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Add blog post for git wrapper script
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‎src/pages/blog/bash-script-before-reading-code.md‎

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---
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path: /blog/bash-script-before-reading-code
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title: 'The Bash Script I Use Before Reading Any Code'
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date: '2026-06-19'
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---
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I saw this awesome blog post [The Git Commands I Run Before Reading Any Code](https://piechowski.io/post/git-commands-before-reading-code/) detailing some git commands to help you navigate a new code base. Well, I decided to make a wrapper bash script around those commands.
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## The Script
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Create a file `git-investigate` (no extension), mark it as executable (`chmod +x git-investigate`), and then add `git-investigate` to your `PATH`.
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This automatically registers the git subcommand `git investigate COMMAND`.
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```bash
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#!/usr/bin/env bash
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# A git subcommand for investigating a new code base
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#
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# Credit to https://piechowski.io/post/git-commands-before-reading-code/ for the original git commands
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set -euo pipefail
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FIRST_ARG=${1:-""}
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limit=${LIMIT:-20}
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since=${SINCE:-1 year ago}
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echoerr() { printf "%s\n" "$*" >&2; }
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if [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "churn" ]; then
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echoerr "A sorted list of most changed files in a given period of time"
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echoerr ""
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git log --format=format: --name-only --since="$since" | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -$limit
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elif [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "contributors" ]; then
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git shortlog -sn --no-merges
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elif [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "bugs" ]; then
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echoerr "A sorted list of files with commits related to bugs or fixes"
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echoerr ""
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git log -i -E --grep="fix|bug|broken" --name-only --format='' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr | head -$limit
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elif [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "velocity" ]; then
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echoerr "A sorted list of commit counts by month"
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echoerr ""
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git log --format='%ad' --date=format:'%Y-%m' | sort | uniq -c
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elif [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "firefighting" ]; then
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echoerr "A list commits relating to reverts, hotfixes, emergencies, or rollbacks"
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echoerr ""
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git log --oneline --since="$since" | grep -iE 'revert|hotfix|emergency|rollback'
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elif [ "$FIRST_ARG" = "credit-to" ]; then
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echoerr "Credit To:"
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echoerr ""
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echo "https://piechowski.io/post/git-commands-before-reading-code/"
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else
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echo "Usage: $0 {churn|contributors|bugs|velocity|firefighting|credit-to}"
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echo ""
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echo "Commands"
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echo ""
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echo "- churn: A sorted list of most changed files in a given period of time"
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echo "- contributors: A sorted list of the most active committers"
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echo "- bugs: A sorted list of files with commits related to bugs or fixes"
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echo "- velocity: A sorted list of commit counts by month"
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echo "- firefighting: A list commits relating to reverts, hotfixes, emergencies, or rollbacks"
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echo "- credit-to: Link to the original blog post detailing these git commands"
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echo ""
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echo "Environment Variables"
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echo ""
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echo "LIMIT -- Limits the number of results in 'churn' and 'bugs'"
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echo "SINCE -- Filters result by a natural time string e.g. 1 year ago in 'churn' and 'firefighting'"
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exit 1
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fi
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```
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## Usage
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```bash
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cd myproject
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git investigate
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# Usage: git-investigate {churn|contributors|bugs|velocity|reverts-by-month|credit-to}
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# Commands
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# - churn: A sorted list of most changed files in a given period of time
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# - contributors: A sorted list of the most active committers
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# - bugs: A sorted list of files with commits related to bugs or fixes
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# - velocity: A sorted list of commit counts by month
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# - reverts-by-month: A list of revert commit count by month
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# - credit-to: Link to the original blog post detailing these git commands
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# Environment Variables
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# LIMIT -- Limits the number of results in 'churn' and 'bugs'
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# SINCE -- Filters result by a natural time string e.g. 1 year ago in 'churn' and 'reverts-by-month'
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SINCE='10 years ago' LIMIT=10 git investigate churn
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# A sorted list of most changed files in a given period of time
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# 75
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# 17 src/pages/about.js
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# 14 src/layouts/index.js
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# 11 src/pages/talks.js
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# 10 src/pages/projects.js
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# 7 src/html.js
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# 7 package-lock.json
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# 5 yarn.lock
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# 4 src/pages/training.js
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# 4 src/components/nav-menu.js
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git investigate contributors
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# 70 Kylee Tilley
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# 2 dependabot[bot]
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LIMIT=10 git investigate bugs
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# A sorted list of files with commits related to bugs or fixes
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# 7 src/pages/about.js
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# 4 src/layouts/index.js
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# 3 src/pages/talks.js
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# 1 src/pages/projects.js
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# 1 src/pages/index.js
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# 1 src/pages/blog.js
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# 1 src/components/nav-menu.js
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# 1 src/components/header.js
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# 1 package-lock.json
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# 1 gatsby-node.js
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git investigate velocity
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# A sorted list of commit counts by month
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# 1 2018-07
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# 2 2019-08
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# 7 2019-11
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# 3 2020-02
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# 2 2020-03
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# 1 2020-05
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# 15 2022-12
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# 4 2023-05
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# 1 2024-07
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# 40 2025-02
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SINCE='10 years ago' git investigate firefighting
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# A list commits relating to reverts, hotfixes, emergencies, or rollbacks
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# e60c355 Revert "Upgrade npm dependencies"
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git investigate credit-to
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# Credit To:
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# https://piechowski.io/post/git-commands-before-reading-code/
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```

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