explaingit

pomber/git-history

★ 13,686JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

Git History shows you an animated replay of how any file has changed over time in a Git repository, accessible by tweaking a GitHub URL or installing a browser or VS Code extension.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((git-history))
    What it does
      Animated file history
      Step through commits
      Visual diff replay
    Access methods
      URL domain trick
      Browser extension
      VS Code extension
    Tech Stack
      JavaScript
      Git
    Audience
      Developers
      Code reviewers
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Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Watch an animated step-by-step replay of how a source file evolved across its entire commit history on GitHub

USE CASE 2

Understand why a piece of code looks the way it does by stepping through every edit that shaped it over time

USE CASE 3

Review a teammate's changes to a file across many commits without reading raw git log output

Tech stack

JavaScript

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Free to use, copy, modify, and share for any purpose including commercial use under the MIT license.

In plain English

Git History is a tool for watching how a file has changed over time in a Git repository. Instead of scrolling through raw commit logs, it shows you an animated replay of the file at each point in its history, so you can see edits appear and disappear as you step through time. The quickest way to use it requires no installation. If you are looking at a file on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, you just change the domain in your browser's address bar. For example, replace github.com with github.githistory.xyz and the site loads an animated view of that file's history. Browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox add an "Open in Git History" button directly to those hosting sites so you do not have to retype the URL manually. For files that live on your own computer rather than a public hosting platform, the project offers two options. There is a command-line tool you can run locally against any Git repository on your machine, and there is a VS Code extension that adds the same view inside the code editor. The project is licensed under MIT, meaning it is free to use, modify, and redistribute. It is built on top of a few other open-source tools for syntax highlighting and showing differences between versions of text. The author accepts financial support through Patreon and Open Collective for ongoing maintenance.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I use the git-history URL trick to view an animated history of a file on GitHub without installing anything?
Prompt 2
Install git-history locally and show me the command to view the full change history of a specific file in my own Git repository
Prompt 3
Help me set up the VS Code extension for git-history so I can browse file history directly inside my editor without leaving the IDE
Prompt 4
Show me how to use the Chrome extension for git-history so I get a one-click button on GitHub to open any file's animated history
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