Git Logger

The Git Logger CLI is a tool for creating a public contribution history from private Git repositories. It allows you to export commit metadata from private repositories and generate empty commits in another repository, preserving the original authored dates and enabling you to create a transparent contribution history.

Table of Contents

• Git Logger CLI
• Table of Contents
• Features
• Installation
• Commands
  • gitlogger
  • gitlogger export
  • gitlogger generate
• Hiding Private Information
• Replace vs Append
• JSON Commit File
• Troubleshooting

Features

• Export commits from one repository, many repositories, or glob-matched repository folders.
• Filter exported commits by author name, author email, commit message, date range, and HEAD versus all refs.
• Write a portable JSON commits file that records the original sources and export filters.
• Generate empty commits that preserve authored dates for contribution history.
• Customize generated commit messages with a format string.
• Hide author names and/or emails from generated Git metadata.
• Append only new generated commits by default.
• Replace the generated branch when you want the branch to exactly match the current commits file.
• Create a backup branch before modifying an existing target branch.
• Optionally push the generated branch after generation.

Installation

1. Make sure pip is installed on your system.
2. Run the following command:

   pip install gitlogger-cli
   

[!TIP] See here for more details on installing packages.

Commands

Git Logger has two main commands: export and generate.

gitlogger

Usage

gitlogger [-h] {export|generate} ...

gitlogger export

Exports commit metadata from one or more Git repositories into a JSON commits file.

Usage

gitlogger export -s <source> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Default	Description
-s, --source <path-or-glob>	Yes	None	Source Git repository path or glob pattern. Can be repeated.
-o, --output <file>	No	commits.json	JSON commits file to write.
-n, --name <name>	No	Repository folder name	Override the exported source name. Only valid when --source resolves to one repository.
-a, --author <regex>	No	None	Case-insensitive regex filter for author name.
-e, --email <regex>	No	None	Case-insensitive regex filter for author email.
-m, --message <regex>	No	None	Case-insensitive regex filter for the full commit message.
-S, --since <date>	No	None	Only include commits after this Git date expression.
-U, --until <date>	No	None	Only include commits before this Git date expression.
--all-refs	No	false	Export commits reachable from all refs instead of only HEAD.

Examples

Export a single repository:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private-repo" -o ".\gitlogger-commits.json"

Export every Git repository in a folder:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" -o ".\gitlogger-commits.json"

Export multiple specific sources:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private-app" -s "C:\src\private-library" -o ".\gitlogger-commits.json"

Export only commits from your email:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" -e "you@example.com"

Export only commits from a specific date range:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" -S "2025-01-01" -U "2025-12-31"

Export commits whose messages match certain work types:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" -m "feature|fix|refactor|test"

Export commits from all branches and refs:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" --all-refs

Override the source name for one repository:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private-client-project" --name "Client Project"

gitlogger generate

Generates empty commits in a target repository from a JSON commits file.

[!NOTE] Before modifying an existing branch, gitlogger creates a backup branch providing a recovery point if the generated commits are incorrect or if the branch is replaced unintentionally.

Usage

gitlogger generate [options]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Default	Description
-r, --repo <path>	No	.	Target Git repository to update.
-i, --input <file>	No	commits.json	JSON commits file to read.
-b, --branch <branch>	No	Current branch	Target branch to update.
--remote <name>	No	origin	Remote used when --push is set.
-c, --committer-email <email>	No	Source author email	Override the committer email. This can help GitHub attribute commits to the correct account.
-p, --push	No	false	Push to the remote repository immediately after generating commits.
--replace	No	false	Replace the target branch instead of appending new generated commits.
-x, --exclude <author-email>	No	None	Generated Git metadata to omit. Available values are author and email. Can accept multiple values and can be repeated.
-f, --format <format>	No	{source} | {subject}\n\n{message}	Format string for generated commit messages.

Examples

Generate into the current repository and current branch:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json"

Generate into a specific repository and branch:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main"

Append new commits only:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main"

Replace the branch from the input file:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main" --replace

Push after generating:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main" --push

Use a specific committer email:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -c "you@example.com"

Commit Message Format

The default generated commit message format is:

{source} | {subject}

{message}

Available fields:

Field	Description
{source}	Exported source name. Usually the repository folder name, unless overridden with --name.
{sourcePath}	Full path to the source repository. Usually private; avoid in public output.
{hash}	Full original source commit hash.
{hash12}	First 12 characters of the original source commit hash.
{authoredAt}	Original authored timestamp.
{subject}	Original commit subject line.
{message}	Original commit body, excluding the subject line. Empty when no body exists.
{author}	Original author name, unless excluded with --exclude author.
{email}	Original author email, unless excluded with --exclude email.

Format Examples

Show source and subject:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{source} | {subject}"

Show only the original subject:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{subject}"

Show a short source hash for traceability:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{subject} [{hash12}]"

Show author and subject:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{author}: {subject}"

Avoid exposing local source paths:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{sourcePath} | {subject}"

This is usually not recommended for public branches because it can reveal local folder names, usernames, company names, client names, or internal project paths.

Multi-line Formats

--format is interpreted after your shell parses it. gitlogger does not convert the characters \n into a newline by itself.

PowerShell:

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --format "{source} | {subject}`n`n{message}"

Bash:

gitlogger generate -i "./gitlogger-commits.json" --format $'{source} | {subject}\n\n{message}'

Hiding Private Information

There are two main tools for privacy during generation:

1. --exclude controls generated Git metadata.
2. --format controls generated commit message text.

Use both when you want clean public commits.

Hide author metadata by replacing it with a generic fallback.

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --exclude author

Hide email metadata by replacing it with a generic fallback.

gitlogger generate -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" --exclude email

Avoid Leaking Data Through --format

{author}, email, {source}, {sourcePath}, {hash}, and {message} may reveal information depending on your source history.

For the safest public output, avoid these fields unless you have reviewed them:

{sourcePath}
{email}
{author}
{message}
{hash}

A safer public format is:

gitlogger generate --exclude author email --format "{subject}"

--replace vs Append

By default, gitlogger appends only missing commits. This means it keeps existing generated commits and skips any exported commits already present on the branch.

Use the default append behavior when:

• You already generated a branch before.
• You exported more recent commits and only want to add the new ones.
• You do not want to rewrite public history.
• You are running gitlogger as part of a regular update process.

Example:

gitlogger export -s "C:\src\private\*" -o ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -e "you@example.com"
gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main"

Use --replace when:

• You changed the --format and want every generated commit message rebuilt.
• You changed --exclude and want old exposed metadata removed.
• You changed export filters and want deleted commits removed from the generated branch.
• You want the target branch to exactly match the current commits file.
• You are intentionally rebuilding a generated branch before publishing it.

Example:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -i ".\gitlogger-commits.json" -b "main" -x author email -f "{subject}" --replace

If the branch already exists, gitlogger creates a backup branch before replacing it.

JSON Commit File

The commits file contains the exported data used by generate.

Example:

{
  "$schema": "gitlogger.schema.json",
  "generated_at": "2026-05-20T00:00:00+00:00",
  "filters": {
    "source": ["C:\\src\\private\\*"],
    "name": null,
    "author": null,
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "message": null,
    "since": "2025-01-01",
    "until": null,
    "all_refs": false
  },
  "commits": [
    {
      "id": "stable-dedupe-id",
      "source": "private-repo",
      "sourcePath": "C:\\src\\private\\private-repo",
      "hash": "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567",
      "authored_at": "2026-05-20T12:34:56+00:00",
      "author_name": "Your Name",
      "author_email": "you@example.com",
      "subject": "Original private commit subject",
      "message": "Optional commit body after the first line."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "private-repo",
      "path": "C:\\src\\private\\private-repo"
    }
  ]
}

[!IMPORTANT] The JSON file is not automatically sanitized. It records the exported source metadata so generation can be customized later. Do not commit the JSON file to a public repository unless you have reviewed it and are comfortable exposing its contents.

Troubleshooting

No Git repositories matched --source.

The path or glob did not resolve to any Git repositories. Check that the folders exist and contain .git directories.

--name can only be used when --source resolves to one repository.

--name gives one source name to one repository. If your source glob resolves to multiple repositories, remove --name or export that repository separately.

Could not determine current branch. Pass --branch explicitly.

The target repository is probably in detached HEAD state or has no current branch. Pass --branch explicitly:

gitlogger generate -b "main"

Unknown message format field

The format string contains a field gitlogger does not recognize. Use only these fields:

{source}, {sourcePath}, {subject}, {message}, {hash}, {hash12}, {author}, {email}, {authoredAt}

Generated commits still reveal private information

Check both Git metadata and commit message formatting.

Use:

gitlogger generate --replace --exclude author email --format "{subject}"

Then review:

git log --format=fuller

--push pushed to the wrong place

--push uses --remote, which defaults to origin, and pushes the target branch ref. Use --remote and --branch explicitly when publishing:

gitlogger generate -r "C:\src\public-history" -b "main" --remote "origin" --push