Git History for VS Code

A powerful VS Code extension that provides git history visualization inspired by IntelliJ's Git History. View file history, selection history, and explore diffs with an intuitive split layout: the commit list and changed-files detail live in the Git History bottom-panel tab (beside Terminal), and selecting a commit opens its diff in a reusable editor-area tab (with Unified/Side-by-Side, word wrap, ignore-whitespace, and context-line controls).

Commits signed with GPG show GPG signature verification badges (✓ verified / ✗ unverified) inline next to the commit message; they are always displayed when git provides signature data.

File History

Selection History

Documentation

Topic	Where
Features (catalog + dev impl map + backlog)	FEATURES.md
Technical architecture (layout, protocols, build)	ARCHITECTURE.md
Usage, context menus & keyboard shortcuts	USAGE.md
Settings & persisted preferences	CONFIGURATION.md
Version history	CHANGELOG.md

Installation

Press F1 (or Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) to open the Command Palette
Type "Extensions: Install Extensions"
Search for "Git History"
Click Install

Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or higher
Git installed and available in your PATH
A git repository

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`gitHistory.hideMergeCommits`	`false`	Hide merge commits from the commit list (No Merge button)
`gitHistory.defaultDiffView`	`unified`	Default diff view: `unified` or `side-by-side`
`gitHistory.diffContextLines`	`3`	Number of context lines shown around changes in diffs
`gitHistory.maxCommits`	`500`	Number of commits loaded per page (initial load and each "Load more")
`gitHistory.blame.dateFormat`	`short`	Date format shown after the author in blame annotations: `relative`, `short`, or `iso`
`gitHistory.blame.annotationOffset`	`160`	Character column where trailing blame annotations start; lines longer than the column hide the annotation so it never covers the code
`gitHistory.commitList.dateFormat`	`relative`	Date format for the commit list: `relative`, `short`, or `iso`
`gitHistory.sprintLengthWeeks`	`2`	Number of weeks used by the sprint date-filter button

Keyboard Shortcuts

Global (work from any text editor)

Keybinding	Action
`Ctrl+Alt+H` / `Cmd+Alt+H`	Git History (File)
`Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H` / `Cmd+Alt+Shift+H`	Git History for Selection
`Ctrl+Shift+B` / `Cmd+Shift+B`	Toggle Blame Annotations

Keybinding	Action
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate up/down through commits
`Home` / `End`	Jump to first / last commit
`PageDown` / `PageUp`	Jump down / up one page (10 commits)
`Enter`	Select focused commit and show its diff
`Shift+Enter`	Select range from anchor to focused commit
`Ctrl+Enter` / `Cmd+Enter`	Add/remove from multi-selection
`Ctrl+A` / `Cmd+A`	Select all visible commits
`Ctrl+L` / `Cmd+L`	Focus commit list
`/` or `Ctrl+F` / `Cmd+F`	Focus search input
`Ctrl+G` / `Cmd+G`	Jump to commit by hash
`Ctrl+P` / `Cmd+P`	Jump to Parent commit
`Ctrl+Alt+P` / `Cmd+Alt+P`	Quick compare with parent commit
`Ctrl+]` / `Cmd+]`	Tag Navigation — jump to next tagged commit
`Ctrl+[` / `Cmd+[`	Tag Navigation — jump to previous tagged commit
`?`	Show Keyboard Help dialog
`Escape`	Clear selection and close dialogs

Keybinding	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+X` / `Cmd+Shift+X`	Toggle regex search mode
`Ctrl+Shift+M` / `Cmd+Shift+M`	Toggle "Show my commits only" filter
`Ctrl+Shift+Q` / `Cmd+Shift+Q`	Toggle hide merge commits
`Ctrl+Alt+Q` / `Cmd+Alt+Q`	Clear all filters

View Options

Keybinding	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+W` / `Cmd+Shift+W`	Toggle word wrap (while the diff tab is focused)
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J` / `Cmd+Shift+Alt+J`	Toggle ignore whitespace (while the diff tab is focused)
`Ctrl+Shift+/` / `Cmd+Shift+/`	Cycle diff context lines (while the diff tab is focused)
`Ctrl+Shift+3` / `Cmd+Shift+3`	Cycle sort mode (Newest/Oldest/Author A-Z/Author Z-A)

Copy Commands

Keybinding	Action
`Ctrl+Shift+H` / `Cmd+Shift+H`	Copy commit hash
`Ctrl+Shift+7` / `Cmd+Shift+7`	Copy short hash
`Ctrl+Shift+I` / `Cmd+Shift+I`	Copy commit info
`Ctrl+Shift+6` / `Cmd+Shift+6`	📌 Copy subject
`Ctrl+Alt+D` / `Cmd+Alt+D`	Copy short date (YYYY-MM-DD)
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+3` / `Cmd+Shift+Alt+3`	Copy trailers (Signed-off-by etc.)
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+R` / `Cmd+Shift+Alt+R`	Copy range diff (between two selected commits)
`Ctrl+Shift+N` / `Cmd+Shift+N`	Copy author name
`Ctrl+Shift+A` / `Cmd+Shift+A`	Copy author email
`Ctrl+Shift+L` / `Cmd+Shift+L`	Copy commit URL
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+L` / `Cmd+Shift+Alt+L`	Open commit URL in browser
`Ctrl+Shift+P` / `Cmd+Shift+P`	Copy cherry-pick command
`Ctrl+Shift+U` / `Cmd+Shift+U`	Copy revert command

Actions

Keybinding	Action
`F5`	Refresh history
`Ctrl+Shift+R` / `Cmd+Shift+R`	Refresh history (alternative)
`Ctrl+Alt+K` / `Cmd+Alt+K`	Cherry-pick commit
`Ctrl+Alt+R` / `Cmd+Alt+R`	Revert commit
`Ctrl+Alt+X` / `Cmd+Alt+X`	Delete local branch
`Ctrl+Alt+S` / `Cmd+Alt+S`	Switch (checkout) branch — searchable picker of local/remote branches; also right-click the branch badge
`Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B` / `Cmd+Shift+Alt+B`	Create branch
`Ctrl+Alt+I` / `Cmd+Alt+I`	Create tag
`Ctrl+Alt+.` / `Cmd+Alt+.`	Delete tag
Command Palette	"Git History: Rename Branch" — rename a local branch (`git branch -m`)

Context Menus

Right-click on commits in the commit list or files in the changed files list to access additional options.

Commit Row Context Menu:

Action	Description
Copy commit hash	Copy the full commit hash to clipboard
Copy commit info	Copy full commit information (hash, author, date, message)
Copy cherry-pick command	Copy a pre-formatted `git cherry-pick <hash>` command
Copy revert command	Copy a pre-formatted `git revert <hash>` command
Copy commit URL	Copy the web URL (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/Azure DevOps) for the commit
Open commit URL in browser	Open the commit page on the git hosting platform in the default browser
Copy author email	Copy the author email address
Copy author name	Copy the author name
Copy short hash	Copy the 7-character short hash
Copy subject	Copy only the commit subject (first line)
Copy short date	Copy the commit date as `YYYY-MM-DD`
Copy trailers	Copy the commit message trailer block (`Signed-off-by:` etc.)
Create branch from commit	Create a new branch at the selected commit
Create tag from commit	Create a git tag at the selected commit
Delete tag from commit	Delete a git tag from the selected commit
Cherry-pick commit	Cherry-pick this commit onto the current branch
Revert commit	Revert this commit
Reset to this commit	Reset the current branch to this commit (soft/mixed/hard)

Changed Files Context Menu:

Action	Description
Open file at this commit	View the file content as it was at the selected commit
View diff for this file	Show the diff for this specific file only
Compare with working tree	Diff the file between this commit and your current working tree
Blame file	Open the file with blame annotations turned on
Open file URL at this commit	Open the file's permalink on your git hosting platform at this commit (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/Azure DevOps)
Copy file URL at this commit	Copy the file's permalink (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket/Azure DevOps) to the clipboard
Restore file from this commit	Restore the file version from this commit into the working tree (`git checkout <hash> -- <file>`)
Copy path	Copy the absolute file path
Copy relative path	Copy the file path relative to the repo root
Reveal in File Explorer	Open the file in the system file explorer

License

MIT

Issues

Report issues at: https://github.com/vitalivu992/vscode-git-history/issues

Git history for selection

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