Git Time Machine Plus ⏰

Professional Git history management for VS Code
Safely edit commit messages and timestamps before pushing

📖 What is Git Time Machine Plus?

Git Time Machine Plus is a production-ready VS Code extension that provides professional-grade tools for managing your Git commit history. It allows you to safely edit commit messages and timestamps for unpushed commits with an intuitive, dual-view interface inspired by GitLens.

Perfect for developers who want to maintain a clean, professional commit history before pushing to remote repositories.

🎯 Why Choose Git Time Machine Plus?

🛡️ Safety First: Enterprise-grade safety checks - only edits unpushed commits
🎨 Dual View Interface: Sidebar tree view + bottom panel (like GitLens)
🚀 Production Ready: Stable v1.0.0 release with SOLID architecture
🔍 Smart Detection: Automatically identifies unpushed commits
✨ Modern UI: Beautiful webview with VSCode Webview UI Toolkit
📦 Bulk Operations: Edit multiple commits efficiently
📅 Native Date Picker: Integrated datetime picker matching VSCode theme
💾 Automatic Backups: Safety net with automatic backup branches
↩️ One-Click Undo: Restore from backup instantly
🌓 Theme Aware: Seamlessly matches VSCode dark and light themes
⚡ Live Updates: Real-time synchronization across all views

🎬 Demo

Note: Screenshots and demo GIF coming soon! The extension is fully functional and production-ready.

Available Views

1. Sidebar Tree View - Quick access in Source Control panel
2. Bottom Panel View - Full-featured panel alongside Problems, Output, Terminal
3. Visual Date/Time Picker - Native datetime input with VSCode theme integration
4. Bulk Edit Summary - Review all changes before applying

✨ Features

🔍 Automatic Unpushed Commit Detection

Automatically detects commits that haven't been pushed to remote
Displays them in a dedicated tree view in the Source Control panel
Shows commit hash, author, message, and relative time
Works with branches that have remote tracking or standalone branches

✏️ Edit Commit Messages

Edit commit messages with a simple input box
Validation to prevent empty messages
Works for HEAD and older commits

📅 Edit Commit Timestamps

Visual date/time picker with calendar interface
Separate controls for Author Date and Commit Date
Sync button to match dates easily
Supports multiple date formats

📦 Bulk Edit Multiple Commits

Select multiple commits using multi-select QuickPick
Edit each commit's message and timestamp in sequence
Beautiful summary table before applying changes
Progress indicators during processing

🛡️ Safety Features

Remote Check: Automatically verifies commits aren't on remote
Backup Branch: Creates backup branch before any changes
Undo Command: Restore from backup with one command
Working Tree Check: Warns about uncommitted changes
Confirmation Dialogs: Always confirms before making changes

🎨 Beautiful UI

Modern Tailwind CSS styling
Smooth fade and slide animations
Responsive design
Dark and light theme support
Heroicons integration
Progress animations

📊 Tree View Integration

Integrated into VS Code's Source Control panel
Shows all unpushed commits at a glance
Inline edit buttons for quick access
Auto-refresh on git changes
Tooltips with full commit details

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

Open VS Code
Press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac) to open Extensions
Search for "Git Time Machine"
Click Install
Reload VS Code if prompted

From VSIX File

Download the .vsix file from releases
Open VS Code
Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
Type "Extensions: Install from VSIX"
Select the downloaded .vsix file

From Source

git clone https://github.com/DilZhaan/Git-Time-Machine-Plus.git
cd git-time-machine
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to launch Extension Development Host

🚀 Usage

Quick Start

Open a git repository in VS Code
Open Source Control panel (Ctrl+Shift+G / Cmd+Shift+G)
Find "Git Time Machine" section - your unpushed commits are listed
Choose your workflow below based on your needs

Best for: Quick edits, checking unpushed commits at a glance

Open the Source Control panel
Locate the "Git Time Machine" section
Click the ✏️ edit icon next to any commit
Choose what to edit (message, timestamp, or both)
Make your changes and confirm

Features:

✅ Always visible in Source Control
✅ One-click access to any commit
✅ Refresh button to rescan
✅ Tooltips with full commit details

Method 2: Bottom Panel View (Immersive Experience)

Best for: Detailed work, bulk operations, comparing commits

Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
Type: "Git Time Machine: Open Panel View"
The panel opens at the bottom (like Problems, Output, Terminal)
Browse, filter, and edit commits with full interface
Panel stays in sync with sidebar view

Features:

✅ More screen space for commit details
✅ Search and filter capabilities
✅ Side-by-side with other panels
✅ Full commit editing interface
✅ Live refresh on git changes

Tip: You can use both sidebar and bottom panel views simultaneously!

Method 3: Single Commit Edit (Full Flow)

Best for: Guided workflow for editing one commit

Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
Type: "Git Time Machine: Edit Commit (Full Flow)"
Select a commit from the list
Choose to edit message and/or timestamp
Use the integrated datetime picker if editing dates
Review the summary and confirm

Safety Steps:

✅ Automatic safety checks
✅ Backup branch creation
✅ Preview of all changes
✅ Final confirmation dialog

Method 4: Bulk Edit Multiple Commits

Best for: Cleaning up multiple commits before push

Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
Type: "Git Time Machine: Bulk Edit Multiple Commits"
Multi-select commits using space bar (⬚ → ☑)
For each selected commit:
- Choose whether to edit message
- Choose whether to edit timestamp
- Make your changes
Review the Summary Table with all changes
Confirm to apply all edits atomically

Progress Tracking:

📊 Shows "Editing commit X of Y"
⚙️ Progress bar during processing
✅ Success confirmation with undo option

Undo Changes (Safety Net)

If you need to revert your changes:

Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
Type: "Git Time Machine: Undo Changes"
Select the backup branch (auto-created during edit)
Confirm restoration

Note: Backup branches are named: <branch>-gittimemachine-<timestamp>

Refresh Commits

To rescan for unpushed commits:

Click the refresh icon (🔄) in the sidebar view, OR
Use Command Palette: "Git Time Machine: Refresh"

Auto-refresh: The extension automatically refreshes when:

Files change in the repository
Git operations complete
Branch switches occur

🎹 Commands

Command	Description	Keyboard Shortcut
`Git Time Machine: Show Unpushed Commits`	Display all unpushed commits in sidebar	-
`Git Time Machine: Open Panel View`	Open bottom panel view (NEW)	-
`Git Time Machine: Refresh Panel View`	Refresh bottom panel (NEW)	-
`Git Time Machine: Edit Commit`	Quick edit from tree view	-
`Git Time Machine: Edit Commit (Full Flow)`	Complete guided flow with date/time picker	-
`Git Time Machine: Bulk Edit Multiple Commits`	Edit multiple commits at once	-
`Git Time Machine: Undo Changes (Restore Backup)`	Restore from backup branch	-
`Git Time Machine: Refresh`	Reload the unpushed commits list	-

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

You can add custom keyboard shortcuts in VS Code:

Press Ctrl+K Ctrl+S (or Cmd+K Cmd+S on Mac)
Search for "Git Time Machine"
Click the + icon to add a keybinding

Suggested shortcuts:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+g t",
  "command": "git-time-machine.showUnpushedCommits",
  "when": "!inDebugMode"
},
{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+g p",
  "command": "git-time-machine.openPanelView",
  "when": "!inDebugMode"
},
{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+g e",
  "command": "git-time-machine.bulkEdit",
  "when": "!inDebugMode"
}

📋 Requirements

VS Code: 1.85.0 or higher
Git: Installed and available in PATH
Internet: Required for Tailwind CSS and flatpickr CDN (webview only)
Repository: A git repository with commits

🛡️ Safety & Security

What Git Time Machine Does

✅ Scans unpushed commits safely
✅ Creates automatic backups before any changes
✅ Validates that commits haven't been pushed
✅ Warns about uncommitted changes
✅ Confirms before making any modifications

What Git Time Machine CANNOT Do

❌ Edit pushed commits (blocked by safety checks)
❌ Delete commits (not supported)
❌ Modify commit content (only metadata)
❌ Force push (you control that)

How It Works

1. Scan → git log <remote>..HEAD
2. Safety Check → git branch -r --contains <commit>
3. Backup → git branch <branch>-gittimemachine-<timestamp>
4. Edit → git commit --amend (for HEAD) or rebase (for older)
5. Undo → git reset --hard <backup-branch>

Best Practices

✅ Always work on unpushed commits only
✅ Review the summary before confirming changes
✅ Keep backup branches until you're satisfied
✅ Commit or stash your working changes first
✅ Use meaningful commit messages

❓ FAQ

Q: Can I edit commits that have already been pushed?

A: No. Git Time Machine blocks this for safety. Editing pushed commits would rewrite shared history and cause issues for collaborators.

Q: What happens if I make a mistake?

A: Every edit creates a backup branch (e.g., main-gittimemachine-1699376400000). Use the Undo command to restore from any backup.

Q: Does this work with branches that don't have a remote?

A: Yes! If a branch has no remote, all commits are considered "unpushed" and can be edited.

Q: Can I edit multiple commits at once?

A: Yes! Use the Bulk Edit command to select and edit multiple commits in one flow.

Q: Will this affect my collaborators?

A: Only if you force push after editing. As long as you edit unpushed commits, there's no impact.

Q: What's the difference between Author Date and Commit Date?

Author Date: When the commit was originally created
Commit Date: When the commit was last modified (e.g., via amend)

In most cases, they're the same. In v1.0.0+, both dates are synced automatically.

Q: Does this require internet access?

A: No! Version 1.0.0+ works completely offline:

✅ All UI assets are bundled (VSCode Webview UI Toolkit)
✅ Remote branch checking uses local git data (your local copy of remote branches)
✅ The extension attempts git fetch but works fine if offline
⚠️ Note: For the most accurate "unpushed" detection, do a git fetch when online

How it works offline:

Git stores remote branch info locally after each fetch
The extension compares against this local copy: git log origin/main..HEAD
No network requests are made by the extension itself

Q: Can I use this in a CI/CD pipeline?

A: Git Time Machine is designed for interactive use in VS Code. For automation, use git commands directly.

Q: How do I delete a backup branch?

A: Use git commands: git branch -D <backup-branch-name> or the VS Code source control UI.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Reporting Bugs

Check if the issue already exists in Issues
Create a new issue with:
- Clear description
- Steps to reproduce
- Expected vs actual behavior
- VS Code version, Git version, OS
- Screenshots if applicable

Suggesting Features

Open an issue with the enhancement label
Describe the feature and use case
Explain why it would be valuable

Submitting Pull Requests

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
Make your changes
Write or update tests if applicable
Follow the existing code style
Commit with clear messages: git commit -m "Add amazing feature"
Push to your fork: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
Open a Pull Request with:
- Clear description of changes
- Reference to related issues
- Screenshots/GIFs if UI changes

Development Setup

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/DilZhaan/Git-Time-Machine-Plus.git
cd git-time-machine

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Watch mode (auto-compile on changes)
npm run watch

# Launch Extension Development Host
# Press F5 in VS Code

# Run tests
npm test

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Package extension
npm run package

Code Style

Use TypeScript with strict mode
Follow ESLint rules
Add JSDoc comments for public methods
Use meaningful variable names
Keep functions focused and small

📝 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a detailed history of changes.

[0.0.1] - 2025-11-07

Added

Initial release
Unpushed commit detection
Single commit editing (message and timestamp)
Bulk edit multiple commits
Visual date/time picker with flatpickr
Backup branch creation
Undo functionality
Tree view integration in Source Control panel
Beautiful webview UI with Tailwind CSS
Smooth animations and transitions
Dark and light theme support
Safety checks for remote commits
Progress indicators
Summary table for bulk edits

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with VS Code Extension API
UI powered by Tailwind CSS
Date picker by flatpickr
Icons from Heroicons
Inspired by the need for safer git history management

📞 Support

Issues: GitHub Issues
Discussions: GitHub Discussions
Email: dilzhanyapa@gmail.com

🌟 Star the Project

If you find Git Time Machine useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub! It helps others discover the project.

Made with ❤️ by DilZhan YaPa

_{⏰ Time travel through your git history, safely.}

Git Time Machine Plus

DilZhan Yapa