vim-git-log

vim-git-log is a Vim plugin that helps browse your git log. This plugin requires Fugitive.

GitLog

To open a new buffer which displays a list of the changes in your git repo:

:GitLog

This plugin is basically a wrapper around git log so nearly any option or argument that you can use with git log can be used here. The exceptions are --pretty and options that affect --pretty. Here are some more examples:

View changes from the 'lib' directory instead of the repository root:

:GitLog lib

View changes from a specifi author/committer:

:GitLog --author Batman

View changes where the commit message matches a (PCRE) regular expression

:GitLog --grep 'dinosaurs'

View changes for a date range

:GitLog --since yesterday
:GitLog --since '1 month 1 week 1 day 1 hour 1 second'
:GitLog --since 2012-12-31
:GitLog --until 2012-12-31 23:30:60
:GitLog <since>..<until>

How to use the log browser

Running any of the above commands will open a window titled 'GitLog' that looks like this and allows you to browse the git log:

Eric Johnson 4 weeks ago 5ef0fb2
Added daysPerYear.
lib/Networth/Controller/Calculator.pm
lib/Networth/Out/RealCost.pm
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt

Eric Johnson 5 weeks ago 9595fa0
fix css margin class.
root/css/networth.css
root/css/style.less
root/css/style.less.old
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt
root/html/fi.tt

Eric Johnson 6 weeks ago ecf43db
Css tweaks.
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt

Here are some commands you can use in the browser:

d View the side by side diff of any file by putting your cursor on that line and typing d (for diff).

View the diffstat from git show $revision for that commit.

n Move your cursor to the first filename in the next commit.

N Move your cursor to the first filename in the previous commit.

q Quit. Closes all the GitLog windows and buffers.

To quickly exit out of a side by side diff and return to the 'GitLog' window, type q.

Ribbon

First mark your place with

:RibbonSave

This will place a tag named __ribbon at origin/master. Basically you are bookmarking our current spot with a ribbon.

Next, use Fugitive to pull down the latest changes made by your fellow conspirators from the remote repository.

:Git pull

To review those changes use the following command:

:Ribbon

This will open a window titled 'Ribbon' that looks like this:

Eric Johnson 6 weeks ago ecf43db
Css tweaks.
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt

Eric Johnson 5 weeks ago 9595fa0
fix css margin class.
root/css/networth.css
root/css/style.less
root/css/style.less.old
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt
root/html/fi.tt

Eric Johnson 4 weeks ago 5ef0fb2
Added daysPerYear.
lib/Networth/Controller/Calculator.pm
lib/Networth/Out/RealCost.pm
root/html/calculator/realCost.tt

See the section on How to use the GitLog browser for a complete list of all the commands available to you.

Finally, after you have reviewed all the changes, mark your place again with:

:RibbonSave

Bonus tips

The default colors used in vimdiff look like they were created by crazy clowns. You might like my colorscheme instead:

$ mkdir -p ~/.vim/colors/
$ wget https://github.com/kablamo/dotfiles/raw/master/links/.vim/colors/iijo.vim -O ~/.vim/colors/iijo.vim
$ echo "colorscheme iijo" >> ~/.vimrc

How to use vimdiff:

• To switch windows type ctl-w l and ctl-w h. For more help see :help window-move-cursor.
• To open and close folds type zo and zc. For more help see :help fold-commands.

See also

This script was inspired by http://gitready.com/advanced/2011/10/21/ribbon-and-catchup-reading-new-commits.html

I also wrote git-ribbon, a little Perl script that does pretty much the same thing but from the commandline.