Git Revision Syntax

git rev-parse HEAD

# Resolve HEAD to the current commit ID.

git rev-parse HEAD^

# Resolve the first parent.

git rev-parse HEAD~2

# Walk first-parent ancestry twice.

git rev-parse HEAD^2

# Select second parent of a merge commit.

git rev-parse main

# Resolve branch ref to commit ID.

git rev-parse v1.2.0^{}

# Dereference annotated tag to underlying object.

git rev-parse "HEAD@{yesterday}"

# Resolve HEAD reflog entry by date expression.

git rev-parse @{u}

# Resolve current branch upstream.

git rev-parse @{push}

# Resolve push destination ref for current branch.

git log main..feature/my-change

# Show commits in feature not in main.

git log main...feature/my-change

# Show commits unique to either side.

git diff main..feature/my-change

# Diff end states of two refs.

git diff main...feature/my-change

# Diff branch relative to common ancestor.

git log HEAD ^origin/main

# Commits reachable from HEAD but not origin/main.

git log --ancestry-path A..B

# Show only commits on ancestry chain between two points.

git log --first-parent main

# Follow merge history on the mainline.

git show HEAD:README.md

# Print file content from a revision.

git show feature/my-change:src/app.ts

# Read file content from another branch.

git ls-tree HEAD src/

# List files in a tree path.

git cat-file -t HEAD^{tree}

# Inspect object type after rev resolution.

git cat-file -p HEAD^{tree}

# Display tree or commit content.

git rev-parse --verify feature/my-change^{commit}

# Require object to resolve to a commit.

git rev-parse ":/fix login"

# Find youngest reachable commit with matching message text.

git log --all --grep="security fix"

# Find commits across all refs matching message text.

git log --follow -- path/to/file

# Continue file history across renames.

git log --topo-order --graph --oneline

# Display commit graph respecting topology.

git rev-list --parents -n 5 HEAD

# Include parent IDs in output.