--- title: Searching commits intro: 'You can search for commits on {% data variables.product.product_name %} and narrow the results using these commit search qualifiers in any combination.' redirect_from: - /articles/searching-commits - /github/searching-for-information-on-github/searching-commits versions: fpt: '*' ghes: '*' ghae: '*' topics: - GitHub search --- You can search for commits globally across all of {% data variables.product.product_name %}, or search for commits within a particular repository or organization. For more information, see "[About searching on {% data variables.product.company_short %}](/articles/about-searching-on-github)." When you search for commits, only the [default branch](/articles/about-branches) of a repository is searched. {% data reusables.search.syntax_tips %} ## Search within commit messages You can find commits that contain particular words in the message. For example, [**fix typo**](https://github.com/search?q=fix+typo&type=Commits) matches commits containing the words "fix" and "typo." ## Search by author or committer You can find commits by a particular user with the `author` or `committer` qualifiers. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | author:USERNAME | [**author:defunkt**](https://github.com/search?q=author%3Adefunkt&type=Commits) matches commits authored by @defunkt. | committer:USERNAME | [**committer:defunkt**](https://github.com/search?q=committer%3Adefunkt&type=Commits) matches commits committed by @defunkt. The `author-name` and `committer-name` qualifiers match commits by the name of the author or committer. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | author-name:NAME | [**author-name:wanstrath**](https://github.com/search?q=author-name%3Awanstrath&type=Commits) matches commits with "wanstrath" in the author name. | committer-name:NAME | [**committer-name:wanstrath**](https://github.com/search?q=committer-name%3Awanstrath&type=Commits) matches commits with "wanstrath" in the committer name. The `author-email` and `committer-email` qualifiers match commits by the author's or committer's full email address. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | author-email:EMAIL | [**author-email:chris@github.com**](https://github.com/search?q=author-email%3Achris%40github.com&type=Commits) matches commits authored by chris@github.com. | committer-email:EMAIL | [**committer-email:chris@github.com**](https://github.com/search?q=committer-email%3Achris%40github.com&type=Commits) matches commits committed by chris@github.com. ## Search by authored or committed date Use the `author-date` and `committer-date` qualifiers to match commits authored or committed within the specified date range. {% data reusables.search.date_gt_lt %} | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | author-date:YYYY-MM-DD | [**author-date:<2016-01-01**](https://github.com/search?q=author-date%3A<2016-01-01&type=Commits) matches commits authored before 2016-01-01. | committer-date:YYYY-MM-DD | [**committer-date:>2016-01-01**](https://github.com/search?q=committer-date%3A>2016-01-01&type=Commits) matches commits committed after 2016-01-01. ## Filter merge commits The `merge` qualifier filters merge commits. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | `merge:true` | [**merge:true**](https://github.com/search?q=merge%3Atrue&type=Commits) matches merge commits. | `merge:false` | [**merge:false**](https://github.com/search?q=merge%3Afalse&type=Commits) matches non-merge commits. ## Search by hash The `hash` qualifier matches commits with the specified SHA-1 hash. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | hash:HASH | [**hash:124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105**](https://github.com/github/gitignore/search?q=hash%3A124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105&type=Commits) matches commits with the hash `124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105`. ## Search by parent The `parent` qualifier matches commits whose parent has the specified SHA-1 hash. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | parent:HASH | [**parent:124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105**](https://github.com/github/gitignore/search?q=parent%3A124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105&type=Commits&utf8=%E2%9C%93) matches children of commits with the hash `124a9a0ee1d8f1e15e833aff432fbb3b02632105`. ## Search by tree The `tree` qualifier matches commits with the specified SHA-1 git tree hash. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | tree:HASH | [**tree:99ca967**](https://github.com/github/gitignore/search?q=tree%3A99ca967&type=Commits) matches commits that refer to the tree hash `99ca967`. ## Search within a user's or organization's repositories To search commits in all repositories owned by a certain user or organization, use the `user` or `org` qualifier. To search commits in a specific repository, use the `repo` qualifier. | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- | user:USERNAME | [**gibberish user:defunkt**](https://github.com/search?q=gibberish+user%3Adefunkt&type=Commits&utf8=%E2%9C%93) matches commit messages with the word "gibberish" in repositories owned by @defunkt. | org:ORGNAME | [**test org:github**](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=test+org%3Agithub&type=Commits) matches commit messages with the word "test" in repositories owned by @github. | repo:USERNAME/REPO | [**language repo:defunkt/gibberish**](https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=language+repo%3Adefunkt%2Fgibberish&type=Commits) matches commit messages with the word "language" in @defunkt's "gibberish" repository. ## Filter by repository visibility The `is` qualifier matches commits from repositories with the specified visibility. For more information, see "[About repository visibility](/github/creating-cloning-and-archiving-repositories/about-repository-visibility). | Qualifier | Example | ------------- | ------------- |{% ifversion fpt or ghes %} | `is:public` | [**is:public**](https://github.com/search?q=is%3Apublic&type=Commits) matches commits to public repositories.{% endif %} | `is:internal` | [**is:internal**](https://github.com/search?q=is%3Ainternal&type=Commits) matches commits to internal repositories. | `is:private` | [**is:private**](https://github.com/search?q=is%3Aprivate&type=Commits) matches commits to private repositories. ## Further reading - "[Sorting search results](/articles/sorting-search-results/)"