Basics

• C-x v v: Do the next appropriate VC action. For example, for git, for a new file, stage the changes.
• C-x v i: Stage changes in the current file.
• C-x v l: list change log of current fileset.
• C-x v L: list change log for the whole tree.
• C-x v =: Diff changes
• C-x v -: Show old revision in a separate buffer.
• C-x v g: blame.

File Status

The mode line displays details about the file status. For example, for git, it displays Git-master when the file is unchanged. The - between Git and master indicates the status:

• -: file is unmodified,
• :: file is modified,
• !: file contains conflicts,
• @: added locally but not yet committed.

Annotate

Equivalent to blame. Once in vc-annotate-mode:

• j: Annotate version for the current line.
• p: Annotate previous version.
• n: Annotate next version.
• f: Display file revision for current line in a new buffer.
• v: Toggle annotation visibility.

Other useful commands

• vc-region-history: Gives the history of the region.
• C-x v d: (vc-dir) “Show the VC status for “interesting” files in and below DIR.”
• C-x v D: (vc-root-diff) Displays diffs for a directory.
• C-x 4 A: (diff-add-change-log-entries-other-window) When executed in a diff buffer, creates a ChangeLog buffer with changes.
• C-u C-x v ~: See current file in given file.