change

git log -S "function_name"

Shows commits that added or removed "function_name" (pickaxe search).

📋 Other History Commands

Show Specific Commit

git show abc1234

Shows details and diff of a specific commit.

Show File at Commit

git show abc1234:path/to/file.txt

Shows file contents at that specific commit.

Who Changed Each Line

git blame filename.txt

Shows who last modified each line of a file.

Blame Specific Lines

git blame -L 10,20 filename.txt

Shows blame for lines 10-20 only.

Commits by Author Summary

git shortlog -sn

Shows commit count by each author, sorted.

Reference Log

git reflog

Shows history of HEAD movements (even deleted commits).

🎯 Format Placeholders

💡 Tips

git config --global alias.lg "log --oneline --graph --all"

git log --all --full-history -- "**/filename.txt"

🔗 Related

• Previous: git status & diff
• Next: git push & pull
• Detailed History

#git #log #history #basics