VV Git — Fast Git History for VS Code

A small, focused VS Code extension for Git blame, commit history, diffs, branch comparison, merge, and squash-to-patch workflows. VV Git uses the local git executable and native VS Code quick picks/editors instead of a large webview or a full repository graph.

Current release: 0.3.11

Repository: git@github.com:victorchentw/vvgit.git

Installation

Install from the VS Code Marketplace when published, or install a packaged .vsix file:

code --install-extension vvgit-0.3.11.vsix

Open a Git workspace. Inline blame is enabled by default and appears only on the active cursor line.

Features

Inline cursor blame — Shows only the active line's author, relative time, and commit subject. Hover the line for a floating GitLens-style card with the full date, commit message, file statistics, hash, and quick Git actions.
GitLens-style file blame — VV Git: Toggle File Blame adds a line-aligned annotation column directly before the source code in the same editor. It shows author, relative time, subject, and short hash at each contiguous commit block, so it scrolls and aligns natively without a terminal transcript or a duplicate source editor.
Native Git views — Blame and diff views use VS Code decorations, hovers, quick picks, and editors rather than a large webview.
Commit messages — Search recent commits or choose a reference and display the full message, author, date, and changed-file summary quickly.
Commit inspection actions — Focus a search result to preview its message, then choose the full patch, a patch for one file named <filename>_diff, separate patches for all files, the changed-file list, squash history through that commit into a branch, or copy the commit hash.
File and repository diff — Compare the current file with HEAD, or open the complete working-tree diff, including untracked files.
Commit comparison — Quickly compare two commits, branches, tags, or other Git references in a read-only diff editor.
Commit-message search — Search all reachable history by ticket number, keyword, or phrase as you type (starts at four characters and re-runs at three or more after activation); focusing a result previews its full commit message before you accept it.
Branch browsing — Pick a local/remote branch and browse its recent log.
Merge branch to branch — Select a source (local or remote-tracking) and local target branch; VV Git checks out the target and creates a confirmed --no-ff merge commit.
Squash branch to branch + patch — Select source BIA-222 and local target dev; VV Git checks out dev, performs a squash merge, creates a commit titled BIA-222_TO_dev.patch, and writes git format-patch -1 HEAD --stdout for that squash commit to BIA-222_TO_dev.patch by default. This preserves the complete squash diff instead of only the source branch's tip commit. For a remote-tracking source such as origin/feature/BIA-222, the remote name is omitted from the filename (feature-BIA-222_TO_dev.patch).
Lightweight by design — No GitHub account, background service, repository database, graph renderer, or bundled Git implementation. Commands run only when needed.

Squash example

Run VV Git: Squash Branch to Branch + Create Patch.
Select BIA-222 as the source and dev as the target.
Choose the patch path (default: patches/BIA-222_TO_dev.patch). The squash commit message is set to BIA-222_TO_dev.patch.
Confirm the operation.

Tracked changes must be committed or stashed before the operation. Existing untracked files are reported in the VV Git output and are left for Git to protect; checkout or merge stops if one would be overwritten. If the squash encounters a merge conflict, VV Git stops on the checked-out target branch and prompts you to resolve and commit the result (or reset it manually). Other failures reset the attempted merge and restore the original branch. After a successful operation, the target branch remains checked out and the patch contains the complete diff of the newly created squash commit.

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) and search for VV Git:

Command	Purpose
`Toggle Inline Blame`	Turn the active-line author/time/subject decoration on or off.
`Toggle File Blame`	Toggle the GitLens-style left annotation column for the current file.
`Show Commit Message`	Pick a commit/reference and show its message and stat.
`Show File Diff`	Compare the active file with `HEAD`.
`Show Repository Diff`	Show tracked and untracked working-tree changes.
`Search Commit Messages`	Find commits by message text, preview the focused result, and inspect separate patches or changed files after pressing Enter.
`Browse Branch Log`	Browse commits on a selected branch.
`Compare Commits or References`	Compare two commits, branches, tags, or refs.
`Compare Branches`	Compare two branches directly.
`Merge Branch to Branch`	Merge a local or remote-tracking source into a local target with a merge commit.
`Squash Branch to Branch + Create Patch`	Squash a source branch into a local target, commit it as `SOURCE_TO_TARGET.patch`, and create the same-named patch file.
`Squash Commit to Branch`	Squash the selected commit and all earlier commits not already in a local target branch.
`Browse Branches`	Pick a branch and open its recent log.

The file actions are available from the editor title bar, editor context menu, and Explorer context menu. History search, commit/reference comparison, branch browsing, repository diff, merge, and squash-to-patch are also available as compact Git buttons in the editor title bar.

Requirements

VS Code 1.85 or newer
Git available on PATH

If Git is installed outside PATH, set vvgit.gitPath to its command name or absolute path.

Extension Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`vvgit.gitPath`	String	`"git"`	Git executable name or absolute path.
`vvgit.inlineBlame`	Boolean	`true`	Show author, relative time, and subject only after the active cursor line.
`vvgit.blame.dateFormat`	String	`"relative"`	`relative`, `short`, or `iso`.
`vvgit.blame.maxLineCount`	Number	`10000`	Skip inline blame for files larger than this limit.
`vvgit.blame.inlineSummaryMaxLength`	Number	`72`	Maximum subject length shown beside the cursor line.
`vvgit.blame.fileBlameSummaryMaxLength`	Number	`60`	Maximum subject length shown in the left file-blame annotation column.
`vvgit.log.maxCommits`	Number	`250`	Maximum commits loaded into history quick picks.
`vvgit.patchDirectory`	String	`"patches"`	Default squash patch directory, relative to the repository root.

Development

npm install
npm run check
npm run build

To package a release:

npx @vscode/vsce package

The extension has no runtime dependencies beyond VS Code and the local Git executable.

License

MIT License

VV Git

VictorChen