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log

Decoded git log with full git-log parity.

Overview

mx log decodes the commit history that mx commit encodes. Because mx commit compresses and encodes every commit message through a randomly selected base-d dictionary, raw git log output is unreadable glyphs. mx log reverses the encoding and displays your original messages.

The command has full parity with git log. Every display flag, format preset, and filter option you know from git works here, with transparent decoding applied to every commit message. If you know git log, you know mx log.

The round-trip works because each encoded commit carries a footer tag that identifies the dictionary and compression algorithm used. mx log reads the footer, looks up the dictionary, decompresses the body, and prints the human-readable message.

NOTE: Always use mx log to read commit history. Raw git log will show encoded noise.

Basic usage

Show the last 10 commits (the default):

mx log

Show the last 3 commits using the -N shorthand:

mx log -3

Show the last 20 commits:

mx log -n 20

Show full commit details (hash, author, date, decoded message):

mx log --full

Output formats

mx log supports several display modes. All of them decode encoded messages transparently.

Compact (default)

One line per commit: short hash and decoded subject, truncated to 72 characters. This is the default when no display flag is given.

a1b2c3d fix session export crash on empty JSONL
e4f5g6h add retry logic to sync pull

Full (--full)

Full hash, author, date, and decoded message, styled like git log. If the commit has trailing post-footer content (e.g. a dejavu marker), it is rendered in dim text beneath the decoded message. This is an mx-specific display mode preserved for backward compatibility.

Oneline (--oneline)

One line per commit with short hash, ref decorations (branch/tag names), and decoded subject. Matches git’s --oneline output but with decoded messages.

a1b2c3d (HEAD -> main, origin/main) fix session export crash on empty JSONL
e4f5g6h add retry logic to sync pull

Use --no-decorate to suppress the ref decorations:

mx log --oneline --no-decorate

Format presets

The standard git format presets all work with decoded messages:

  • --format=short – commit hash, author, decoded subject.

  • --format=medium – commit hash, author, date, decoded subject and body. This matches git’s default format.

  • --format=full – commit hash, author, committer, decoded subject and body.

  • --format=fuller – commit hash, author with date, committer with date, decoded subject and body.

These can also be specified with --pretty:

mx log --pretty=fuller -3

Diff output

Attach diff information below each decoded commit header:

# Diffstat (files changed, insertions, deletions)
mx log --stat

# One-line summary of changes
mx log --shortstat

# Full patch output
mx log -p
mx log --patch

Diff flags compose with any display mode:

mx log --oneline --stat -5
mx log --format=short -p -3

Filtering

All git log filter flags pass through to the underlying git log call. This lets you filter by path, author, date range, or any other git-log option:

# Commits touching a specific file
mx log -- src/handlers/mod.rs

# Commits by a specific author
mx log --author="charlie"

# Commits in a date range
mx log --since="2026-04-01" --until="2026-05-01"

# All branches
mx log --all

# Reverse chronological order
mx log --reverse

# Combine filters with display options
mx log -5 --full -- docs/
mx log --oneline --author="charlie" --since="1 week ago"

Ref decorations

By default, ref decorations (branch names, tags, HEAD) are shown in --oneline mode. You can control this explicitly:

mx log --oneline --decorate       # show decorations (default)
mx log --oneline --no-decorate    # hide decorations

Count

Several syntaxes are accepted for limiting the number of commits:

mx log -3              # -N shorthand (like git log -3)
mx log -n 5            # -n with space
mx log -n5             # -n without space
mx log --max-count=7   # git's long form

When no count is specified, mx log defaults to 10 commits. This differs from git log (which defaults to unlimited) and is intentional – it keeps the default output concise.

Passthrough modes

In two cases, mx log skips decoding entirely and falls through to raw git log with a stderr note:

--graph

Graph rendering requires line-level control that the four-phase architecture cannot replicate without reimplementing git’s graph layout. When --graph is present, the command passes through to raw git log. A note is printed to stderr:

note: --graph bypasses message decoding

Custom --format strings

When --format or --pretty is set to a custom format string (anything other than the named presets oneline, short, medium, full, fuller), the command passes through to raw git log. A note is printed to stderr:

note: custom --format bypasses message decoding

In both passthrough modes, the count, diff flags, and filter args are still forwarded.

Flags reference

mx log

Display decoded git log. Commits encoded by mx commit are decoded back to their original messages. Non-encoded commits pass through unchanged.

Flags

Flag

Type

Description

-N

shorthand

Number of commits to show, as a bare number after the dash. Example: -3, -10. Equivalent to git’s -N shorthand.

-n

integer

Number of commits to show. Accepts -n 5 or -n5. Defaults to 10.

--max-count

integer

Number of commits to show (git’s long form). Example: --max-count=7.

--full

flag

Show full commit details: full hash, author, date, and complete decoded message. An mx-specific display mode.

--oneline

flag

One line per commit: short hash, ref decorations, decoded subject.

--stat

flag

Show diffstat below each commit.

--shortstat

flag

Show a one-line summary of changes below each commit.

-p, --patch

flag

Show the full patch below each commit.

--decorate

flag

Show ref decorations (branch, tag, HEAD). On by default in --oneline mode.

--no-decorate

flag

Suppress ref decorations.

--format

preset

Format preset: short, medium, full, fuller. Named presets decode messages; custom format strings pass through to raw git.

--pretty

preset

Alias for --format.

--graph

flag

Passthrough to raw git log with graph rendering. Decoding is skipped.

Filter passthrough

Any additional arguments not listed above are passed through to the underlying git log call. Common examples:

Argument

Description

--author=<pattern>

Filter by author name or email.

--since=<date>

Show commits after a date.

--until=<date>

Show commits before a date.

--all

Show commits from all refs, not just the current branch.

--reverse

Show commits in reverse chronological order.

-- <path>

Filter to commits touching the given path(s).

Architecture

mx log uses a four-phase architecture:

  1. Parse – raw CLI arguments are parsed into a structured LogOptions with separate fields for count, display mode, diff mode, decorate preference, and filter arguments. Custom --format strings and --graph are detected here and trigger passthrough.

  2. Harvest – a single git log call with a structured format string retrieves commit metadata (hashes, author, dates, decorations) and the encoded message body. Each commit is parsed and decoded.

  3. Attach diffs – if --stat, --shortstat, or -p was requested, a second git log call retrieves the diff output. Each diff block is attached to its corresponding commit.

  4. Render – the display mode selects a renderer (compact, full, oneline, or a format preset). Each renderer prints the decoded message with the appropriate header format, followed by any attached diff output.

This architecture ensures that decoding is always applied before rendering, and that diff output appears in the correct position regardless of the display format.

Relationship to mx commit and mx show

mx commit, mx log, and mx show form the encoding round-trip:

  1. mx commit compresses your message, encodes it through a random dictionary, and writes the encoded result as the git commit body with a footer tag.

  2. mx log reads the footer tag, reverses the encoding, decompresses, and displays your original message across the commit history.

  3. mx show does the same decoding for individual commits, replacing git show.

Both mx log and mx show have full parity with their git counterparts. Every flag that git log or git show accepts works with the mx versions, with transparent decoding applied to encoded messages. Non-encoded commits (e.g. commits made with raw git commit) pass through unchanged.

For the full encoding specification, see commit.