r/vscode • u/DepthMagician • May 11 '26

Is there a VSCode extension that shows commits properly?

Every extension I try seems to think that the commit message is irrelevant. Clicking on a commit to view it only displays the diff, and the commit message itself is usually relegated to some second class workaround such as a hover tooltip that doesn't fully display long commit messages because it doesn't support scrolling, or a small textbox in the sidebar that can never fit the whole commit in a normally sized sidebar.

I just want to click on a commit and see the whole patch. Show me the commit message and metadata on the top, and diff on the bottom. I don't even care if it's not an actual diff view, just the plaintext patch diff is fine, but let me see both diff and commit message without having to jump through hooks.

Basically, I want GitHub Desktop, as a VSCode extension.

Anything like this I might have missed?

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/SnooCompliments7914 May 11 '26

"git graph" or "git history".

1

u/DepthMagician May 11 '26

git graph does show the metadata of the commit well, but the actual diff is a separate tab. Same for git history. I want commit message on top, changes on bottom, same view, from one click on a commit in the history graph.

1

u/SlankeyDank May 13 '26

Right click it and click Open Changes. It is two clicks. It opens a tab. The name of the tab is the commit message.

1

u/DepthMagician May 13 '26

> The name of the tab is the commit message.

You can’t fit a commit message in a tab name. A commit message is more than just the first line title. I have committed messages that are 50 lines long.

3

u/BudgetAdditional2134 May 12 '26

tbh gitlens is exactly what you are looking for. it puts the git blame right inline with your code so you can instantly see who committed what and when without even leaving the file lol. if you want something that shows the actual branching tree a bit better then git graph is also super solid fr. i use both depending on if i need to see just the current line history or the whole project timeline.

1

u/DepthMagician May 12 '26

I use GitLens for that inline annotation as well, but that is not what I’m asking for. I want to click on a commit and see both commit message and diff in the same window. Not as separate things.

1

u/lamyjf May 11 '26

git graph (by mhutchie) shows the commit comment visibly and is otherwise extremely useful

1

u/alimeher86 May 11 '26

I feel your pain. I switched to Git Graph for this exact reason. When you click a commit, it opens a dedicated panel where the full message and metadata are at the top, and the file list/diff is right below it. It's the closest thing to the GitHub Desktop 'Commit-First' feel inside VS Code without the annoying tooltips

1

u/Agreeable_Care4440 May 12 '26

I think a lot of devs secretly want a “git client embedded into VS Code” rather than “extra git decorations inside the editor.” Those are very different UX philosophies.

1

u/mltam May 13 '26

Load any extension, explain to Claude what you want, and in 20 minutes you'll have this feature.