# Install git-recent with Homebrew, Nix Browse your latest git branches, formatted real fancy. Version 2.2.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-27. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:git-recent ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install git-recent ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#git-recent ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gi/git-recent/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:git-recent - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.2.0 - **Source summary:** Browse your latest git branches, formatted real fancy - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-04-27T18:52:13Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - git-recent (cli) - git-recent-og (cli) - git-recent (alias) - git-recent-og (alias) ## Dependencies - fzf ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.2.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-04-27 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/paulirish/git-recent - Upstream latest detected: v2.2.0 (current) ## Project history and usage git-recent is a Git branch navigation helper by Paul Irish for browsing recently touched branches and checking one out with a short interactive flow. ### Project history The README records the tool's origin in Paul Irish's dotfiles in May 2016, followed by a standalone repository and npm publication in August 2016. The original script became git-recent-og after the 2.0 rewrite. The 2.0 line, released in 2025 according to the changelog, added an fzf-based interactive UI for browsing branches, viewing branch-specific commits, inspecting a diff against main, and checking out the selected branch. ### Adoption history git-recent spread as a small personal-workflow utility through npm and Homebrew, with Nix also recorded in the input package metadata. Its adoption significance comes less from enterprise deployment and more from shell users copying a tiny Git helper into daily branch-switching habits. ### How it is used Practitioners run git recent inside a repository, navigate the fzf list of branches, press Enter to check out a selection, and use Ctrl-O to inspect a diff. The README notes optional delta integration for formatted diffs and worktree detection that can guide a user to an existing checkout. Users who do not want the fzf dependency can run git recent-og, the renamed 2016 implementation, with options such as -n to limit the number of branches shown. ### Why package nerds care git-recent is a compact example of the Git subcommand packaging pattern: one executable on PATH becomes a Git verb, distributed through npm, Homebrew, and Nix, and upgraded without changing the underlying Git data model. ### Timeline - 2016: Script added to paulirish/dotfiles. - 2016: Standalone repository released and package published to npm. - 2018: Count parameter added. - 2019: Final 1.x bugfix recorded in the README changelog. - 2025: 2.0 upgrade added fzf integration and renamed the original implementation to git-recent-og. ### Related projects - fzf powers the 2.x interactive branch picker. - delta can format diffs shown from the interactive UI. - The README points branch-navigation enthusiasts to git-fuzzy, lazygit, tig, and fzf-git.sh. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** git-recent - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Conflicts With:** git-plus - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - git-recent: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gi/git-recent/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [fzf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fzf/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [git-pages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-pages/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [git-pkgs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-pkgs/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [git-plus](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-plus/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [git-quick-stats](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-quick-stats/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [git-remote-codecommit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-remote-codecommit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [git-revise](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-revise/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, git-extension, version-control. - [forgit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/forgit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, fzf, git, version-control. - [git-branchless](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-branchless/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, git, version-control, workflow. - [git-now](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/git-now/) - Package names and metadata indicate a similar tool family. Shared terms: cli, control, developer, developer-tools, extension. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/git-recent.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/git-recent.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph