Git File History Viewer

Git File History Viewer is a VS Code extension for inspecting the history of a single file without leaving the editor.

It adds a Show Git History action to file context menus, reads that file's commit history with git log, and opens a diff for the selected commit against its parent.

Why This Exists

VS Code already has solid Git support, but checking the history of one specific file often takes more steps than it should.

This extension is built for the simple workflow:

1. right-click a file
2. open its commit history
3. inspect commit details
4. open the file diff for the chosen revision

The goal is to make file-level Git history feel immediate, focused, and lightweight.

Features

• adds Show Git History to Explorer file context menus
• adds Show Git History to editor context menus
• adds Show Git History to editor tab/title context menus
• loads commit history for the selected file with Git
• shows commits in a searchable picker
• supports a two-step picker flow with a commit list and a commit details view
• opens diffs in a pinned tab instead of replacing the current preview tab
• includes picker display settings for date, time, and extra details

How It Works

When you run Show Git History, the extension:

1. resolves the selected file
2. finds the repository root with git rev-parse --show-toplevel
3. loads commit history for that file with git log -- <file>
4. lets you inspect commits in a Quick Pick
5. opens a diff between commit^ and commit

That means the diff shows exactly what changed in that file in the selected commit. If the file was introduced in that commit, the left side opens as an empty document instead of a Git error message.

Usage

1. Open a Git repository in VS Code.
2. Right-click a tracked file in the Explorer, editor, or tab.
3. Select Show Git History.
4. In the first picker, press Enter on a commit to open the diff immediately.
5. In the first picker, click the arrow button to inspect commit details first.
6. In the details view, review author, date, hash, and message.
7. Choose Open Diff to open the file diff for that commit.
8. Use Back to return to the commit list.

Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• fileGitHistory.showDate
  • show the commit date in the history picker
• fileGitHistory.showTime
  • show the commit time in the history picker
• fileGitHistory.showDetailsInPicker
  • show author, full hash, and a short summary in the commit list

Local Development

Run In Extension Host

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

2. Build the extension:

npm run build

3. Press F5 in VS Code.
4. In the Extension Development Host window, open any Git repository and test the command on a tracked file.

Watch Mode

npm run watch

Then reload the Extension Development Host window after changes.

Testing

Run unit tests:

npm test

Build the extension:

npm run build

Packaging

Build a local VSIX:

npm run package:vsix

This produces a versioned file like:

vscode-file-log-0.0.1.vsix

You can install it in VS Code with Extensions: Install from VSIX....

Screenshots

Open From The Explorer

Open From The Editor

Command Entry

Commit List

Commit Details

File Diff In Selected Commit

Releases

Releases are created manually from the GitHub Actions UI.

The workflow:

1. lets you choose the version bump type: patch, minor, or major
2. bumps the version in package.json and package-lock.json
3. commits the version bump back to the branch
4. creates a git tag like v0.1.0
5. runs tests and build
6. packages vscode-file-log-0.1.0.vsix
7. publishes to the VS Code Marketplace if VSCE_PAT is configured
8. creates a GitHub Release and uploads the VSIX asset

To run it:

1. open the repository on GitHub
2. go to Actions
3. select the Release VSIX workflow
4. click Run workflow
5. choose patch, minor, or major
6. start the run on your default branch

The result is a versioned release artifact that is ready to install or share.

Tech Stack

• TypeScript
• VS Code Extension API
• Vitest
• @vscode/vsce

Limitations

• this extension depends on Git being available in the environment
• diffs are file-focused and compare the selected commit to its parent
• complex rename history cases are intentionally kept simple for now

License

MIT