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rit log

Display commit history by traversing the parent chain.

Synopsis​

rit log [--oneline] [--graph]

Description​

This command displays the commit history starting from HEAD, traversing backwards through parent commits. It's similar to Git's log command.

Options​

OptionDescription
--onelineShow one commit per line (short hash + message)
--graphDraw ASCII graph of commit history

Examples​

Basic Log​

# Show full commit log
$ rit log
commit abc123def456...
Author: John Doe <john@example.com>
Date:   1234567890

    Initial commit

commit def456ghi789...
Author: John Doe <john@example.com>
Date:   1234567891

    Second commit

One-Line Format​

$ rit log --oneline
abc123 Initial commit
def456 Second commit
ghi789 Third commit

With Graph​

$ rit log --graph
* abc123 Initial commit
|
* def456 Second commit
|
* ghi789 Third commit

How It Works​

  1. Reads HEAD to find the current commit
  2. If HEAD points to a branch ref, reads that ref file
  3. Traverses backwards through parent commits
  4. Formats and displays each commit

HEAD Resolution​

The command resolves HEAD in this order:

  1. Branch Reference: If HEAD contains ref: refs/heads/main, reads .rit/refs/heads/main
  2. Detached HEAD: If HEAD contains a direct commit hash, uses that
  3. No Commits: If no commits exist, shows an error message

Use Cases​

View Recent Commits​

# See what you've committed
$ rit log --oneline

Check Commit History​

# Full details of all commits
$ rit log

Visualize Branch Structure​

# See commit graph (useful for branches)
$ rit log --graph

Implementation Details​

Commit Traversal​

The command follows the first parent of each commit, creating a linear history. For merge commits, it currently only follows the first parent.

Format​

  • Full format: Shows commit hash, author, date, and full message
  • Oneline format: Shows short hash (7 chars) and first line of message
  • Graph format: Adds ASCII visualization with * and | characters

See Also​