How to blame a file in Git

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

#git #blame #debugging #history #authorship

Git blame shows line-by-line authorship information for files, helping track down when and who made specific changes for debugging and code review. As the creator of CoreUI with over 25 years of development experience, I use git blame regularly to understand code history and track down the source of bugs or features. The most straightforward approach is using git blame filename to see author, commit hash, and timestamp for every line in a file. This command is invaluable for collaborative development and understanding code evolution over time.

Use git blame followed by a filename to see line-by-line authorship and commit information.

git blame src/components/Button.js

This command displays each line of the file with the commit hash, author name, timestamp, and line number. Each line shows who last modified it and when, making it easy to trace the origin of specific code changes. The output format includes the short commit hash, author, date, and the actual line content, providing comprehensive history for every line in the file.

Best Practice Note:

This is the debugging workflow we use in CoreUI development to quickly identify the source of issues or understand feature implementations. Use git blame -L 10,20 filename to blame specific line ranges, or git blame -w filename to ignore whitespace changes for cleaner output.

Speed up your responsive apps and websites with fully-featured, ready-to-use open-source admin panel templates—free to use and built for efficiency.

About the Author

Łukasz Holeczek, Founder of CoreUI, is a seasoned Fullstack Developer and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience. As the lead developer for all JavaScript, React.js, and Vue.js products at CoreUI, they specialize in creating open-source solutions that empower developers to build better and more accessible user interfaces.

With expertise in TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js, and modern frameworks like React.js, Vue.js, and Next.js, Łukasz combines technical mastery with a passion for UI/UX design and accessibility. CoreUI’s mission is to provide developers with tools that enhance productivity while adhering to accessibility standards.

Łukasz shares its extensive knowledge through a blog with technical software development articles. It also advises enterprise companies on building solutions from A to Z. Through CoreUI, it offers professional services, technical support, and open-core products that help developers and businesses achieve their goals.

Learn more about CoreUI’s solutions and see how your business can benefit from working with us.