GIT-WHATCHANGED(1)

📦
version 2.56.0 · 25 versions
, in arch rolling

💅 GIT-WHATCHANGED(1) 💅

okay so real talk — this is a page from the Git Manual, and the command is git-whatchanged. she's a legacy icon, and we're gonna talk about her. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

git-whatchanged — shows logs with the differences that each commit introduces 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

git whatchanged <option>...

literally just the command plus whatever options you want, bestie. <option>... means as many as you like.

💀 WARNING 💀

git whatchanged has been deprecated and is scheduled for removal in a future version of Git. why? because she is merely git log with different defaults. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 😭

so like… use her if you must, but know she's on her way out. no cap.

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

she shows commit logs and the diff output that each commit introduces. both. at once. multitasking queen 👑

New users are encouraged to use git-log(1) instead. fr fr, go read git-log(1). because the way that whatchanged works is that she's essentially the same as git-log(1), except she defaults to showing the raw format diff output and skipping merges:

git log --raw --no-merges

that's it. that's the difference. iconic but redundant 💅

the reason she even exists? historical reasons. the command is primarily kept around because the fingers of many people who learned Git long before git log was invented — back when they were reading the Linux kernel mailing list — are literally trained to type it. muscle memory is real, bestie. 🫶

🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

okay here's where she eats. two examples, both gorgeous:

  • git whatchanged -p v2.6.12.. include/scsi drivers/scsi shows, as patches, the commits since version v2.6.12 that changed any file in the include/scsi or drivers/scsi subdirectories. 🍓
  • git whatchanged --since="2 weeks ago" -- gitk shows the changes during the last two weeks to the file gitk. and note — the -- is necessary to avoid confusion with the branch named gitk. don't skip it, or things get weird 🙈

👑 GIT 👑

part of the git(1) suite, as all the best ones are. ⭐

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okay that's the whole page!! she's Git 2.56.0, dated 2026-09-27, and this manual page is GIT-WHATCHANGED(1) — go forth, type your legacy commands, and remember: git log --raw --no-merges is your bestie now. 🌈✨💜

📦 where this page comes from