persistent history

Commands.md

@@ -392,6 +392,19 @@ Type `exit`, `quit`, or `q` to end the repl session.
 Any arguments to git repl will be taken as the first command to execute in
 the repl.
 
+### CONFIGURATION
+
+Commands entered in a repl session will be saved to a history file and be available in
+future sessions, similar to a shell or programming language repl. By default,
+there is one global history file, ~/.git_repl_history. You can specify that your projects
+each have their own independent history file. This file will be saved in .git_repl_history
+at the top level of the repo, and will need to be added to the repo or global .gitignore.
+
+```bash
+# remove the --global flag to configure only an individual project to have its own history file
+git config --global git-extras.repl.use-local-history "true"
+```
+
 ```bash
 $ git repl
 git version 2.34.1

bin/git-repl

@@ -4,6 +4,21 @@ git version
 echo "git-extras version ""$(git-extras -v)"
 echo "Type 'ls' to ls files below current directory; '!command' to execute any command or just 'subcommand' to execute any git subcommand; 'quit', 'exit', 'q', ^D, or ^C to exit the git repl."
 
+HISTCONTROL=ignoredups
+use_local_history=$(git config --get --default 'false' git-extras.repl.use-local-history)
+if [[ "$use_local_history" == "true" ]]; then
+  HISTFILE="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.git_repl_history"
+else
+  HISTFILE=~/.git_repl_history
+fi
+
+# file doesn't exist, is empty, or contains only whitespace
+if [[ ! -f "$HISTFILE" ]] || [[ ! -s "$HISTFILE" ]] || ! grep -q '[^[:space:]]' "$HISTFILE"; then
+  # `history -r` .... `history -a` are not happy with an empty initial file
+  echo '!echo welcome to git-repl!' >> "$HISTFILE"
+fi
+history -r
+
 while true; do
   # Current branch
   cur=$(git symbolic-ref HEAD 2> /dev/null | cut -d/ -f3-)
@@ -33,8 +48,10 @@ while true; do
     test $? -ne 0 && break
   fi
 
-  # History
-  history -s "$cmd"
+  # Add command to history if it is not all whitespace
+  if [[ ! "$cmd" =~ ^[[:space:]]*$ ]]; then
+    history -s "$cmd"
+  fi
 
   # Built-in commands
   case $cmd in
@@ -43,6 +60,8 @@ while true; do
     quit|exit|q) break;;
   esac
 
+  history -a
+
   if [[ $cmd == !*  ]]; then
     # shellcheck disable=SC2086
     eval ${cmd:1}

man/git-repl.1

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-.\" generated with Ronn-NG/v0.9.1
-.\" http://github.com/apjanke/ronn-ng/tree/0.9.1
-.TH "GIT\-REPL" "1" "September 2024" "" "Git Extras"
+.\" generated with Ronn-NG/v0.10.1
+.\" http://github.com/apjanke/ronn-ng/tree/0.10.1
+.TH "GIT\-REPL" "1" "January 2026" "" "Git Extras"
 .SH "NAME"
 \fBgit\-repl\fR \- git read\-eval\-print\-loop
 .SH "SYNOPSIS"
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ Equivalent of 'git ls\-files'\.
 exit|quit|q
 .P
 Ends the repl session\.
+.SH "CONFIGURATION"
+Commands entered in a repl session will be saved to a history file and be available in future sessions, similar to a shell or programming language repl\. By default, there is one global history file, ~/\.git_repl_history\. You can specify that your projects each have their own independent history file\. This file will be saved in \.git_repl_history at the top level of the repo, and will need to be added to the repo or global \.gitignore\.
+.IP "" 4
+.nf
+  # remove the \-\-global flag to configure only an individual project to have its own history file
+  git config \-\-global git\-extras\.repl\.use\-local\-history "true"
+.fi
+.IP "" 0
 .SH "EXAMPLES"
 .nf
 $ git repl

man/git-repl.md

@@ -38,6 +38,18 @@ git-repl(1) -- git read-eval-print-loop
 
   Ends the repl session.
 
+## CONFIGURATION
+
+  Commands entered in a repl session will be saved to a history file and be available in
+  future sessions, similar to a shell or programming language repl. By default,
+  there is one global history file, ~/.git_repl_history. You can specify that your projects
+  each have their own independent history file. This file will be saved in .git_repl_history
+  at the top level of the repo, and will need to be added to the repo or global .gitignore.
+
+  ```bash
+  # remove the --global flag to configure only an individual project to have its own history file
+  git config --global git-extras.repl.use-local-history "true"
+  ```
 
 ## EXAMPLES