Git log quickly and easily

These are some git log commands I use everyday and I think they are helpful for you.

1 Log all

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    git log

2 Filter the commits

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    # Get last n commits
    git log -n 5

    ## Filter by dates
    # show commits from the past two weeks
    git log --since="2 weeks ago"
    # or by using --after
    git log --after="2 weeks ago"

    # show commits until January 1, 2024
    git log --until="2024-01-01"
    # or by using --before
    git log --before="2024-01-01"

    # get commits from a specific author
    git log --author="Author Name"

    # show commits with "fix" in the message
    git log --grep="fix"

3 Formatting output

You can also format the log messages by using the --pretty option.

3.1 Predefing format

• oneline: Displays each commit on a single line.
• short: Includes commit hash, author, date, and subject.
• medium: Adds commit message and file changes.
• full: Includes full commit information.
• format: Allows custom formatting using placeholders (e.g., %H for commit hash, %an for author name, %s for subject).

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    # show concise logs
    git log --pretty=oneline
    # custom format
    git log --pretty=format:"%h - %s"
    git log --pretty=format:"Commit: %H\nAuthor: %an\nDate: %ad\nSubject: %s\n\n%b"

3.2 Specifiers

• %H Commit hash
• %h Abbreviated commit hash
• %T Tree hash
• %t Abbreviated tree hash
• %P Parent hashes
• %p Abbreviated parent hashes
• %an Author name
• %ae Author email
• %ad Author date (format respects the –date=option)
• %ar Author date, relative
• %cn Committer name
• %ce Committer email
• %cd Committer date
• %cr Committer date, relative
• %s Subject

4 Other options

• --graph: Display a commit graph.
• --reverse: Show commits in chronological order (oldest first).
• --no-merges: Exclude merge commits.
• --oneline: Show commit in one-line
  
  And the last thing: You can combine multiple options