How to show Git log history (i.e., all the related commits) for a sub directory of a Git repository
GitGit Problem Overview
Let’s say that I have a Git repository that looks like this:
foo/
.git/
A/
... big tree here
B/
... big tree here
Is there a way to ask git log to show only the log messages for a specific directory? For example, I want to see what commits touched files in foo/A only.
Git Solutions
Solution 1 - Git
From directory foo/, use
git log -- A
You need the '--' to separate <path>.. from the <since>..<until> refspecs.
# Show changes for src/nvfs
$ git log --oneline -- src/nvfs
d6f6b3b Changes for Mac OS X
803fcc3 Initial Commit
# Show all changes (one additional commit besides in src/nvfs).
$ git log --oneline
d6f6b3b Changes for Mac OS X
96cbb79 gitignore
803fcc3 Initial Commit
Solution 2 - Git
Enter
git log .
from the specific directory. It also gives commits in that directory.
Solution 3 - Git
Solution 4 - Git
You can use git log with the pathnames of the respective folders:
git log A B
The log will only show commits made in A and B. I usually throw in --stat to make things a little prettier, which helps for quick commit reviews.
Solution 5 - Git
The other answers only show the changed files.
git log -p DIR is very useful, if you need the full diff of all changed files in a specific subdirectory.
Example: Show all detailed changes in a specific version range
git log -p 8a5fb..HEAD -- A B
commit 62ad8c5d
Author: Scott Tiger
Date: Mon Nov 27 14:25:29 2017 +0100
My comment
...
@@ -216,6 +216,10 @@ public class MyClass {
+ Added
- Deleted
Solution 6 - Git
For tracking changes to a folder where the folder was moved, I started using:
git rev-list --all --pretty=oneline -- "*/foo/subfoo/*"
This isn't perfect as it will grab other folders with the same name, but if it is unique, then it seems to work.