# Viewing the Commit History

## Goal
Inspect commit history in different formats and levels of detail.

## Basic Log
```bash
cd ~/lab-git-essentials/my-first-repo
git log
```

## One-Line, Decorated, with Graph
```bash
git log --oneline --decorate --graph --all
```

## Show a Specific Commit
```bash
# Copy a commit SHA from the log
git show <SHA>
```

## Filter by File or Author
```bash
git log -- README.md
git log --author "Your Name"
```

## Statistics and Patches
```bash
git log --stat -n 5
git log -p -n 1
```

## Outcome
You can read history, view diffs, and filter logs by file or author.