getCommitHistory
Retrieve and analyze commit history from a GitHub-hosted Obsidian vault to track changes in notes, ideas, and knowledge base evolution. Filter by author, include diffs, and paginate results for detailed insights.
Instructions
Track the evolution of your Obsidian vault knowledge base by retrieving commit history from GitHub (my-organization/obsidian-vault). See how your notes and ideas have developed over time with detailed diffs.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| author | No | Filter commits by author username | |
| days | Yes | Number of days to look back for commits | |
| includeDiffs | No | Whether to include actual file changes/diffs (default: true) | |
| maxCommits | No | Maximum number of commits to return | |
| page | No | Page number for pagination (0-indexed) |
Implementation Reference
- src/github/client.ts:676-801 (handler)The async handler function implementing the getCommitHistory tool logic. Fetches recent commits using GitHub API, optionally retrieves detailed commit info with file diffs, formats output as structured markdown summary.
async ({ days, includeDiffs = true, author, maxCommits = 25, page = 0, }) => { // Calculate date range const since = new Date(); since.setDate(since.getDate() - days); const sinceISO = since.toISOString(); console.error("sinceISO", sinceISO); // Fetch commits list const commits = await this.handleRequest(async () => { return this.octokit.repos.listCommits({ owner: this.config.owner, repo: this.config.repo, since: sinceISO, // author: author, page: page, per_page: maxCommits, }); }); if (commits.length === 0) { return { content: [ { type: "text" as const, text: `No commits found in the last ${days} days since ${sinceISO}${ author ? ` from author ${author}` : "" }.`, }, ], }; } let formattedOutput = `Found ${ commits.length } commits in the last ${days} days${ author ? ` from ${author}` : "" }:\n\n`; if (includeDiffs) { // Fetch detailed commit information with diffs const detailedCommits = await Promise.all( commits.slice(0, maxCommits).map(async (commit) => { const detailed = await this.handleRequest(async () => { return this.octokit.repos.getCommit({ owner: this.config.owner, repo: this.config.repo, ref: commit.sha, }); }); return detailed; }) ); // Format results with diffs for (const commit of detailedCommits) { const shortSha = commit.sha.substring(0, 7); const commitUrl = `https://github.com/${this.config.owner}/${this.config.repo}/commit/${commit.sha}`; formattedOutput += `## Commit ${shortSha} (${commit.sha})\n`; formattedOutput += `**${commit.commit.message.split("\n")[0]}**\n`; formattedOutput += `Author: ${commit.commit.author?.name} <${commit.commit.author?.email}>\n`; formattedOutput += `Date: ${commit.commit.author?.date}\n`; formattedOutput += `URL: ${commitUrl}\n\n`; if (commit.files && commit.files.length > 0) { formattedOutput += `### Files Changed (${commit.files.length}):\n`; for (const file of commit.files) { const additions = file.additions || 0; const deletions = file.deletions || 0; formattedOutput += `- ${file.filename} (+${additions}, -${deletions})\n`; } formattedOutput += "\n### File Changes:\n\n"; for (const file of commit.files) { formattedOutput += `#### ${file.filename}\n`; if (file.patch) { // Truncate large diffs for readability let patch = file.patch; const maxPatchLength = 8000; // Essay-length for note-taking if (patch.length > maxPatchLength) { patch = `${patch.substring( 0, maxPatchLength )}\n\n... (diff truncated for readability) ...`; } formattedOutput += `\`\`\`diff\n${patch}\n\`\`\`\n\n`; } else { formattedOutput += "_No diff available (binary file or no changes to display)_\n\n"; } } } else { formattedOutput += "No file changes detected.\n\n"; } formattedOutput += "---\n\n"; } } else { // Just show commit metadata without diffs for (const commit of commits) { const shortSha = commit.sha.substring(0, 7); const commitUrl = `https://github.com/${this.config.owner}/${this.config.repo}/commit/${commit.sha}`; formattedOutput += `## Commit ${shortSha}\n`; formattedOutput += `**${commit.commit.message.split("\n")[0]}**\n`; formattedOutput += `Author: ${commit.commit.author?.name} <${commit.commit.author?.email}>\n`; formattedOutput += `Date: ${commit.commit.author?.date}\n`; formattedOutput += `URL: ${commitUrl}\n\n`; } } return { content: [ { type: "text" as const, text: formattedOutput, }, ], }; } - src/github/client.ts:640-669 (schema)Zod input schema defining parameters for getCommitHistory: days (1-365), includeDiffs (bool), author (optional string), maxCommits (1-50), page (number).
{ days: z .number() .min(1) .max(365) .describe("Number of days to look back for commits"), includeDiffs: z .boolean() .optional() .default(true) .describe( "Whether to include actual file changes/diffs (default: true)" ), author: z .string() .optional() .describe("Filter commits by author username"), maxCommits: z .number() .min(1) .max(50) .optional() .default(25) .describe("Maximum number of commits to return"), page: z .number() .optional() .default(0) .describe("Page number for pagination (0-indexed)"), }, - src/github/client.ts:637-802 (registration)MCP server.tool registration for getCommitHistory, specifying name, description, input schema, execution hints, and handler reference.
server.tool( "getCommitHistory", `Track the evolution of your Obsidian vault knowledge base by retrieving commit history from GitHub (${this.config.owner}/${this.config.repo}). See how your notes and ideas have developed over time with detailed diffs.`, { days: z .number() .min(1) .max(365) .describe("Number of days to look back for commits"), includeDiffs: z .boolean() .optional() .default(true) .describe( "Whether to include actual file changes/diffs (default: true)" ), author: z .string() .optional() .describe("Filter commits by author username"), maxCommits: z .number() .min(1) .max(50) .optional() .default(25) .describe("Maximum number of commits to return"), page: z .number() .optional() .default(0) .describe("Page number for pagination (0-indexed)"), }, { readOnlyHint: true, destructiveHint: false, idempotentHint: true, openWorldHint: true, }, async ({ days, includeDiffs = true, author, maxCommits = 25, page = 0, }) => { // Calculate date range const since = new Date(); since.setDate(since.getDate() - days); const sinceISO = since.toISOString(); console.error("sinceISO", sinceISO); // Fetch commits list const commits = await this.handleRequest(async () => { return this.octokit.repos.listCommits({ owner: this.config.owner, repo: this.config.repo, since: sinceISO, // author: author, page: page, per_page: maxCommits, }); }); if (commits.length === 0) { return { content: [ { type: "text" as const, text: `No commits found in the last ${days} days since ${sinceISO}${ author ? ` from author ${author}` : "" }.`, }, ], }; } let formattedOutput = `Found ${ commits.length } commits in the last ${days} days${ author ? ` from ${author}` : "" }:\n\n`; if (includeDiffs) { // Fetch detailed commit information with diffs const detailedCommits = await Promise.all( commits.slice(0, maxCommits).map(async (commit) => { const detailed = await this.handleRequest(async () => { return this.octokit.repos.getCommit({ owner: this.config.owner, repo: this.config.repo, ref: commit.sha, }); }); return detailed; }) ); // Format results with diffs for (const commit of detailedCommits) { const shortSha = commit.sha.substring(0, 7); const commitUrl = `https://github.com/${this.config.owner}/${this.config.repo}/commit/${commit.sha}`; formattedOutput += `## Commit ${shortSha} (${commit.sha})\n`; formattedOutput += `**${commit.commit.message.split("\n")[0]}**\n`; formattedOutput += `Author: ${commit.commit.author?.name} <${commit.commit.author?.email}>\n`; formattedOutput += `Date: ${commit.commit.author?.date}\n`; formattedOutput += `URL: ${commitUrl}\n\n`; if (commit.files && commit.files.length > 0) { formattedOutput += `### Files Changed (${commit.files.length}):\n`; for (const file of commit.files) { const additions = file.additions || 0; const deletions = file.deletions || 0; formattedOutput += `- ${file.filename} (+${additions}, -${deletions})\n`; } formattedOutput += "\n### File Changes:\n\n"; for (const file of commit.files) { formattedOutput += `#### ${file.filename}\n`; if (file.patch) { // Truncate large diffs for readability let patch = file.patch; const maxPatchLength = 8000; // Essay-length for note-taking if (patch.length > maxPatchLength) { patch = `${patch.substring( 0, maxPatchLength )}\n\n... (diff truncated for readability) ...`; } formattedOutput += `\`\`\`diff\n${patch}\n\`\`\`\n\n`; } else { formattedOutput += "_No diff available (binary file or no changes to display)_\n\n"; } } } else { formattedOutput += "No file changes detected.\n\n"; } formattedOutput += "---\n\n"; } } else { // Just show commit metadata without diffs for (const commit of commits) { const shortSha = commit.sha.substring(0, 7); const commitUrl = `https://github.com/${this.config.owner}/${this.config.repo}/commit/${commit.sha}`; formattedOutput += `## Commit ${shortSha}\n`; formattedOutput += `**${commit.commit.message.split("\n")[0]}**\n`; formattedOutput += `Author: ${commit.commit.author?.name} <${commit.commit.author?.email}>\n`; formattedOutput += `Date: ${commit.commit.author?.date}\n`; formattedOutput += `URL: ${commitUrl}\n\n`; } } return { content: [ { type: "text" as const, text: formattedOutput, }, ], }; } );