Automatically aggregate git commit messages daily into markdown logs
Project description
Captain's Log
Automatically aggregate your git commit messages daily into markdown logs, grouped by repository and project.
Installation
From PyPI (Recommended for Users)
Install Captain's Log from PyPI:
# Using pip
pip install git-captains-log
# Or using uv (recommended)
uv pip install git-captains-log
Then run the setup command:
captains-log setup
This will configure Git hooks, create config files, and set everything up.
See INSTALLATION.md for detailed installation instructions.
From Source (For Development)
Use the automated installation script:
git clone git@github.com:koradon/captains-log.git
cd to/cloned/repo
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh
The install.sh script will:
- Create necessary directories (
~/.captains-logand~/.git-hooks) - Copy
update_log.pyandcommit-msghook to the right locations - Install the
btwandwtfcommands globally (accessible from anywhere) - Set proper executable permissions
- Create a default
config.ymlfile - Configure global git hooks path
- Check for Python 3 and install PyYAML if needed
Pre-commit Integration (Optional)
If you use pre-commit in your repositories and want to keep both your global Captain's Log hooks and per-repo pre-commit hooks working together:
# After running install.sh
chmod +x install-with-precommit.sh
./install-with-precommit.sh
This will:
- Install global hook wrappers that run pre-commit first (when
.pre-commit-config.yamlexists) - Then run Captain's Log afterwards
- Preserve your existing
core.hooksPathconfiguration - Work seamlessly with repos that don't use pre-commit
Note: With pre-commit integration, you don't need to run pre-commit install in individual repositories. The global hooks will automatically invoke pre-commit when a repo has .pre-commit-config.yaml.
Manual Installation
If you prefer to install manually:
- Clone or download Captain's Log:
git clone git@github.com:koradon/captains-log.git ~/.captains-log
cd ~/.captains-log
- Install dependencies
pip install pyyaml
- Configure your projects and global log repo in
~/.captains-log/config.yml
global_log_repo: /path/to/global/log-repo
projects:
work-repos:
root: /path/to/work/repos/work-repos
private-tools:
root: /path/to/private/repos/tools
log_repo: /path/to/private-tools/log-repo
- Setup Git hooks globally:
mkdir -p ~/.git-hooks
cp ~/.captains-log/commit-msg ~/.git-hooks/
chmod +x ~/.git-hooks/commit-msg
git config --global core.hooksPath ~/.git-hooks
- Make the Python script executable:
chmod +x ~/.captains-log/update_log.py
Development Setup
This project uses UV for dependency management and Just for command running. To set up the development environment:
- Install UV if you haven't already:
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
- Install Just if you haven't already:
# macOS
brew install just
# Linux
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://just.systems/install.sh | bash
# Or with cargo
cargo install just
- Install development dependencies:
just install-test
- Run tests:
just test
- Run tests with coverage:
just test-cov
- Clean up generated files:
just clean
- Run specific tests:
just test-file test_update_log.py
just test-pattern "load_config"
Usage
Automatic Git Commit Logging
After setup, every git commit you make will update a daily markdown log file inside the configured log repository/directories.
Logs are grouped by repository name under each project, with a date-based file (e.g., 2025-08-11.md).
Manual Log Entries with btw and wtf Commands
btw Command - Log What You Did
The btw (By The Way) command allows you to add manual entries to your daily logs from anywhere on your system:
btw "Reviewed the new API documentation"
btw "Had a productive meeting about the architecture"
btw "Fixed a bug that wasn't committed yet"
wtf Command - Log Issues and Problems
The wtf (What The Fault) command allows you to log issues, bugs, and weird behavior in the "What Broke or Got Weird" section:
wtf "API endpoint started returning 500 errors"
wtf "Database connection timeout after 10 minutes"
wtf "Tests failing intermittently on CI"
How They Work:
- Smart Project Detection: Uses the same project detection logic as git commits
- If you're in a configured project directory → logs to that project
- If not configured → uses the current directory name as project
- Different Sections:
btwentries appear in the "What I did" section under "## other"wtfentries appear in the "What Broke or Got Weird" section
- Same Infrastructure: Uses your existing Captain's Log configuration and repositories
Examples:
# From within your configured project directory
cd ~/work/my-project
btw "Completed code review for new feature"
# → Adds to my-project's daily log under "What I did" → "## other"
wtf "Found memory leak in background worker"
# → Adds to my-project's daily log under "What Broke or Got Weird" → "## other"
# From any directory
cd ~/Downloads
btw "Downloaded and reviewed the client requirements"
# → Adds to Downloads project log under "What I did"
Installation:
Both commands are automatically installed with the main Captain's Log installation:
- Accessible globally from any directory
- Installed to
~/.local/bin/btwand~/.local/bin/wtf(ensure~/.local/binis in your PATH) - No additional setup required after running
install.sh
Log Format:
Your daily logs will show git commits by repository in "What I did", followed by a flat list in "What Broke or Got Weird":
# What I did
## repository-name
- (abc1234) Actual git commit message
## other-repo
- (def5678) Another git commit
## other
- Manual entry added with btw command
- Another manual note
# Whats next
# What Broke or Got Weird
- Issue logged with wtf command
- Another problem to investigate
Testing
To test if your installation is working correctly:
Basic Captain's Log Test
python3 test_hook.py
This will simulate a commit and show you if the log update is working properly.
Pre-commit Integration Test
If you installed pre-commit integration, test the dispatcher:
python3 test_hook_precommit.py
This will test that the hook dispatcher correctly runs pre-commit (if configured) followed by Captain's Log.
Troubleshooting
Hook not running
- Make sure you've run
install.shand it completed successfully - Check that
git config --global core.hooksPathpoints to~/.git-hooks - Verify the
commit-msgfile exists in~/.git-hooks/and is executable
Pre-commit integration issues
- Ensure you ran
install.shbeforeinstall-with-precommit.sh - Check that both
commit-msgandcommit-msg-precommitexist in~/.git-hooks/ - If pre-commit errors occur, verify you have pre-commit installed:
pip install pre-commit - The integration only runs pre-commit in repos with
.pre-commit-config.yaml
Script not found errors
- Ensure
update_log.pywas copied to~/.captains-log/ - Check that the script has execute permissions:
chmod +x ~/.captains-log/update_log.py
Permission errors
- Make sure both the hook and script are executable
- Check that your user has write access to the log directories
Conflicting with existing pre-commit setup
If you previously used pre-commit install in repositories:
- You can safely leave existing
.git/hooks/as they won't be used (globalcore.hooksPathtakes precedence) - Or clean them up with
pre-commit uninstallin each repo if you prefer
btw or wtf command not found
If the btw or wtf commands are not accessible:
- Ensure
~/.local/binis in your PATH:echo $PATH | grep ~/.local/bin - Add to your shell profile if missing:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc - Verify the symlinks exist:
ls -la ~/.local/bin/btw ~/.local/bin/wtf - Re-run the installation if needed:
./install.sh
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