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Git history

← All terms · Git fundamentals

Also called Commit history, Repository history

The recorded sequence of commits in a repository, including earlier versions of files that may no longer exist in the current working tree.

What it is

Git history is the chain of commits that records how a repository changed over time. Deleting a file does not remove its earlier contents from history, and adding a path to `.gitignore` afterward does nothing retroactively. If a secret was committed, the old commit can still expose it even after the file disappears from the latest version.

How it relates to Orbit

Orbit shows recent commits and uses Git reachability to report a prompt’s integration state. See /docs/reference/git-tab/ for details.

When you would use it

You inspect Git history during incident response, code review, or cleanup whenever sensitive data may have been committed, because the current checkout is only one snapshot of the repository.

Common operations

  • Inspecting commits and earlier file versions when tracing a change or investigating a leak.
  • Checking whether a credential appeared in a commit before deciding that deleting the current file was enough.

Related terms

Where this is taught

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