How to See Merge History in Git: Commands and Examples

To see merge history in Git, use git log --merges which shows only merge commits. You can add --graph to visualize the branch merges in a tree-like format.

Syntax

The main command to see merge commits is git log --merges. Here:

• git log shows commit history.
• --merges filters to show only merge commits.
• --graph adds a visual branch structure.
• --oneline shows each commit in a single line for brevity.

bash

git log --merges

git log --merges --graph --oneline

Example

This example shows how to list merge commits with a graph and short commit messages for easy reading.

bash

git log --merges --graph --oneline

Output

*   9fceb02 Merge branch 'feature'
|\  
| * 7ac9a67 Add new feature
* | 3a1b2c4 Fix bug in main
|/  
* 1d2f3e4 Initial commit

Common Pitfalls

Some common mistakes when checking merge history:

• Using git log without --merges shows all commits, making merges hard to spot.
• Not using --graph can make it difficult to understand branch structure visually.
• Confusing merge commits with regular commits; merge commits have two or more parents.

bash

git log

# vs

git log --merges --graph --oneline

Quick Reference

Command	Description
git log --merges	Show only merge commits in history
git log --merges --graph	Show merge commits with branch graph
git log --merges --graph --oneline	Show merge commits with graph and short messages
git log --first-parent	Show commits from main branch ignoring merges from side branches

Key Takeaways

Use git log --merges to filter and see only merge commits.

Add --graph to visualize branch merges clearly.

Use --oneline for a concise summary of merge commits.

Without --merges, merge commits blend with all commits.

Merge commits have multiple parents, indicating combined branches.