git-time-machine

🕰️ Git Time Machine

A Rust-based MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides git history insights to AI assistants like GitHub Copilot. This server exposes tools and context providers that allow LLMs to reason about the evolution of your codebase.

Features

• Blame-aware Code Analysis: Expose git blame for any file
• Commit Timeline Exploration: Query commits that touched a file
• Diff Context Provider: Expose contextual diffs for any commit
• Interactive Git Metadata: Access author info, timestamps, commit messages
• Powered by Rust + MCP: Built using axum, tokio, and serde

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Description
POST /tools/get_git_blame	Returns line-by-line blame metadata
POST /tools/get_commit_diff	Shows full diff with metadata
POST /tools/summarize_diff	Describes changes between commits
POST /tools/get_commits_affecting	Lists commits that modified a file
POST /tools/get_file_at_commit	Returns file contents at a past commit
GET /metadata	Returns MCP metadata
GET /.well-known/ai-plugin.json	Returns plugin manifest for AI integration
GET /openapi.json	Returns OpenAPI schema

Installation

Option 1: Install from Crates.io (Recommended)

cargo install git-time-machine
git-time-machine

Option 2: Install from Source

Prerequisites

• Rust (latest stable version)
• Git

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hrirkslab/git-time-machine.git
cd git-time-machine

# Build the project
cargo build --release

# Run the server
cargo run --release

Option 3: Using Docker

# Build Docker image
docker build -t git-time-machine .

# Run container
docker run -p 3000:3000 -v $(pwd):/workspace git-time-machine

The server will start on http://localhost:3000.

Usage

With GitHub Copilot

Git Time Machine is compatible with GitHub Copilot through the MCP protocol. When using Copilot, you can:

1. Ask questions about code history
2. Get insights into when bugs were introduced
3. Understand the evolution of code over time

Example prompts:

• "Who last modified this function?"
• "What changed in this file last week?"
• "Show me the history of this file."

Direct API Access

You can also directly access the API endpoints:

# Example: Get blame for a file
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"file": "src/main.rs"}' \
  http://localhost:3000/tools/get_git_blame

GitHub Copilot Integration

Git Time Machine comes with built-in support for GitHub Copilot through the .copilot configuration directory. This allows Copilot to use the Git Time Machine as a tool provider for answering questions about your code's history.

Setup

1. Make sure the Git Time Machine server is running:

   cargo run --release
   

2. The .copilot/settings.json file registers the server as a tool provider for GitHub Copilot:

   {
     "tool_providers": [
       {
         "name": "git-time-machine",
         "url": "http://localhost:3000",
         "enabled": true
       }
     ]
   }
   

3. If you're using GitHub Copilot CLI or Copilot Workspace, it will automatically detect the tool provider configuration.

Usage with Copilot

Once configured, you can ask Copilot questions about your code's history, such as:

• "Who last modified the authentication function?"
• "When was this bug introduced?"
• "How has this file evolved over the past month?"
• "What were the major changes in commit abc123?"
• "Show me what this file looked like before the refactoring"

Copilot will use the Git Time Machine tools to provide insightful answers based on your repository's history.

Development

Project Structure

src/
  main.rs              # Server setup and routing
  handlers/            # HTTP endpoint handlers
    mod.rs
    blame.rs           # Git blame handlers
    commits.rs         # Commit history handlers
    diff.rs            # Diff generation handlers
    metadata.rs        # MCP metadata handlers
  models/              # Data models
    mod.rs
    tool_schema.rs     # API request/response schemas
    git.rs             # Git-related models
  utils/               # Utility functions
    mod.rs
    git_helpers.rs     # Git interaction utilities

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name
3. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature-name
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT