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DocumentationTools Referencedev_history

dev_history

Semantic search over git commit history.

Overview

dev_history provides intelligent access to git history that goes beyond git log --grep:

  • Semantic search — Find commits by meaning, not just text matching
  • File history — Track file changes with rename detection
  • Issue/PR refs — Extracted from commit messages
  • Token-budgeted — Output fits within specified limits

This helps AI assistants understand who changed what and why.

Parameters

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
querystring-Semantic search query (required for search mode)
filestring-File path for history (required for file mode)
mode"search" | "file""search"Search commits or get file history
limitnumber20Maximum commits to return
sincestring-Start date (ISO format or relative like “30 days ago”)
untilstring-End date (ISO format or relative)
authorstring-Filter by author name or email
tokenBudgetnumber2000Max tokens for output
format"compact" | "verbose""compact"Output format

Example Output

dev_history: { query: "authentication token fix" }
# Git History: "authentication token fix"
 
## Commits (5 results)
 
### 1. [92%] Fix JWT token refresh race condition
**Hash:** `a1b2c3d` | **Author:** alice | **Date:** 2024-01-15
**Files:** `src/auth/token.ts`, `src/auth/refresh.ts`
**Refs:** #42, PR #45
 
Resolved issue where concurrent token refreshes could cause duplicate sessions.
 
---
 
### 2. [87%] Add token expiry validation
**Hash:** `e4f5g6h` | **Author:** bob | **Date:** 2024-01-10
**Files:** `src/auth/validate.ts`
**Refs:** #38
 
Added middleware to check token expiration before processing requests.

File History

dev_history: { mode: "file", file: "src/auth/middleware.ts" }
# File History: src/auth/middleware.ts
 
## Changes (8 commits)
 
| Date | Author | Message | Lines |
|------|--------|---------|-------|
| 2024-01-15 | alice | Fix JWT token refresh race condition | +12 -5 |
| 2024-01-10 | bob | Add token expiry validation | +45 -0 |
| 2024-01-05 | alice | Refactor auth middleware for clarity | +20 -35 |
| 2023-12-20 | carol | Initial authentication middleware | +150 -0 |

How It Works

  1. Indexing — Commit messages are embedded and stored in vector storage
  2. Semantic search — Queries are embedded and matched against commit embeddings
  3. File history — Uses git log --follow for rename tracking
  4. Reference extraction — Parses #123, fixes #42, PR #45 from messages

Use Cases

Find commits related to the database connection pooling issue

Understanding Prior Work

What changes were made to authentication in the last month?

Tracking File Evolution

Show me the history of src/core/indexer.ts

Finding Bug Fixes

Find commits that fixed memory leaks

Tips

  • Use natural language — “JWT refresh bug” not “fix: jwt”
  • Combine with dev_plan — Related commits are included automatically
  • Check file history — Before major refactors, understand the evolution
  • Filter by author — Find changes by specific team members
  • dev_plan — Includes related commits in context
  • dev_map — Shows change frequency indicators
  • dev_search — Search code, not commits
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