Git + Python
Automate Git from Python — diffs, hooks, release tags, and repo housekeeping.
Amend Last Commit Message in Python
This script uses subprocess to run `git commit --amend` and update the most recent commit's message in your repository.
import subprocess
import sys
def amend_last_commit_message(new_message: str) -> None:
"""Change the message of the most recent commit."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "commit", "--amend", "-m", new_message],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=False,
)
if result.…Build a Simple Log Graph in Python
Create a basic one-dimensional bar chart from log lines by counting occurrences of leading numeric keys.
import heapq
def log_graph(log_lines: list[str]) -> str:
"""Build a simple per-line, one-dimensional visual graph from log entries."""
counts: dict[int, int] = {}
for line in log_lines:
tokens = line.split()
if tokens:
try:
idx = int(tokens[0])
exce…Bump Semantic Version Git Tag in Python
Automatically find the latest Git tag and compute the next patch release using semantic versioning (semver) in Python.
from re import match
from subprocess import run
SEMVER_PATTERN = r"^v(?P<major>0|[1-9]\d*)\.(?P<minor>0|[1-9]\d*)\.(?P<patch>0|[1-9]\d*)(?:-(?P<prerelease>[0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?(?:\+(?P<buildmetadata>[0-9A-Za-z-]+(?:\.[0-9A-Za-z-]+)*))?$"
def get_latest_tag() -> str:
result = run(["git", "describe…Create a Mock GitHub Release API in Python for Testing gh CLI
Build an in-memory GitHub Releases API mock that mimics create_release and list_releases for unit testing gh CLI stubs without network calls.
import json
from unittest.mock import patch, Mock
class GitHubReleaseAPI:
"""Mock GitHub Releases API for testing gh CLI stub behavior."""
def __init__(self):
self.releases = {}
self.counter = 1
def create_release(self, repo, tag, name=None, notes=None):
release_id = self…Detect Merge Conflict Markers in a File with Python
Scan a file line by line to detect Git merge conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>) and report their line numbers with context.
from pathlib import Path
def detect_merge_conflicts(file_path):
conflicts = []
with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
lines = f.readlines()
for i, line in enumerate(lines, 1):
if line.startswith('<<<<<<<'):
conflict_marker = 'conflict start'
conflicts.append((i, confl…Fetch Pull Rebase Workflow Script in Python
A Python script that automates the git fetch, checkout, and pull with rebase workflow using subprocess.
import subprocess
import sys
def run_git_command(args: list[str]) -> str:
"""Run a git command and return its stdout, or raise on failure."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", *args],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=False,
)
if result.returncode != 0:
prin…Find the Commit That Introduced a String in Git History Using Python
Use git log -S with Python subprocess to find the earliest commit that introduced a specific string across your repository history.
import subprocess
import sys
def find_introducing_commit(repo_path: str, search_string: str, file_glob: str = "*") -> str:
"""Find the first commit that introduced a given string in a git repository."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "-C", repo_path, "log", "--all", "--oneline", "-S", search_string…Generate CHANGELOG from Conventional Commits in Python
Parse your git log for conventional commits (feat, fix) and produce a simple Markdown CHANGELOG with grouped features and bug fixes.
import subprocess
import re
import sys
from collections import OrderedDict
CONVENTIONAL_COMMIT = re.compile(
r"^(?P<type>feat|fix|chore|docs|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|style)(?:\((?P<scope>[^)]+)\))?: (?P<description>.+)"
)
def get_git_log():
return subprocess.run(
["git", "log", "--format=%s"],
…Generate Release Notes Markdown from PR Titles in Python
Generate structured Markdown release notes from a list of pull request titles using conventional commit types.
import json
from datetime import datetime, timezone
PRS = [
{"title": "feat: add user login", "number": 12, "merged_at": "2025-01-10"},
{"title": "fix: resolve payment timeout", "number": 13, "merged_at": "2025-01-11"},
{"title": "chore: bump dependencies", "number": 14, "merged_at": "2025-01-12"},
{"…Get Git Status Info in Python
Run git commands from Python to gather branch name, number of changes, total commits, and clean status, returning them as a dict.
import subprocess
import json
from pathlib import Path
def get_git_status(repo_path="."):
"""Return basic git info about a repository as a dict."""
try:
branch = subprocess.check_output(
["git", "branch", "--show-current"],
cwd=repo_path,
stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,…How to Archive a Repository as a ZIP in Python
Create a ZIP archive of a repository directory with a mock export, skipping hidden files and __pycache__ folders.
import zipfile
import io
import os
from pathlib import Path
def archive_repo_mock(repo_path, output_path="repo_archive.zip"):
"""Create a zip archive of a repository directory (mock export)."""
repo = Path(repo_path)
if not repo.exists():
raise FileNotFoundError(f"Repository not found: {repo}")
…How to Auto-Suggest a SemVer Bump From Git Commit Messages in Python
This code scans Git commit messages (recent or sample) and suggests the next Semantic Versioning bump type — major, minor, patch, or none.
import re
import subprocess
from pathlib import Path
def get_commit_messages(path="."):
"""Read commit messages from a repo or use sample messages."""
if (Path(path) / ".git").exists():
out = subprocess.run(
["git", "-C", path, "log", "--pretty=%s"], capture_output=True, text=True
…How to Build a Branch Protection Audit Mock API in Python
A mock HTTP API that serves branch protection rules for repositories and audits them for compliance, built with Python's standard library.
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs
REPOSITORIES = {
"alpha": {
"default_branch": "main",
"branches": ["main", "develop", "feature-x"],
"protection_rules": {
"main": {"required_reviews": 2, "dismiss_…How to Build a Git Helper Class in Python
A beginner-friendly GitHelper class that wraps common git commands (status, log, branch) into reusable Python methods with structured output.
import subprocess
import json
from pathlib import Path
class GitHelper:
def __init__(self, repo_path="."):
self.repo = Path(repo_path)
def run(self, *args):
result = subprocess.run(
["git", *args],
cwd=self.repo,
capture_output=True,
text=True,…How to Create a Git Branch if it Doesn't Exist in Python
Utility script that checks if a Git branch exists locally and either creates it or checks it out, with error handling.
import subprocess
import sys
def ensure_branch(branch_name):
"""Create a Git branch if it doesn't exist, otherwise checkout it."""
try:
# Check if the branch exists locally
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "branch", "--list", branch_name],
capture_output=True,
…How to Create a Git Commit with Message Template in Python
Run a git commit from Python using a standardized message template built from a commit type and description.
import subprocess
import sys
def commit_with_template(commit_type: str, description: str) -> None:
message = f"{commit_type}: {description}"
try:
subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-m", message], check=True)
print(f"Committed: {message}")
except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
…How to Filter Git History to Remove Secret File Entries in Python
A pure-Python mock that filters a repository's history to drop any commit that touched a secret file, so you can plan a cleanup before rewriting Git history.
from pathlib import Path
import json
def filter_history(history, secret_path):
"""Remove entries that touch the secret file."""
return [entry for entry in history if secret_path not in entry["files"]]
if __name__ == "__main__":
repo_history = [
{"commit": "a1b2c3", "message": "Add app", "files": …How to Format Git Patch Series as an MBOX File in Python
Generate a patch-series mbox file from commit metadata with numbered [PATCH nnn/nnn] subjects and a Git-style footer.
import re
from pathlib import Path
def format_patch_series_mbox(commits, output_path="series.mbox"):
entries = []
for idx, commit in enumerate(commits, start=1):
subject = commit["subject"]
author = commit["author"]
email = commit["email"]
date = commit["date"]
body = …How to Generate Git LFS Extension Patterns in Python
This script builds mock Git LFS file patterns for common geospatial extensions and filters them based on compression suffixes.
import itertools
import re
LFS_EXTENSIONS = {".csv", ".geojson", ".tif", ".shp", ".gpkg"}
def build_mock_lfs_pattern(base_name="data_usgs_lidar"):
patterns = []
for ext in sorted(LFS_EXTENSIONS):
for variant in (("", ".lz4"), (".compressed",), (".b", ".a"), ("_v1", ".zip")):
full_pattern …How to Generate Release Notes from Git Commit Messages in Python
This script fetches recent Git commit messages using conventional commit prefixes (feat, fix, etc.), categorizes them, and prints formatted release notes with today's date.
import subprocess
import re
from datetime import datetime
def get_git_log(since_tag="HEAD~10", format_str="%s"):
"""Retrieve commit messages from git log."""
try:
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "log", f"--since={since_tag}", f"--format={format_str}"],
capture_output=True,
…How to Get Current Git Branch Name in Python with Mock Subprocess
Mocks the subprocess call to reliably test the current git branch name retrieval using GitPython.
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
from git import Repo
import os
def get_current_branch(repo_path="."):
"""Get the current branch name of a git repository."""
repo = Repo(repo_path)
return repo.active_branch.name
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Mock subprocess to control the…How to Get Git Status and Log in Python
A beginner-friendly helper that runs git status and git log from Python using subprocess, with safe handling for non-repo directories.
import subprocess
from pathlib import Path
def git_status(path: str = ".") -> str:
"""Return the current git status as a string."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "status", "--short"],
cwd=path,
capture_output=True,
text=True
)
return result.stdout.strip() or "No cha…How to List Changed Files in the Last Git Commit with Python
Runs `git diff --name-only HEAD~1 HEAD` via subprocess to list the names of files changed in the most recent commit.
import subprocess
def list_changed_files():
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "diff", "--name-only", "HEAD~1", "HEAD"],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=True
)
files = result.stdout.strip().splitlines()
return files
if __name__ == "__main__":
changed = list_cha…How to Make a Git Commit Heatmap by Hour in Python
Parse a git log output and count commits by weekday and hour, then print a compact heatmap table.
import re
from collections import Counter
from datetime import datetime
def parse_commits(log_text):
"""Parse git log lines and count commits by (weekday, hour)."""
pattern = re.compile(r"^Date:\s+(.+)$")
counts = Counter()
for line in log_text.splitlines():
match = pattern.match(line)
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Git + Python — Python code examples
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This page collects git + python snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
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