gitk

The grandfather of every Git GUI you've used.

🎯 What & why

Tk-based history viewer — graphical commit DAG with diff and ref decoration. The grandfather of every Git GUI you've used.

🧠 Mental model

gitk reads the same commit DAG git log --graph would walk, then renders it on a Tk canvas with refs decorated. Click a commit to see its diff. Read-only — it doesn't change anything in .git/.

🛠️ Synopsis

gitk [<options>] [<revision range>] [[--] <path>...]

🎚️ Switches & options

Flag	What it does
`--all`	Show all refs.
`--max-count=<n>`	Limit to last `<n>` commits.

💡 Use cases

Quick visual of a complex history before a merge or rebase.
Reviewing reachability of an old commit.

🧪 Examples

Open with everything.

$ gitk --all

Just one branch.

$ gitk feature/login

🎓 Recommendations

Even if you use a fancier GUI, gitk --all on a remote shell is a 5-second sanity check.

🪤 Common pitfalls

Tk dependency.
Slow on huge repos — use a path filter or revision range.

🔗 Related modules

📝 Quiz

Hit each option, then Check answers. Score is recorded; Next is always open.