How to filter Git log by date
Łukasz Holeczek
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Filtering Git log by date enables tracking project progress, analyzing development patterns, and generating reports for specific time periods.
As the creator of CoreUI, I’ve used date-based filtering extensively for sprint reviews and project analysis.
The most effective approach uses --since and --until flags with flexible date formats including relative dates and specific timestamps.
This method provides precise historical analysis for project management and code auditing.
Use git log --since and --until to filter commits within specific date ranges.
git log --since="2 weeks ago"
git log --since="2023-01-01" --until="2023-12-31"
git log --after="yesterday" --before="today"
git log --since="3 months ago" --author="John" --oneline
The --since (or --after) and --until (or --before) flags accept various date formats including relative dates like “2 weeks ago”, “yesterday”, and absolute dates like “2023-01-01”. You can combine date filtering with other options like --author for author-specific time-based analysis. Git supports natural language date expressions for intuitive filtering.
Best Practice Note:
This is the same date-based commit analysis we use in CoreUI development for sprint retrospectives and release planning.
Use ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD) for consistent results across different locales and combine with --stat for detailed change summaries within date ranges.
