SaltyCrane Blog

Notes on Python, Django, and web development on Ubuntu Linux

Colorized, interactive "git blame" in Emacs: vc-annotate

Date: May 28, 2011 | Tags: emacs, git | 4 Comments

A few months ago, I learned that vc-annotate displays a nicely colorized git blame in Emacs. Today I learned that it is also interactive. I can cycle through revisions using p and n, open the file at a specified revision with f, view the log with l, and show a diff with d or changeset diff with D. (Unfortunately, the diff is ugly and not in color.)

vc-annotate is included with Emacs. To use, open a version controlled file, and type C-x v g or M-x vc-annotate

I am using Emacs 23.1 on Ubuntu Maverick

My Emacs Python environment — posted 2010-05-10
Emacs espresso-mode for jQuery — posted 2010-03-10
Notes on C++ development with Emacs on Ubuntu Linux — posted 2009-07-08
Creating remote server nicknames with .ssh/config — posted 2008-11-20
Emacs notes — posted 2008-11-03

4 Comments — Comments feed for this post

#1 Harsh commented on 2011-05-29:

I gotta start using Emacs. This is nice!

#2 Huseyin Yilmaz commented on 2011-05-29:

I find version control support of emacs hard to use. So, I prefer command line interface all the time. But I really could use that one. Specially browsing the history with p and n is awesome.

#3 calimocho commented on 2011-09-08:

This makes me fall in love with emacs all over again.

Great tip!

#4 adam commented on 2011-11-08:

@Huseyin

If you use git then try magit. Magit is by far my favorite thing in emacs (which there are alot of things to like).

Magit changed the way I develop.

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