git shortlog

git shortlog is useful for getting a concise summary of the commit history in a git repository, organized by author. This command operates by aggregating commit messages and displaying them under the name of each author, providing a clear view of contributions without overwhelming detail.

By default, this command lists each author's commits in chronological order, which helps in understanding the distribution of work among contributors. It is particularly helpful in projects with multiple contributors, as it highlights individual contributions succinctly.

Variations of this command include git shortlog -s to show a summary with the number of commits per author, and git shortlog -n to sort authors by the number of commits. Combining flags like git shortlog -sn provides both a count and a sorted list, offering a quick overview of contributions. Similar commands like git log provide more detailed commit history, while git blame can be used to see line-by-line contributions in a file.