I have deleted a file or some code in a file sometime in the past. Can I search through the content (not just the commit messages)?
A very poor solution is to grep the log:
git log -p | grep <pattern>
However, this doesn't return the commit hash straight away. I played around with git grep to no avail.
You should use the pickaxe (-S) option of git log.
To search for Foo:
git log -SFoo -- path_containing_change
git log -SFoo --since=2009.1.1 --until=2010.1.1 -- path_containing_change
See Git history - find lost line by keyword for more.
-S (named pickaxe) comes originally from a git diff option (Git v0.99, May 2005).
Then -S (pickaxe) was ported to git log in May 2006 with Git 1.4.0-rc1.
As Jakub Narębski commented:
this looks for differences that introduce or remove an instance of <string>.
It usually means "revisions where you added or removed line with 'Foo'".
the --pickaxe-regex option allows you to use extended POSIX regex instead of searching for a string.
Example (from git log): git log -S"frotz\(nitfol" --pickaxe-regex
As Rob commented, this search is case-sensitive - he opened a follow-up question on how to search case-insensitive.
Hi Angel notes in the comments:
Executing a
git log -G<regexp> --branches --all(the-Gis same as-Sbut for regexes) does same thing as the accepted one (git grep <regexp> $(git rev-list --all)), but it soooo much faster!The accepted answer was still searching for text after ≈10 minutes of me running it, whereas this one gives results after ≈4 seconds 🤷♂️. The output here is more useful as well