GitLens supercharges the Git capabilities built into Visual Studio Code. It helps you to visualize code authorship at a glance via Git blame annotations and code lens, seamlessly navigate and explore Git repositories, gain valuable insights via powerful comparison commands, and so much more.

GitLens is a free, open-source extension for Visual Studio Code created by Eric Amodio.

GitLens simply helps you understand code better. Quickly glimpse into whom, why, and when a line or code block was changed. Jump back through history to gain further insights as to how and why the code evolved. Explore the history and evolution of a codebase.

Here are just some of the features that GitLens provides,

• a GitLens explorer to navigate and explore repositories or file histories
• an on-demand GitLens Results view to explore commit searches, visualize comparisons between branches, tags, commits, and more
• authorship code lens showing the most recent commit and # of authors to the top of files and/or on code blocks
• an unobtrusive current line blame annotation at the end of the line
• on-demand gutter blame annotations, including a heatmap, for the whole file
• detailed blame information accessible via hovers
• on-demand recent changes annotations to highlight lines changed by the most recent commit
• a status bar blame annotation showing author and date for the current line
• commit search — by message, author, filename, commit id, or code changes
• many powerful commands for exploring commits and histories, comparing and navigating revisions, stash access, repository status, etc
• and so much more

GitLens is powerful, feature rich, and also highly customizable to meet your specific needs — find code lens intrusive or the current line blame annotation distracting — no problem, it is quick and easy to turn them off or change how they behave via the built-in GitLens Settings editor, a WYSIWYG editor covering many of GitLens' powerful settings. While for more advanced customizations, refer to the GitLens settings docs and edit your vscode user settings.

GitLens can use your help to realize its mission — making developer's lives easier, further its reach, as well as support its development.

Here are a few ways you can help — feel free to choose more than one 😉

• Become a Patron — join the growing group of generous backers
• Write a Review
• Star or Fork me on GitHub
• Follow me on Twitter
• Hire me

A customizable explorer to navigate and explore repositories or file histories. The GitLens explorer provides two views (modes) — a Repository view and a History view.

• A toolbar provides Search Commits, Switch to Repository View or Switch to History View, and Refresh commands
  • Quickly switch between views using the Switch to Repository View or Switch to History View commands
  • A context menu provides Automatic Layout, List Layout, Tree Layout, Enable Automatic Refresh or Disable Automatic Refresh, and Follow Renames or Don't Follow Renames commands

The repository view provides a full Git repository explorer, which has the following features,

• Repository Status

  • Provides the name of the current branch, optionally its working tree status, and its upstream tracking branch and status (if available)
  • Provides indicator dots on the repository icon which denote the following:
    • None — up-to-date with the upstream
    • Green — ahead of the upstream
    • Red — behind the upstream
    • Yellow — both ahead of and behind the upstream
  • Provides additional upstream status nodes, if the current branch is tracking a remote branch and,
    • is behind the upstream — quickly see and explore the specific commits behind the upstream (i.e. commits that haven't been pulled)
    • is ahead of the upstream — quickly see and explore the specific commits ahead of the upstream (i.e. commits that haven't been pushed)
  • A context menu provides Open Repository in Remote, and Refresh commands
  • Changed Files — lists all the "working" changes
    • Expands to a file-based view of all changed files in the working tree (optionally) and/or all files in all commits ahead of the upstream

• Branches — lists the local branches

  • Indicates which branch is the current branch and optionally shows the remote tracking branch
  • A context menu provides Open Branches in Remote, and Refresh commands
  • Branches expand to show its revision (commit) history
    • Provides indicator dots on each branch icon which denote the following:
      • None — no upstream or up-to-date with the upstream
      • Green — ahead of the upstream
      • Red — behind the upstream
      • Yellow — both ahead of and behind the upstream
    • Context menus for each branch provide
      • Open Branch in Remote (if available), Compare with Remote (if available), Compare with Index (HEAD), Compare with Working Tree, Compare with Selected (when available), Compare Selected Ancestor with Working Tree (when available), Select for Compare, Open Directory Compare with Working Tree, Checkout Branch (via Terminal), Merge Branch (via Terminal), Rebase (Interactive) Branch (via Terminal), Rebase (Interactive) Branch to Remote (via Terminal), Squash Branch into Commit (via Terminal), Create Branch (via Terminal)..., Delete Branch (via Terminal), Create Tag (via Terminal)..., and Refresh commands
    • Revisions (commits) expand to show the set of files changed, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
      • Context menus for each revision (commit) provide
        • Open Commit in Remote (if available), Open All Changes, Open All Changes with Working Tree, Open Files, Open Revisions, Copy Commit ID to Clipboard, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard, Show Commit Details, Compare with Index (HEAD), Compare with Working Tree, Compare with Selected (when available), Select for Compare, Cherry Pick Commit (via Terminal), Revert Commit (via Terminal), Rebase to Commit (via Terminal), Reset to Commit (via Terminal), Create Branch (via Terminal)..., Create Tag (via Terminal)..., and Refresh commands
      • Context menus for each changed file provide
        • Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in Remote, Open Revision in Remote, Apply Changes, and Show Commit File Details commands

• Remotes — lists the remotes

  • Indicates the direction of the remote (fetch, push, both), remote service (if applicable), and repository path
  • A context menu provides a Refresh command
  • Remotes expands show its list of branches
    • Context menus for each remote provide
      • Open Branches in Remote, Open Repository in Remote, Remove Remote (via Terminal), and Refresh commands
    • Branches expand to show its revision (commit) history
      • See the Branches expand section under Branches above for more details

• Stashes — lists the stashed changes

  • A context menu provides Stash Changes, and Refresh commands
  • Stashes expand to show the set of files stashed, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
    • Context menus for each stash provide
      • Apply Stashed Changes (confirmation required), Delete Stashed Changes (confirmation required), Open All Changes, Open All Changes with Working Tree, Open Files, Open Revisions, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard, Compare with Index (HEAD), Compare with Working Tree, Compare with Selected (when available), Select for Compare, and Refresh commands
    • Context menus for each stashed file provide
      • Apply Changes, Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in Remote (if available), and Show File History commands

• Tags — lists the tags

  • A context menu provides a Refresh command
  • Tags expand to show its revision (commit) history
    • Context menus for each tag provide
      • Compare with Index (HEAD), Compare with Working Tree, Compare with Selected, Select for Compare, Open Directory Compare with Working Tree, Delete Tag (via Terminal), and Refresh commands
    • Revisions (commits) expand to show the set of files changed, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
      • See the Revisions (commits) expand section under Branches above for more details

The history view provides the revision history of the active file, which has the following features,

• Automatically updates to track the active editor
• A context menu provides Open File, Open File in Remote (if available), and Refresh commands
• Context menus for each revision (commit) provides
  • Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in Remote (if available), Open Revision in Remote (if available), Apply Changes, and Show Commit File Details commands

An on-demand, customizable view to explore commits, histories, and searches, or visualize comparisons between branches, tags, commits, and more

• A toolbar provides Search Commits, Keep Results, and Refresh commands
  • A context menu provides Automatic Layout, List Layout, Tree Layout, and Close commands

• Provides a semi-persistent results view for exploring histories, commits, and searches
  • Accessible via the following commands
    • Show Commit Search command (gitlens.showCommitSearch)
    • Show File History command (gitlens.showQuickFileHistory)
    • Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails)
  • Revisions (commits) expand show the set of files changed, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
    • Context menus for each revision (commit) provide
      • Open Commit in Remote (if available), Open All Changes, Open All Changes with Working Tree, Open Files, Open Revisions, Copy Commit ID to Clipboard, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard, Show Commit Details, Compare with Index (HEAD), Compare with Working Tree, Compare with Selected (when available), Select for Compare, Cherry Pick Commit (via Terminal), Revert Commit (via Terminal), Rebase to Commit (via Terminal), Reset to Commit (via Terminal), Create Branch (via Terminal)..., Create Tag (via Terminal)..., and Refresh commands
    • Context menus for each changed file provide
      • Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in Remote, Open Revision in Remote, Apply Changes, and Show Commit File Details commands

• Provides a semi-persistent results view for comparison operations

  • Accessible via the following commands

    • Compare with Remote command (gitlens.explorers.compareWithRemote)
    • Compare with Index (HEAD) command (gitlens.explorers.compareWithHead)
    • Compare with Working Tree command (gitlens.explorers.compareWithWorking)
    • Compare with Selected command (gitlens.explorers.compareWithSelected)
    • Compare Selected Ancestor with Working Tree command (gitlens.explorers.compareSelectedAncestorWithWorking)

  • A context menu provides Clear Results, Open Directory Compare, and Refresh commands

  • Commits — lists the commits between the compared revisions (branches or commits)

    • Revisions (commits) expand to show the set of files changed, complete with status indicators for adds, changes, renames, and deletes
      • See the Revisions (commits) expand section under Explore above for more details

  • Changed Files — lists the files changed between the compared revisions (branches or commits)

    • Expands to a file-based view of all changed files
      • Context menus for each changed file provide
        • Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in Remote, Open Revision in Remote, Apply Changes, and Show Commit File Details commands

• Adds Git authorship 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

    • Click the code lens to show a commit file details quick pick menu with commands for comparing, navigating and exploring commits, and more (by default)

  • Authors — number of authors of the file or code block and the most prominent author (if there is more than one)

    • Click the code lens to toggle the file Git blame annotations on and off of the whole file (by default)
    • 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

• Adds an unobtrusive, customizable, and themable, blame annotation at the end of the current line
  • Contains the author, date, and message of the current line's most recent commit (by default)
  • Adds a Show Line Blame Annotations command (gitlens.showLineBlame)
  • Adds a Toggle Line Blame Annotations command (gitlens.toggleLineBlame) to toggle the blame annotation on and off

• Adds on-demand, customizable, and themable, gutter blame annotations for the whole file
  • Contains the commit message and date, by default
  • Adds a heatmap (age) indicator on right edge (by default) of the gutter to provide an easy, at-a-glance way to tell the age of a line (optional, on by default)
    • Indicator ranges from bright yellow (newer) to dark brown (older)
  • Adds a Show File Blame Annotations command (gitlens.showFileBlame)
  • Adds a Toggle File Blame Annotations command (gitlens.toggleFileBlame) with a shortcut of alt+b to toggle the blame annotations on and off
  • Press Escape to turn off the annotations

• Adds an on-demand heatmap to the edge of the gutter to show the relative age of a line
  • Indicator ranges from bright yellow (newer) to dark brown (older)
  • Adds Toggle File Heatmap Annotations command (gitlens.toggleFileHeatmap) to toggle the heatmap on and off
  • Press Escape to turn off the annotations

• Adds customizable Git blame hovers accessible over the current line

• Adds a details hover annotation to the current line to show more commit details (optional, on by default)
  • Provides a quick-access command bar with Open Changes, Blame Previous Revision, Open in Remote, and Show More Actions command buttons
  • Click the commit id to execute the Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails)

• Adds a changes (diff) hover annotation to the current line to show the line's previous version (optional, on by default)
  • Click the Changes to execute the Compare File Revisions command (gitlens.diffWith)
  • Click the current and previous commit ids to execute the Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails)

• Adds customizable Git blame hovers accessible when annotating

• Adds a details hover annotation to each line while annotating to show more commit details (optional, on by default)
  • Provides a quick-access command bar with Open Changes, Blame Previous Revision, Open in Remote, and Show More Actions command buttons
  • Click the commit id to execute the Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails)

• Adds a changes (diff) hover annotation to each line while annotating to show the line's previous version (optional, on by default)
  • Click the Changes to execute the Compare File Revisions command (gitlens.diffWith)
  • Click the current and previous commit ids to execute the Show Commit Details command (gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails)

• Adds an on-demand, customizable and themable, recent changes annotation to highlight lines changed by the most recent commit
  • Adds Toggle Recent File Changes Annotations command (gitlens.toggleFileRecentChanges) to toggle the recent changes annotations on and off
  • Press Escape to turn off the annotations

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

  • Contains the commit author and date (by default)

  • Click the status bar item to show a commit details quick pick menu with commands for comparing, navigating and exploring commits, and more (by default)

  • 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 Search Commits command (gitlens.showCommitSearch) with a shortcut of alt+/ to search for commits by message, author, file(s), commit id, or code changes
  • Use <message> to search for commits with messages that match <message> — See Git docs
  • Use @<pattern> to search for commits with authors that match <pattern> — See Git docs
  • Use :<pattern> to search for commits with file names that match <pattern> — See Git docs
  • Use #<sha> to search for a commit with id of <sha> — See Git docs
  • Use ~<pattern> to search for commits with differences whose patch text contains added/removed lines that match <pattern> — See Git docs
  • Use =<string> to search for commits with differences that change the number of occurrences of the specified string (i.e. addition/deletion) in a file — See Git docs
  • Provides a Show in Results option to show the search results in the GitLens Results view

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

  • Also supports remote services with custom domains, such as BitBucket, Bitbucket Server (previously called Stash), GitHub, GitHub Enterprise, GitLab
  • Open Branches in Remote command (gitlens.openBranchesInRemote) — opens the branches in the supported remote service
  • Open Branch in Remote command (gitlens.openBranchInRemote) — opens the current branch commits in the supported remote service
  • Open 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 additional entries to Show in Results, 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 additional entries to Show in Results, Open Commit in <remote-service> when available, Open Files, Open Revisions, Open Directory Compare with Previous Revision, Open Directory Compare with Working Tree, Copy Commit ID to Clipboard, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard
  • 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 comparison of the current revision with the previous one

• Adds a Show Commit File 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 Open Changes, Open Changes with Working File, Open File, Open Revision, Open File in <remote-service> when available, Open Revision in <remote-service> when available, Copy Commit ID to Clipboard, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard, Show Commit Details, Show File History, and Show Previous File History
  • 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. Choosing 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. Choosing 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 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 additional entries to Stash Changes
  • Navigate back to the previous quick pick menu via alt+left arrow, if available

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

  • Also adds the command to the Source Control items context menu to stash an individual or group of files, works with multi-select too!

• Stashed changes show 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 additional entries to Apply Stashed Changes (requires confirmation), Delete Stashed Changes (requires confirmation), Open Files, Open Revisions, Open Directory Compare with Previous Revision, Open Directory Compare with Working Tree, Copy Commit Message to Clipboard
  • 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 comparison of the current revision with the previous one

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

• Effortlessly navigate between comparisons 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 Working Tree with... command (gitlens.diffDirectory) to open the configured Git difftool to compare the working tree with the selected branch or tag

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

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

• Adds a Compare Line Revision 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 Revision... command (gitlens.diffWithRevision) to compare the active file with the selected revision of the same file

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

• Adds a Copy Commit ID to Clipboard command (gitlens.copyShaToClipboard) to copy the commit id (sha) of the active line to the clipboard or from the most recent commit to the current branch, if there is no active editor

• Adds a Copy Commit Message to Clipboard command (gitlens.copyMessageToClipboard) to copy the commit message of the active line to the clipboard or from the most recent commit to the current branch, if there is no active editor

• Adds a Open Working File" command (gitlens.openWorkingFile) to open the working file for the active file revision

• Adds a Open Revision... command (gitlens.openFileRevision) to open the selected revision for the active file

• Adds a Open Changes (with difftool) command (gitlens.externalDiff) to the source control group and source control resource context menus to open the changes of a file or set of files with the configured git difftool

• Adds a Open All Changes (with difftool) command (gitlens.externalDiffAll) to open all working changes with the configured git difftool

  • Also adds the command to the Source Control group context menu

• 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

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

See also Explorer Settings

See also Explorer Settings

GitLens defines a set of themable colors which can be provided by vscode themes or directly by the user using workbench.colorCustomization.

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.

• 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

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

• Amanda Cameron (@AmandaCameron) — contributions)
• Yukai Huang (@Yukaii) — contributions)
• Helmut Januschka (@hjanuschka) — contributions)
• Chris Kaczor (@ckaczor) — contributions)
• Peng Lyu (@rebornix) — contributions)
• Aurelio Ogliari (@nobitagit) — contributions
• Johannes Rieken (@jrieken) — contributions)
• Zack Schuster (@zackschuster) — contributions
• SpaceEEC (@SpaceEEC) — contributions
• Alexey Vasyukov (@notmedia) — contributions)

Also special thanks to the people that have provided support, testing, brainstorming, etc:

• Brian Canzanella (@bcanzanella)
• Matt King (@KattMingMing)

And of course the awesome vscode team!