git-follow follows lifetime changes of a pathspec in Git, providing a simplified log and patch diff.

• Installation
  • Homebrew
  • Manual
• Configuration
• Options
• Notes
• Examples
• See Also

You can install git-follow via Homebrew or manually.

brew tap nickolasburr/pfa brew install git-follow 

git clone https://github.com/nickolasburr/git-follow.git cd git-follow make make install 

By default, files are installed to /usr/local. You can install to an alternate location by passing PREFIX to make install.

For example, make install PREFIX=$HOME/.usr/local.

Configuration values set via git-config(1) can be used to customize the behavior of git-follow.

• follow.diff.mode: Diff mode. Choices are inline (default), sxs, and colorsxs. See --word-diff of git-log(1).
• follow.log.format: Log format. See --format of git-log(1) for syntax.
• follow.pager.disable: Disable pager. Defaults to false. Set to true to disable pager. See --no-pager of git(1).

Options can be specified to provide more refined information. If no options are given, all applicable commits will be shown.

• -b, --branch <branch>: Show commits for <branch>.
• -f, --first: Show first commit where Git initiated tracking of pathspec.
• -F, --func <funcname>: Show commits for function <funcname> in pathspec. See -L of git-log(1).
• -l, --last [<count>]: Show last <count> commits for pathspec. Omit <count> defaults to last commit.
• -L, --lines <start>[,<end>]: Show commits for lines <start> to <end>. Omit <end> defaults to EOF.
• -M, --no-merges: Show commits which have a maximum of one parent. See --no-merges of git-log(1).
• -N, --no-patch: Suppress diff output. See --no-patch of git-log(1).
• -O, --no-renames: Disable rename detection. See --no-renames of git-log(1).
• -p, --pager: Force pager when invoking git-log(1). Overrides follow.pager.disable config value.
• -P, --pickaxe <string>: Show commits which change the # of occurrences of <string>. See -S of git-log(1).
• -r, --range <start>[,<end>]: Show commits in range <start> to <end>. Omit <end> defaults to HEAD.
• -R, --reverse: Show commits in reverse chronological order. See --walk-reflogs of git-log(1).
• -t, --tag <tag>: Show commits specific to a tag.
• -T, --total: Show total number of commits for pathspec.
• -h, --help, --usage: Show usage information.
• -V, --version: Show current version number.

Like standard Git builtins, git-follow supports an optional pathspec delimiter -- to help disambiguate options, option arguments, and refs from pathspecs.

Display commits on branch topic which affected blame.c

git follow --branch topic -- blame.c 

Display first commit where Git initiated tracking of branch.c

git follow --first -- branch.c 

Display last 5 commits which affected column.c

git follow --last 5 -- column.c 

Display last commit where lines 5 through EOF were affected in diff.c

git follow --last --lines 5 -- diff.c 

Display last 3 commits where lines 10 through 15 were affected in bisect.c

git follow --last 3 --lines 10,15 -- bisect.c 

Display commits where function funcname was affected in archive.c

git follow --func funcname -- archive.c 

Display commits in range from aa03428 to b354ef9 which affected worktree.c

git follow --range aa03428,b354ef9 -- worktree.c 

Display commits in range from tag v1.5.3 to tag v1.5.4 which affected apply.c

git follow --range v1.5.3,v1.5.4 -- apply.c 

Display commits up to tag v1.5.3 which affected graph.c

git follow --tag v1.5.3 -- graph.c 

Display total number of commits which affected rebase.c

git follow --total -- rebase.c 

git(1), git-branch(1), git-check-ref-format(1), git-config(1), git-diff(1), git-log(1), git-remote(1), gitrevisions(1), git-tag(1)