The standard git log
command is functional, providing the necessary information, but it can come across as somewhat dull and verbose. What if there was a way to make the git log not just informative, but also visually appealing? Something like this:
Yes, it's entirely possible! And the good news is that we can achieve this by simply using a bunch of flags and subcommands. There's no need to install or download anything.
Here's the command:
git log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --branches
But typing this command every time could be tiresome. A solution to this is using Git aliases, which allow you to create shortcuts for lengthy commands. If you're unfamiliar with Git aliases, I recommend reading my recent article that dives into the topic:
![pradumnasaraf](https://media.dev.to/cdn-cgi/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F682769%2F87fdd296-6176-41b1-86a4-740375c3e6d2.jpg)
Mastering Git Shortcuts: A Guide to Git Aliases
Pradumna Saraf γ» Jul 28 '23
Now, let's set up an alias for our beautiful git log
command:
git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --branches"
Now you can invoke the beautified git log
using a simpler git lg
.
Top comments (10)
I love this. A terse variant is:
git log --oneline --graph -n11
My fancy variants I've been using for years:
Thank you for sharing!
When I need to take a look or have a quick overview of the commits, my git log is :
Amazing Blog
Superb, thank you very much!
Amazing Article.
Love it!
Nice tip! I'll definitely start using it!
Amazing blog, definitely recommended for Git beginners, especially those who're trying to get their hands on advanced version control commands.
Useful π―π―
Thanks, that's really helpful