GitLens

GitLens supercharges the built-in Visual Studio Code Git capabilities. It helps you to visualize code authorship at a glance via Git blame annotations and code lens, seamlessly navigate and explore the history of a file or branch, gain valuable insights via powerful comparision commands, and so much more.

GitLens provides an unobtrusive blame annotation at the end of the current line, a status bar item showing the commit information (author and date, by default) of the current line, code lens showing the most recent commit and # of authors of the file and/or code block, and many commands for exploring commits and histories, comparing and navigating revisions, stash access, repository status, and more. GitLens is also highly customizable to meet your specific needs — find code lens intrusive or the current line blame annotation distracting — no problem, it is easy to turn them off or change how they behave.

Previews

Featuring code lens, file blame annotations, and navigation and exploration via quick pick menus

Featuring current line blame annotation and hovers, status bar commit details, quick pick menus, compare with previous, and more

Features

Git Blame Annotations

• Adds an unobtrusive, highly customizable and themeable, Git blame annotation to the end of the current line (optional, on by default)

  

  • Contains the author, date, and message of the line's most recent commit, by default

  • Also adds a details hover annotation to the current line annotation which provides more commit details (optional, on by default)

  • Also adds a changes (diff) hover annotation to the current line annotation which provides instant access to the line's previous version (optional, on by default)

    

• Adds on-demand, beautiful, highly customizable and themeable, Git blame annotations of the whole file

  

  • Choose between gutter (default) and hover annotation styles
  • Contains the commit message and date, by default
  • Also adds a details hover annotation to the line's annotation which provides more commit details (optional, on by default)

• Adds customizable blame information about the current line to the status bar (optional, on by default)

  

  • Contains the commit author and date, by default
  • Clicking the status bar item will, by default, show a commit details quick pick menu with commands for comparing, navigating and exploring commits, and more
  • Provides customizable click behavior — choose between one of the following
    • Toggle file blame annotations on and off
    • Toggle code lens on and off
    • Compare the line commit with the previous commit
    • Compare the line commit with the working tree
    • Show a quick pick menu with details and commands for the commit (default)
    • Show a quick pick menu with file details and commands for the commit
    • Show a quick pick menu with the commit history of the file
    • Show a quick pick menu with the commit history of the current branch

• Adds a Toggle File Blame Annotations command (gitlens.toggleFileBlame) with a shortcut of alt+b to toggle the file blame annotations on and off

  • Also adds a Show File Blame Annotations command (gitlens.showFileBlame)

• Adds a Toggle Line Blame Annotations command (gitlens.toggleLineBlame) to toggle the current line blame annotations on and off

  • Also adds a Show Line Blame Annotations command (gitlens.showLineBlame)

Git Code Lens

• Adds code lens to the top of the file and on code blocks (optional, on by default)

  

  • Recent Change — author and date of the most recent commit for the file or code block
    • Clicking the code lens will, by default, show a commit file details quick pick menu with commands for comparing, navigating and exploring commits, and more
  • Authors — number of authors of the file or code block and the most prominent author (if there is more than one)
    • Clicking the code lens will, by default, toggle the file Git blame annotations on and off of the whole file
    • Will be hidden if the author of the most recent commit is also the only author of the file or block, to avoid duplicate information and reduce visual noise

• Provides customizable click behavior for each code lens — choose between one of the following

  • Toggle file blame annotations on and off
  • Compare the commit with the previous commit
  • Show a quick pick menu with details and commands for the commit
  • Show a quick pick menu with file details and commands for the commit
  • Show a quick pick menu with the commit history of the file
  • Show a quick pick menu with the commit history of the current branch

• Adds a Toggle Git Code Lens command (gitlens.toggleCodeLens) with a shortcut of shift+alt+b to toggle the code lens on and off

Powerful Comparison Tools

• Effortlessly navigate between comparisions via the alt+, and alt+. shortcut keys to go back and forth through a file's revisions

• Provides easy access to the following comparison commands via the Command Palette as well as in context via the many provided quick pick menus

• Adds a Directory Compare command (gitlens.diffDirectory) to open the configured Git difftool to compare directories between branches

• Adds a Compare File with... command (gitlens.diffWithBranch) to compare the active file with the same file on the selected branch

• Adds a Compare File with Next Commit command (gitlens.diffWithNext) with a shortcut of alt+. to compare the active file/diff with the next commit revision

• Adds a Compare File with Previous command (gitlens.diffWithPrevious) with a shortcut of alt+, to compare the active file/diff with the previous commit revision

• Adds a Compare Line Commit with Previous command (gitlens.diffLineWithPrevious) with a shortcut of shift+alt+, to compare the active file/diff with the previous line commit revision

• Adds a Compare File with Working Tree command (gitlens.diffWithWorking) with a shortcut of shift+alt+w to compare the most recent commit revision of the active file/diff with the working tree

• Adds a Compare Line Commit with Working Tree command (gitlens.diffLineWithWorking) with a shortcut of alt+w to compare the commit revision of the active line with the working tree

Navigate and Explore

• Adds a Search Commits command (gitlens.showCommitSearch) with a shortcut of alt+/ to search for commits by message, author, file(s), or commit id

• Adds commands to open files, commits, branches, and the repository in the supported remote services, currently BitBucket, GitHub, GitLab, and Visual Studio Team Services — only available if a Git upstream service is configured in the repository

  • Open Branch in Remote command (gitlens.openBranchInRemote) — opens the current branch commits in the supported remote service
  • Open Line Commit in Remote command (gitlens.openCommitInRemote) — opens the commit revision of the active line in the supported remote service
  • Open File in Remote command (gitlens.openFileInRemote) — opens the active file/revision in the supported remote service
  • Open Repository in Remote command (gitlens.openRepoInRemote) — opens the repository in the supported remote service

• Adds a Show Current Branch History command (gitlens.showQuickRepoHistory) with a shortcut of shift+alt+h to show a paged branch history quick pick menu of the current branch for exploring its commit history

  

  • Provides entries to Show Commit Search and Open Branch in <remote-service> when available
  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available
  • Navigate pages via alt+, and alt+. to go backward and forward respectively

• Adds a Show Branch History command (gitlens.showQuickBranchHistory) to show a paged branch history quick pick menu of the selected branch for exploring its commit history

  • Provides the same features as Show Current Branch History above

• Adds a Show File History command (gitlens.showQuickFileHistory) to show a paged file history quick pick menu of the active file for exploring its commit history

  

  • Provides entries to Show Branch History and Open File in <remote-service> when available
  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available
  • Navigate pages via alt+, and alt+. to go backward and forward respectively

• Adds a Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails) to show a commit details quick pick menu of the most recent commit of the active file

  

  • Quickly see the set of files changed in the commit, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
  • Provides entries to Copy to Clipboard, Directory Compare, Open Changed Files, Open File in <remote-service> when available, and more
  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available
  • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on an entry to execute it without closing the quick pick menu, if possible — commands that open windows outside of VS Code will still close the quick pick menu unless "gitlens.advanced.quickPick.closeOnFocusOut": false is set
  • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on a file entry in the Changed Files section to preview the current revision of the while leaving the quick pick menu open
    • NOTE: Once vscode issue #10568 is resolved this will change to preview the comparison of the current revision with the previous one

• Adds a Show Line Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitFileDetails) with a shortcut of alt+c to show a file commit details quick pick menu of the most recent commit of the active file

  

  • Provides entries to Show Commit Details, Show File History, Compare File with..., Copy to Clipboard, Open File, Open File in <remote-service> when available, and more
  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available
  • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on an entry to execute it without closing the quick pick menu, if possible — commands that open windows outside of VS Code will still close the quick pick menu unless "gitlens.advanced.quickPick.closeOnFocusOut": false is set

• Adds a Show Repository Status command (gitlens.showQuickRepoStatus) with a shortcut of alt+s to show a repository status quick pick menu for visualizing the current repository status

  

  • Quickly see upstream status (if an Git upstream is configured) — complete with ahead and behind information
    • If you are ahead of the upstream, an entry will be shown with the number of commits ahead. Chosing it will show a limited branch history quick pick menu containing just the commits ahead of the upstream
    • If you are behind the upstream, an entry will be shown with the number of commits behind. Chosing it will show a limited branch history quick pick menu containing just the commits behind the upstream
  • Quickly see all working changes, both staged and unstaged, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
  • Provides entries to Show Stashed Changes, Open Changed Files, and Close Unchanged Files
  • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on an entry to execute it without closing the quick pick menu, if possible — commands that open windows outside of VS Code will still close the quick pick menu unless "gitlens.advanced.quickPick.closeOnFocusOut": false is set
  • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on a file entry in the Staged Files or Unstaged Files sections to preview the working file while leaving the quick pick menu open
    • NOTE: Once vscode issue #10568 is resolved this will change to preview the comparison of the working file with the previous revision

• Adds a Show Stashed Changes command (gitlens.showQuickStashList) to show a stashed changes quick pick menu for exploring your repository stash history

  

  • Provides entries to Stash Changes

  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available

  • Chosing a stash entry shows a stash details quick pick menu which is very similar to the commit details quick pick menu above

    

    • Quickly see the set of files changed in the stash, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
    • Provides entries to Copy Message to Clipboard, Directory Compare, and Open Changed Files
    • Provides entries to Apply Stashed Changes and Delete Stashed Changes — both require a confirmation
    • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available
    • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on an entry to execute it without closing the quick pick menu, if possible — commands that open windows outside of VS Code will still close the quick pick menu unless "gitlens.advanced.quickPick.closeOnFocusOut": false is set
    • Use the alt+right arrow shortcut on a file entry in the Changed Files section to preview the current revision of the while leaving the quick pick menu open
      • NOTE: Once vscode issue #10568 is resolved this will change to preview the comparison of the current revision with the previous one

• Adds a Show Last Opened Quick Pick command (gitlens.showLastQuickPick) with a shortcut of alt+- to quickly get back to where you were when the last GitLens quick pick menu closed

• Adds a Open File History Explorer command (gitlens.showFileHistory) to show a file history explorer (peek style) to visualize the history of a file

  • Likely to be deprecated in a future release, add your voice to #66 if you feel it should not be removed

• Adds a Open Blame History Explorer command (gitlens.showBlameHistory) to show a blame history explorer (peek style) to visualize the blame history of a file or code block

  • Likely to be deprecated in a future release, add your voice to #66 if you feel it should not be removed

And More

• Adds a Copy Commit ID to Clipboard command (gitlens.copyShaToClipboard) to copy the commit id (sha) of the active line to the clipboard

• Adds a Copy Commit Message to Clipboard command (gitlens.copyMessageToClipboard) to copy the commit message of the active line to the clipboard

• Adds a Open Changed Files command (gitlens.openChangedFiles) to open any files with working tree changes

• Adds a Close Unchanged Files command (gitlens.closeUnchangedFiles) to close any files without working tree changes

• Adds a Apply Stashed Changes command (gitlens.stashApply) to chose a stash entry to apply to the working tree from a quick pick menu

• Adds a Stash Changes command (gitlens.stashSave) to save any working tree changes to the stash — can optionally provide a stash message

Insiders

Add "gitlens.insiders": true to your settings to join the insiders channel and get early access to upcoming features. Be aware that because this provides early access expect there to be issues.

Extension Settings

GitLens is highly customizable and provides many configuration settings to allow the personalization of almost all features

General Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.insiders	Opts into the insiders channel -- provides access to upcoming features
gitlens.outputLevel	Specifies how much (if any) output will be sent to the GitLens output channel

Blame Annotation Settings

File Blame Annotation Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.blame.file.annotationType	Specifies the type of blame annotations that will be shown for the current file. gutter - adds an annotation to the beginning of each line. hover - shows annotations when hovering over each line
gitlens.blame.file.lineHighlight.enabled	Specifies whether or not to highlight lines associated with the current line
gitlens.blame.file.lineHighlight.locations	Specifies where the associated line highlights will be shown. gutter - adds a gutter glyph. line - adds a full-line highlight background color. overviewRuler - adds a decoration to the overviewRuler (scroll bar)
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.format	Specifies the format of the gutter blame annotations. Available tokens: ${id} - commit id, ${author} - commit author, ${message} - commit message, ${ago} - relative commit date (e.g. 1 day ago), ${date} - formatted commit date (format specified by gitlens.annotations.file.dateFormat), ${authorAgo} - commit author, relative commit date
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.dateFormat	Specifies how to format absolute dates (using the ${date} token) in gutter blame annotations. See https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/ for valid formats
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.compact	Specifies whether or not to compact (deduplicate) matching adjacent gutter blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.heatmap.enabled	Specifies whether or not to provide a heatmap indicator in the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.heatmap.location	Specifies where the heatmap indicators will be shown in the gutter blame annotations. left - adds a heatmap indicator on the left edge of the gutter blame annotations. right - adds a heatmap indicator on the right edge of the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.hover.details	Specifies whether or not to provide a commit details hover annotation over the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.file.gutter.hover.wholeLine	Specifies whether or not to trigger hover annotations over the whole line
gitlens.annotations.file.hover.heatmap.enabled	Specifies whether or not to provide heatmap indicators on the left edge of each line
gitlens.annotations.file.hover.wholeLine	Specifies whether or not to trigger hover annotations over the whole line

Line Blame Annotation Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.blame.line.enabled	Specifies whether or not to provide a blame annotation for the current line
gitlens.blame.line.annotationType	Specifies the type of blame annotations that will be shown for the current line. trailing - adds an annotation to the end of the current line. hover - shows annotations when hovering over the current line
gitlens.annotations.line.trailing.format	Specifies the format of the trailing blame annotations. Available tokens: ${id} - commit id, ${author} - commit author, ${message} - commit message, ${ago} - relative commit date (e.g. 1 day ago), ${date} - formatted commit date (format specified by gitlens.annotations.currentLine.dateFormat), ${authorAgo} - commit author, relative commit date
gitlens.annotations.line.trailing.dateFormat	Specifies how to format absolute dates (using the ${date} token) in trailing blame annotations. See https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/ for valid formats
gitlens.annotations.line.trailing.hover.details	Specifies whether or not to provide a commit details hover annotation over the trailing blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.line.trailing.hover.changes	Specifies whether or not to provide a changes (diff) hover annotation over the trailing blame annotations
gitlens.annotations.line.trailing.hover.wholeLine	Specifies whether or not to trigger hover annotations over the whole line
gitlens.annotations.line.hover.details	Specifies whether or not to provide a commit details hover annotation for the current line
gitlens.annotations.line.hover.changes	Specifies whether or not to provide a changes (diff) hover annotation for the current line

Code Lens Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.codeLens.enabled	Specifies whether or not to provide any Git code lens
gitlens.codeLens.recentChange.enabled	Specifies whether or not to show a recent change code lens showing the author and date of the most recent commit for the file or code block
gitlens.codeLens.recentChange.command	Specifies the command to be executed when the recent change code lens is clicked. gitlens.toggleFileBlame - toggles file blame annotations. gitlens.showBlameHistory - opens the blame history explorer. gitlens.showFileHistory - opens the file history explorer. gitlens.diffWithPrevious - compares the current committed file with the previous commit. gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails - shows a commit details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickCommitFileDetails - shows a commit file details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickFileHistory - shows a file history quick pick. gitlens.showQuickRepoHistory - shows a branch history quick pick
gitlens.codeLens.authors.enabled	Specifies whether or not to show an authors code lens showing number of authors of the file or code block and the most prominent author (if there is more than one)
gitlens.codeLens.authors.command	Specifies the command to be executed when the authors code lens is clicked. gitlens.toggleFileBlame - toggles file blame annotations. gitlens.showBlameHistory - opens the blame history explorer. gitlens.showFileHistory - opens the file history explorer. gitlens.diffWithPrevious - compares the current committed file with the previous commit. gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails - shows a commit details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickCommitFileDetails - shows a commit file details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickFileHistory - shows a file history quick pick. gitlens.showQuickRepoHistory - shows a branch history quick pick
gitlens.codeLens.locations	Specifies where Git code lens will be shown in the document. document - adds code lens at the top of the document. containers - adds code lens at the start of container-like symbols (modules, classes, interfaces, etc). blocks - adds code lens at the start of block-like symbols (functions, methods, properties, etc) lines. custom - adds code lens at the start of symbols contained in gitlens.codeLens.locationCustomSymbols
gitlens.codeLens.customLocationSymbols	Specifies the set of document symbols where Git code lens will be shown in the document
gitlens.codeLens.perLanguageLocations	Specifies where Git code lens will be shown in the document for the specified languages

Status Bar Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.statusBar.enabled	Specifies whether or not to provide blame information on the status bar
gitlens.statusBar.alignment	Specifies the blame alignment in the status bar. left - align to the left, right - align to the right
gitlens.statusBar.format	Specifies the format of the blame information on the status bar. Available tokens: ${id} - commit id, ${author} - commit author, ${message} - commit message, ${ago} - relative commit date (e.g. 1 day ago), ${date} - formatted commit date (format specified by gitlens.statusBar.dateFormat)
gitlens.statusBar.command	Specifies the command to be executed when the blame status bar item is clicked. gitlens.toggleFileBlame - toggles file blame annotations. gitlens.showBlameHistory - opens the blame history explorer. gitlens.showFileHistory - opens the file history explorer. gitlens.diffWithPrevious - compares the current line commit with the previous. gitlens.diffWithWorking - compares the current line commit with the working tree. gitlens.toggleCodeLens - toggles Git code lens. gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails - shows a commit details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickCommitFileDetails - shows a commit file details quick pick. gitlens.showQuickFileHistory - shows a file history quick pick. gitlens.showQuickRepoHistory - shows a branch history quick pick
gitlens.statusBar.format	Specifies the format of the status bar blame information. Available tokens: ${id} - commit id, ${author} - commit author, ${message} - commit message, ${ago} - relative commit date (e.g. 1 day ago), ${date} - formatted commit date (format specified by gitlens.statusBar.dateFormat), ${authorAgo} - commit author, relative commit date
gitlens.statusBar.dateFormat	Specifies the date format of absolute dates shown in the blame information on the status bar. See https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/ for valid formats

Theme Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.separateLines	Specifies whether or not gutter blame annotations will be separated by a small gap
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.dark.backgroundColor	Specifies the dark theme background color of the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.light.backgroundColor	Specifies the light theme background color of the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.dark.foregroundColor	Specifies the dark theme foreground color of the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.light.foregroundColor	Specifies the light theme foreground color of the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.dark.uncommittedForegroundColor	Specifies the dark theme foreground color of an uncommitted line in the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.gutter.light.uncommittedForegroundColor	Specifies the light theme foreground color of an uncommitted line in the gutter blame annotations
gitlens.theme.annotations.file.hover.separateLines	Specifies whether or not hover blame annotations will be separated by a small gap (if heatmap is enabled)
gitlens.theme.annotations.line.trailing.dark.backgroundColor	Specifies the dark theme background color of the trailing blame annotation
gitlens.theme.annotations.line.trailing.light.backgroundColor	Specifies the light theme background color of the trailing blame annotation
gitlens.theme.annotations.line.trailing.dark.foregroundColor	Specifies the dark theme foreground color of the trailing blame annotation
gitlens.theme.annotations.line.trailing.light.foregroundColor	Specifies the light theme foreground color of the trailing blame annotation
gitlens.theme.lineHighlight.dark.backgroundColor	Specifies the dark theme background color of the associated line highlights in blame annotations. Must be a valid css color
gitlens.theme.lineHighlight.light.backgroundColor	Specifies the light theme background color of the associated line highlights in blame annotations. Must be a valid css color
gitlens.theme.lineHighlight.dark.overviewRulerColor	Specifies the dark theme overview ruler color of the associated line highlights in blame annotations
gitlens.theme.lineHighlight.light.overviewRulerColor	Specifies the light theme overview ruler color of the associated line highlights in blame annotations

Advanced Settings

Name	Description
gitlens.advanced.toggleWhitespace.enabled	Specifies whether or not to toggle whitespace off then showing blame annotations (may be required by certain fonts/themes)
gitlens.advanced.menus	Specifies which commands will be added to which menus
gitlens.advanced.caching.enabled	Specifies whether git output will be cached
gitlens.advanced.caching.maxLines	Specifies the threshold for caching larger documents
gitlens.advanced.git	Specifies the git path to use
gitlens.advanced.gitignore.enabled	Specifies whether or not to parse the root .gitignore file for better performance (i.e. avoids blaming excluded files)
gitlens.advanced.maxQuickHistory	Specifies the maximum number of QuickPick history entries to show
gitlens.advanced.quickPick.closeOnFocusOut	Specifies whether or not to close the QuickPick menu when focus is lost

Known Issues

• If the Copy to * clipboard commands don't work on Linux -- xclip needs to be installed. You can install it via sudo apt-get install xclip
• Visible whitespace causes issues (vscode issue #11485) with the expanded and compact blame annotation styles when using a non-monospace font -- set "gitlens.advanced.toggleWhitespace.enabled": true if you are using a non-monospace font

Contributors

A big thanks to the people that have contributed to this project:

• Aurelio Ogliari (@nobitagit) — contributions
• Zack Schuster (@zackschuster) — contributions