Version Control | Research Workflow Guidebook

Install Git Graph

In VS Code, search for Git Graph in Extensions. Check that the publisher is mhutchie, then select Install. The Marketplace link below provides the extension details.

Git Graph on Visual Studio Marketplace

Git Graph

Open the Git repository folder in VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+P, and run Git Graph: View Git Graph. The older screenshots below also show a Source Control button and a Git Graph item in the status bar.

Older VS Code screen with the Source Control icon highlighted in the activity bar

Older VS Code Source Control screen with the button for opening Git Graph highlighted

Older Windows VS Code screen with the Git Graph status-bar item highlighted

The dots and lines in the graph show how commits and branches connect. main points to the local branch, while origin/main shows the last known position of the remote branch. The labels do not always point to the same commit.

Older Git Graph commit history with main and origin/main labels

Interface

The numbers in the older screenshot identify these areas.

Number	Area	What it shows
1	Graph	Dots represent commits; lines connect commits and show where branches diverge.
2	Description and labels	Commit messages and branch positions such as `main` and `origin/main`. The selected commit and the current branch are different concepts.
3	Date, author, commit	The commit date shown by the current display setting, the author, and an abbreviated commit ID. The date is not the push time.

Older Git Graph screen labeling the graph, commit description and branch labels, and date, author, and commit ID areas

Review of changes

Select a commit to list the files changed in that commit. In the older screenshot below, new file.tex was added, revised file.txt was modified, and deleted file.txt was deleted. Colors may vary with display settings, so check the file status as well.

Older Git Graph commit details showing one deleted, one added, and one modified file

Select a file in the commit’s changed-file list to open the VS Code diff view. The left side shows the earlier content and the right side shows the content after the commit. In the example below, “Also, I like dogs.” was added to revised file.txt.

Older diff view of revised file.txt showing its earlier text on the left and the added sentence Also, I like dogs. on the right

Inspect an earlier version and Reset

Select an earlier commit in the graph to inspect its changes. Inspecting a commit this way does not alter your current files or branch. Before choosing a recovery operation, check Source Control for uncommitted changes.

To undo the changes from a commit that has already been shared, revert creates a new commit that reverses them. The Reset current branch to this commit item in the older screenshot below moves the current branch; do not use it merely to inspect an earlier version.

Older VS Code Source Control screen without uncommitted changes, alongside Git Graph

The older image below shows Git Graph’s Reset current branch to this commit menu. Reset moves the current branch to the selected commit. Check how each option affects the working files and staging area before using it.

Older Git Graph context menu with Reset current branch to this Commit highlighted on an earlier commit

Option	Effect on the branch and files
Soft	Moves the branch to the selected commit while leaving the staging area and working files unchanged.
Mixed	Moves the branch and resets the staging area to the selected commit; working files remain unchanged.
Hard	Moves the branch and resets the staging area and tracked working files to the selected commit. Uncommitted changes may be lost.

Older Git Graph Reset dialog showing Soft, Mixed, and Hard options

Resetting a branch that has already been published to GitHub can make the local and remote histories diverge, so a normal push may be rejected. To undo shared changes, consider revert, which records a new reversing commit. Hard can discard uncommitted changes; check how to preserve your work before using it.

For details, see Git’s reset documentation and revert documentation.