The log#
oak log # full-screen viewer on a terminal: commit list + detail pane
oak log -n 20 --oneline # the last 20, one per line
oak log --verbose # include each commit's changed files
oak log src/parser/ # only commits touching these paths
oak log --json # machine-readable
On your branch, the log shows your checkpoints. On main — oak log after oak switch -d to a main commit, or the repo's history on oak.space — it's one squash commit per merged branch, each carrying that branch's description as its message.
The viewer takes arrows, less/vi, and emacs keys; press ? for the list. See the full-screen viewers.
Search history#
oak log -S parse_header # commits that add or remove the literal string (like git log -S)
oak log -G 'fn parse_\w+' # commits with an added/removed line matching a regex (like git log -G)
Read a remote branch's history without fetching it#
oak log --remote --json --branch fix-auth--a1b2c3d4 -n 50
A bounded, read-only walk of the branch's history on the server. Each row is hash-verified; when the list is truncated, the output says so and gives a --from <hash> to continue from. Requires --json.
Where am I?#
oak hash # current HEAD commit
oak rev-parse --short HEAD # Git-compatible form, for scripts
oak branch --show-current # current branch name
oak info # repo, branch, parent, remote, and linked-repo details
oak open # open this repo on oak.space (--print to just print the URL)
Inspect files and trees at a commit#
These read committed content without changing your working tree — useful for agents that need one file from another commit without a checkout.
oak file inspect src/main.rs --at 3f9fab02 # one file at a commit
oak file inspect src/main.rs --at HEAD --output /tmp/main.rs
oak file inspect src/main.rs --at <full-hash> --remote # from the server, no clone needed
oak tree inspect --at HEAD --max-files 500 --json # a commit's whole tree, bounded
oak refs inspect --json # every local branch and its head
file inspect caps output at 16 MiB by default (--max-bytes to change it). All three take --json.
Browse files at any commit#
oak checkout <hash> (or oak switch -d <hash>) puts your working tree at an old commit with a detached HEAD. On oak.space, every commit page has Browse files at this commit, and the API serves trees and raw files by commit — GET /api/{owner}/{name}/tree/{commit} and /raw/{commit}/{path}; see the API reference.
Save uncommitted work without committing#
oak change capture --json # snapshot uncommitted changes as immutable objects
oak change capture src/ --json # …or only part of them
oak change export <capture-id> --output work.zip
oak change capture stores your current uncommitted changes durably — like a stash that doesn't touch the working tree or move any branch — and prints a capture id. oak change export writes one capture out as a self-contained zip (a manifest plus the changed files) you can hand to someone else.