`lore history` — full specification

Read-only command. Lists git commits related to a memory entry, a file, or a scope, since the entry's #added date. Output to stdout only; never writes to .lore/.

Synopsis

lore history <entry-id>
lore history <file-path>
lore history --scope=<name>
lore history --since=<YYYY-MM-DD>
lore history --json

Forms

Form	Argument shape	Example	Behavior
Entry	`[A-Z]+-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}-[a-f0-9]{4}`	`lore history DEC-2026-02-03-7c19`	Locate entry in `.lore/`, derive its `#added` date and code file, then `git log` since that date.
File	contains `/` or starts with `.`	`lore history frontend/src/store/index.ts`	Run `git log --since=1970-01-01` on the given path.
Scope	`--scope=<name>` only	`lore history --scope=frontend`	For each `*.md` in `.lore/scopes/<name>/`, run file form on the lore file path itself.

Code-file resolution (entry form)

Priority:

First backtick-quoted path in entry.text that looks like a file (e.g. src/store/index.ts).
Scope directory at the project root (e.g. entry scope frontend → frontend/).
Project root . for entries in _global/.

If the regex finds no path, falls back to the scope directory.

Data source

git CLI only. No network calls. Requires:

A git repository at or above the current working directory.
The git executable on PATH.

Output

Markdown (default)

Header block: Entry, Since, File, Commits. One section per commit with ## <short-hash> (<date>, <author>), subject, optional Body: line, optional Refs: line. A "Suggested next step" footer appears only when at least one commit is found.

JSON (`--json`)

{
  "entry_id": "DEC-2026-02-03-7c19",
  "lore_file": "scopes/frontend/DECISIONS.md",
  "code_file": "frontend/src/store/index.ts",
  "since": "2026-02-03",
  "since_source": "entry_added",
  "commits": [
    {
      "hash": "...",
      "short": "abc1234",
      "author": "alice",
      "date": "2026-04-12",
      "subject": "Use Zustand v4",
      "body": "Migrate notes here.",
      "refs": ["#234"]
    }
  ]
}

Error handling

Condition	Exit code	Message
No argument	2	`error: missing argument`
Unrecognized argument	2	`error: unrecognized argument: <arg>`
`.lore/` not found	2	`error: .lore/ not found. Run 'lore init' first.`
Entry not in index	3	`error: Entry <id> not found. Available: ...`
Not a git repo	4	`error: Not a git repository. ...`
`git` missing	5	`error: git executable not found on PATH.`
Bad scope name	6	`error: Scope '<name>' not found. Available: ...`
`git log` failure	7	`error: git log failed: <stderr>`
Entry missing `#added`	0 (warning)	`warning: entry has no #added tag; using full history`

Exit codes summary

0 — success (including "0 commits found" case)
2 — usage / configuration error
3 — entry lookup failure
4 — not a git repo
5 — git CLI missing
6 — invalid scope
7 — git command failed

Why this exists

lore sync reads git diff (working-tree deltas). It never reads commit history. lore history fills that gap: given a memory entry, it shows the commits that introduced or modified the underlying code, letting the agent answer "why does this decision exist?" with a pointer to the original commit instead of an LLM-generated guess.

3.4 KiB Raw Blame History

lore history — full specification