Beautify Your Git Log with a Single Command

The standard git log command is functional, providing the necessary information, but it can come across as somewhat dull and verbose. What if there was a way to make the git log not just informative, but also visually appealing? Something like this:

Yes, it's entirely possible! And the good news is that we can achieve this by simply using a bunch of flags and subcommands. There's no need to install or download anything.

Here's the command:

git log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --branches

But typing this command every time could be tiresome. A solution to this is using Git aliases, which allow you to create shortcuts for lengthy commands. If you're unfamiliar with Git aliases, I recommend reading my recent article that dives into the topic:

Mastering Git Shortcuts: A Guide to Git Aliases

Pradumna Saraf

Pradumna Saraf

Pradumna Saraf

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Jul 28 '23

Mastering Git Shortcuts: A Guide to Git Aliases

#git #opensource #programming #beginners

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18 comments

1 min read

Now, let's set up an alias for our beautiful git log command:

git config --global alias.lg "log --color --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --branches"

Now you can invoke the beautified git log using a simpler git lg.

Comments

[Mark]

I love this. A terse variant is: git log --oneline --graph -n11
My fancy variants I've been using for years:

[alias]
        log2 = log -n2 --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto,yellow)%h %C(auto,blue)%>(18,trunc)%ad %C(auto,green)%<(12,trunc)%aN %C(auto,reset)%s%C(auto,red)% gD% D'
        log9 = log -n9 --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto,yellow)%h %C(auto,blue)%>(18,trunc)%ad %C(auto,green)%<(12,trunc)%aN %C(auto,reset)%s%C(auto,red)% gD% D'
        log11 = log -n11 --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto,yellow)%h %C(auto,blue)%>(18,trunc)%ad %C(auto,green)%<(12,trunc)%aN %C(auto,reset)%s%C(auto,red)% gD% D'

[Roberto B.]

Thank you for sharing!

When I need to take a look or have a quick overview of the commits, my git log is :

git log --pretty=format:'%s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit

[Bull]

Amazing Blog

[fpalamour]

Nice tip! I'll definitely start using it!

[HitBlast]

Amazing blog, definitely recommended for Git beginners, especially those who're trying to get their hands on advanced version control commands.

[Vishesh Rawal]

Useful 💯💯

[Georgi Hadzhigeorgiev]

Superb, thank you very much!

[Eden Wheeler]

Amazing Article.

[Saeed H]

Love it!

[Shantanu Shaji]

Thanks, that's really helpful