Git Change Trail

한국어

Introduction

Git Change Trail is a VS Code extension that shows the commit history of the file you are currently editing. Click a commit to see which files changed, open any file at that revision, and compare revisions side by side — all from the sidebar without leaving your editor.

Features

• Automatic tracking — the Commit History panel updates as you switch editor tabs.
• Commit history list — commits are listed newest-first with sequential numbering (#1, #2, …).
• Changed files tree — click a commit to see the files it changed in a directory tree.
• Revision file view — click a file in the tree to open its content at that exact commit, read-only.
• Diff between commits — use the inline buttons on each file to compare it with the previous or next commit.
• Full file history — jump to the complete history of any file directly from the changed-files tree.
• Date filter — narrow the history to a date range using presets or manual input.
• Author filter — show only commits from selected authors.
• Pin — lock the panel to the current file so it does not update when you switch tabs.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90.0 or later
• Git CLI installed and available on PATH

This extension works when a Git repository is open in the VS Code workspace.

Usage

Viewing commit history

Open any file tracked by Git. The Commit History panel on the sidebar updates automatically to show that file's history.

To load history for a file that is not yet open, right-click it in the Explorer and choose Show Commit History.

Exploring a commit

Click any commit in the Commit History panel. The Commit Files panel shows the files that were changed in that commit as a directory tree.

Click a file in the tree to open its content at that revision. The tab title includes the short commit hash so you can tell it apart from the live file.

Comparing revisions

Each file item in the Commit Files panel has two inline action buttons:

While a diff is open, the Commit Files panel title shows the two commits being compared, for example comparing: [#2](https://github.com/ethan-heo/git-change-trail-extension/issues/2) ↔ [#3](https://github.com/ethan-heo/git-change-trail-extension/issues/3).

Viewing the full history of a file

In the Commit Files panel, click the Show Full File History button on a file item. The Commit History panel reloads with the complete history of that file, clearing any active filters.

Filtering

The Commit History panel title bar provides three buttons:

When filters are active, the panel title shows the applied range or author count.

Keyboard shortcut

There is no default keybinding. You can assign one to the Show Commit History command in VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts.

Development Setup

pnpm install
pnpm run compile

Open this repository in VS Code and run the Run Extension debug configuration to launch the Extension Development Host.

Useful commands:

pnpm run compile      # one-off TypeScript build
pnpm run watch        # incremental build on save
pnpm run lint         # ESLint
pnpm run check        # lint + compile
pnpm run package:vsix # build .vsix installer

Contributing

Issues, bug reports, feature suggestions, and documentation improvements are welcome.

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a branch for your changes.
3. Run pnpm run check and make sure it passes.
4. Open a pull request describing the intent of the change and how you verified it.

When reporting a bug, include your VS Code version, operating system, reproduction steps, expected behavior, and actual behavior.

License

This project is free to use, but redistribution of the same or substantially similar software is not permitted. See LICENSE for details.