git-history

Search commits

Use all three, passing variable names and function names as search terms:

git log --grep="search term"   # commit messages
git log -S "search term"       # commits that added or removed the string
git log -G "regex pattern"     # commits whose diff matches the regex

Add --oneline for a compact list, -p for diffs, --all to include other branches.

Full history of a line or function

git log -L shows every commit that touched a line range. git blame only shows the last one. Git follows the line content through insertions, deletions, and moves above it.