log.md

Structured full-history logs

Repository::log combines the bounded topological revision walker with typed tree diffs and optional Git-style patches. It returns LogEntry records rather than preformatted terminal text, so Rust callers can render or index history without reparsing output.

# use git_rs::{LogOptions, ObjectId, Repository};
# fn example(repository: &Repository, tip: ObjectId) -> git_rs::Result<()> {
let entries = repository.log(
    &[tip],
    &[],
    &LogOptions {
        paths: vec![b"src".to_vec()],
        show_patch: true,
        ..LogOptions::default()
    },
)?;
for entry in entries {
    println!("{}", entry.id());
}
# Ok(())
# }

Path selection is literal and byte-preserving. A selected directory matches itself and descendants, with component boundaries enforced. A commit is kept when the selected paths differ from at least one parent; roots compare against the empty tree. This is Git's full-history model: parentage is not rewritten or collapsed. max_count is applied after path filtering, matching log output limiting rather than prematurely truncating graph discovery.

Path-filtered records retain their typed LogParentDiff changes even without rendered output. With show_patch, root and single-parent commits also carry patch bytes. Merge patch bytes are suppressed by default, as in ordinary git log -p; enable diff_merges for a patch per parent (git log -m). Rename detection and Myers limits come from DiffOptions. max_patch_bytes bounds the aggregate rendered output in addition to graph, object, line, and trace bounds.

All reads use the configured abstract filesystem. Logging a bare repository, an in-memory clone, or a hybrid object/ref adapter follows the same code path.

The host-backed example accepts an optional literal path, --patch, and --diff-merges:

cargo run --example log -- repository HEAD src --patch

Git source comparison

• revision.c full-history traversal retains parentage while using tree differences for path relevance.
• log-tree.c:log_tree_diff compares roots against the empty tree and commits against selected parents.
• builtin/log.c suppresses ordinary merge patches unless a merge-diff format such as separate-parent -m is selected.
• diff.c pathspec filtering applies old and new rename sides; this API uses literal component-prefix selection on the corresponding typed paths.