# Git Activity

> Fetch git log from local repos into day-cached JSON atoms. Simplest activity fetcher — no API calls, no pagination. Part of the recap plugin's activity fetcher pipeline.

- Skill: `basecamp/git-activity` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add basecamp/git-activity`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/basecamp/git-activity/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: DevOps & Infra
- Author: basecamp (https://skillmd.com/u/basecamp)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/basecamp/git-activity

---


# Git Activity Fetcher

Fetch git commit history from local repositories into per-day cached JSON atoms
at `~/.cache/recap/git/{repo}/{YYYY-MM-DD}/log.json`. These atoms feed the
`/recap` orchestrator for progressive timescale synthesis.

## Invocation

```
/recap:git-activity --repos coworker:~/Work/basecamp/coworker --since 2026-03-23
/recap:git-activity --repos coworker:~/Work/basecamp/coworker,house-skills:~/Work/basecamp/house-skills --since 2026-03-23 --until 2026-03-30
/recap:git-activity --repos coworker:~/Work/basecamp/coworker --since 2026-03-23 --reuse
```

## Contract

- **Idempotent:** same input produces same output, safe to re-run
- **Day-cached:** one JSON file per repo per day at `~/.cache/recap/git/{repo}/{YYYY-MM-DD}/log.json`
- **`--reuse`:** skip fetch if cache exists and is marked complete
- **No API calls:** reads local git repos only

## Quick Run

```bash
# 1. Determine date range
SINCE=$(date -d "7 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d)
UNTIL=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# 2. Run the fetcher
"$SKILL_DIR/scripts/git-activity.sh" \
  --repos "coworker:$HOME/Work/basecamp/coworker" \
  --since "$SINCE" --until "$UNTIL"

# 3. Verify cache
ls ~/.cache/recap/git/coworker/
cat ~/.cache/recap/git/coworker/$SINCE/log.json | jq '.metadata'
```

Where `$SKILL_DIR` = directory containing this SKILL.md.

## Output Format

Each `log.json` contains:

```json
{
  "repo": "coworker",
  "date": "2026-03-24",
  "commits": [
    {
      "hash": "abc123...",
      "short_hash": "abc123",
      "subject": "Add weekly digest skill",
      "author": "Jeremy",
      "date": "2026-03-24T10:30:00-05:00",
      "body": "Extended commit message..."
    }
  ],
  "metadata": { "complete": true, "count": 3 }
}
```

## Arguments

| Argument | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| `--repos` | Yes | Comma-separated `name:path` pairs |
| `--since` | Yes | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| `--until` | No | End date (default: today) |
| `--reuse` | No | Skip fetch if cache exists and is complete |

## Cache Structure

```
~/.cache/recap/git/
  coworker/
    2026-03-24/log.json
    2026-03-25/log.json
  house-skills/
    2026-03-24/log.json
```

Day-sized atoms enable progressive aggregation: a weekly digest reads 7 daily
atoms. A monthly digest reads ~30. Different timescales, same data.

## Failure Modes

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---------|-------|-----|
| "not a git repo" | Path doesn't point to repo | Check `--repos` paths |
| Empty commits for a day | No commits on that date | Expected — empty days are cached as complete |
| awk/jq parse error | Unusual characters in commit messages | Falls back to simpler format automatically |