Change Heatmap – See Code Change Hotspots, Instantly
Change Heatmap visualizes Git change activity directly in your editor using a subtle, per-line background heatmap. Quickly spot churn-heavy areas, understand file history at a glance, and focus your attention where it matters most. For the selected line, an optional inline note shows how many changes were recorded.
What You Get
Heatmap coloring per line based on Git history.
Optional inline text on the current line: “(N changes)”.
Three scaling modes for intensity: logarithmic (default), exponential, linear.
One-tap toggles to enable/disable color or inline text.
How It Works
The extension analyzes your repository’s history for the open file and computes change counts per line.
It then maps those counts to color bins to render a subtle, whole-line background.
For the active cursor line, it can show an inline “(N changes)” annotation at the end of the line.
Quick Start
Open a Git repository folder in VS Code.
Open any tracked file. Change Heatmap activates automatically.
Use the commands palette to control visibility:
Change Heatmap: Toggle
Change Heatmap: Toggle Color
Change Heatmap: Toggle Text
Settings
changeHeatmap.enableColor: Enable/disable the background heatmap.
changeHeatmap.enableText: Enable/disable the “(N changes)” inline annotation.
changeHeatmap.scale: Map change counts to color intensity.
logarithmic (default): Best overall contrast; prevents saturation on hotspots.
exponential: Emphasizes high-change hotspots; tune via exponentialGamma.
linear: Uniform mapping across the range.
changeHeatmap.exponentialGamma: Exponent used by exponential scale (default: 2, range: 1–6).
Requirements & Limitations
Requires an open folder that is a valid Git repository.
Works with files tracked by Git; untracked files won’t show history.
VS Code decorations are whole-line; backgrounds are intentionally subtle to avoid distraction.
Privacy
All analysis runs locally using your Git history; no data leaves your machine.
Troubleshooting
No colors? Make sure the workspace is a Git repo and the file is tracked.
Still nothing? Try saving the file or switching focus back to the editor.
Check Output/Console for “Change Heatmap extension is now active.” when it starts.
Developer Notes
These are useful if you want to build or modify the extension locally.
