GitInspecting Objects (git show)

Inspecting Objects (git show)

git show is the “tell me everything about this thing” command. Pass it a commit hash, a branch name, a tag, or even a file at a specific point in history, and it prints the relevant information in a readable form. It is the natural companion to git log — once you find an interesting commit in the log, git show opens it up.

Showing a commit

Bash
git show 1f9ab2c
# or
git show HEAD          # the current commit
git show HEAD~3        # three commits back
git show main          # the tip of main

What you see

Text
commit 1f9ab2c0e8b4a7d2f0c... (HEAD -> main)
Author: Your Name <you@example.com>
Date:   Mon Jan  1 10:00:00 2025 +0000

    Add login form validation

diff --git a/src/login.js b/src/login.js
index 1a2b3c4..5d6e7f8 100644
--- a/src/login.js
+++ b/src/login.js
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ function submit(form) {
   ...
+  if (!form.email) return error("Email required");
+  if (form.password.length < 8) return error("Password too short");
   ...

That is the commit metadata plus the diff of every file the commit changed.

Useful flags

  • --stat — show a per-file change summary instead of the full diff.

  • --name-only — just the file names.

  • --name-status — file names + A/M/D/R.

  • -w — ignore whitespace.

  • --no-patch — show only the metadata, no diff.

  • -p — show the patch (the default).

Showing a specific file at a specific commit

What did this file look like back then?

Bash
git show 1f9ab2c:src/app.js
# Prints the entire contents of src/app.js as it was in that commit

git show HEAD~5:README.md > old-readme.md
# Save it to a file for comparison
Showing a tag

Bash
# Annotated tag — shows the tag, its message, and the commit
git show v1.0

# Lightweight tag — shows just the commit it points to
git show release-2024-01-01
Showing a tree (directory listing of a commit)

Bash
git show --stat HEAD              # which files changed
git show --raw HEAD               # raw object info
git ls-tree -r HEAD               # full file listing at HEAD
Showing a branch tip without the diff

Bash
git show main --no-patch
# commit ...
# Author: ...
# Date: ...
#
# (message)
Showing what a merge actually merged

Merge commits have two parents. By default git show of a merge commit shows a combined diff. To see each parent separately:

Bash
git show -m <merge-commit>      # shows merge as separate diffs
git show --first-parent <merge-commit>
git log -m -p <merge-commit>
git show vs git log -1 vs git diff

  • git show <commit> — full content of one commit (metadata + diff).

  • git log -1 <commit> — same but goes through the log formatting machinery; lets you use --pretty.

  • git diff <a> <b> — only the diff between two arbitrary references.

Practical examples

What changed in the merge commit?

Bash
git log --merges --oneline -5            # find a merge
git show abc1234 --stat

Recover an old version of a file

Bash
git log --oneline -- path/to/file.js     # find the version
git show 1f9ab2c:path/to/file.js > path/to/file.js
git add path/to/file.js
git commit -m "Restore old version of file.js"

Read a commit message only

Bash
git show --no-patch --pretty=fuller HEAD
Shorthand: ^ and ~
`HEAD~5` is five commits before HEAD, following the first parent. `HEAD^` is the first parent of HEAD; `HEAD^2` is the second parent (only meaningful on a merge commit).
Tip
Combine `git log --oneline | head` with `git show` for fast exploration of recent history. Once you have the SHA, paste it into git show to see the full story.