git show: Usage, Options & Common CI Errors

git show prints one object - usually a commit and its diff - in detail.

Use git show to inspect a single commit, see a file at a past revision, or read a tag message.

What it does

git show displays the metadata and contents of an object. For a commit it shows the log message and the diff; for a tag, the tag message; for a blob, its contents.

Common usage

Terminal

git show <sha>
git show HEAD --stat
git show HEAD:path/to/file        # file contents at HEAD
git show v1.2.0                   # tag + its commit
git show --name-only <sha>

Options

Flag	What it does
--stat	Show a diffstat instead of the full diff
--name-only	List changed files only
-s / --no-patch	Suppress the diff (metadata only)
<rev>:<path>	Show a file as of a revision

Common errors in CI

fatal: bad revision 'X' or fatal: ambiguous argument 'X': unknown revision - the SHA/ref does not exist (often truncated, or absent in a shallow clone). Verify the ref with git rev-parse, and remember <rev>:<path> needs an exact in-repo path.

Related guides

git log: Usage, Options & Common CI Errorsgit log shows commit history with flexible formatting. Reference for --oneline, --graph, --pretty, ranges, an… git diff: Usage, Options & Common CI Errorsgit diff shows changes between commits, the index, and the working tree. Reference for --staged, --name-only,… git cat-file: Usage, Options & Common CI Errorsgit cat-file inspects Git objects - their type, size, and content. Reference for -t, -s, -p, --batch, and the… git rev-parse: Usage, Options & Common CI Errorsgit rev-parse resolves refs to SHAs and reports repo paths - core CI plumbing. Reference for --short, --abbre…