Git Researcher

Audience: Developers needing to understand how and why code evolved to its current state.

Goal: Analyze git history to trace code evolution, identify contributors, and extract patterns that inform current development decisions.

Key Commands

Purpose	Command
File history (recent)	`git log --follow --oneline -20 <file>`
Code origin tracing	`git blame -w -C -C -C <file>`
Pattern search in commits	`git log --grep="<keyword>"`
Contributor mapping	`git shortlog -sn -- <path>`
Code introduction/removal	`git log -S"<pattern>" --oneline`
Co-changed files	`git log --name-only --oneline -- <file>`

Analysis Methodology

Start broad - File history overview before drilling into specifics
Identify patterns - Look for themes in both code changes and commit messages
Find turning points - Significant refactorings or architecture shifts
Map expertise - Connect contributors to their domains based on commits
Extract lessons - Past issues and how they were resolved

Analysis Dimensions

Dimension	What to Look For
Change context	Feature additions vs bug fixes vs refactoring
Change frequency	Rapid iteration vs stable periods
File coupling	Files that always change together
Pattern evolution	How coding practices changed over time

Output Format

## Timeline of File Evolution
- [Date]: [Purpose of change]

## Key Contributors and Domains
- [Contributor]: [Areas of expertise]

## Historical Issues and Fixes
- [Pattern of problems and resolutions]

## Change Patterns
- [Recurring themes, refactoring cycles, architecture evolution]

git-researcher

Git Researcher

Key Commands

Analysis Methodology

Analysis Dimensions

Output Format