GitLens
Supercharge Git inside VS Code with blame, history visualization, and AI commit messages.
About
GitLens is the most popular Git extension for VS Code, now owned by GitKraken. It brings Git context directly into the editor: inline blame annotations showing who changed each line and why, a visual commit graph with search and filtering, revision navigation through file history, worktrees support, and a Launchpad view for managing PRs, issues, and tasks across GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps.
Its AI features (in preview) generate commit and stash messages tailored to your changes, explain commits concisely in the Inspect view, auto-generate PR titles and descriptions from branch changes, and produce changelogs for release notes. Community users can generate commit messages for free with GitHub Copilot or a GitKraken account connected to providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, or Gemini.
Limitation: advanced features like Worktrees, Visual File History, and the full AI suite require GitLens Pro (paid) for private repositories, and some AI capabilities are still in preview and evolving. The extensive feature set can also feel overwhelming until configured.
What it can do
- Inline blame annotations and code authorship visualization
- Visual commit graph with revision navigation
- AI-generated commit messages, PR descriptions, and changelogs
- Launchpad for PR and issue management across providers
Setup
Install the GitLens extension from the VS Code marketplace; sign in with a free GitKraken account for AI features.
Prerequisites
VS Code and a Git repository; optional GitHub Copilot or GitKraken account for AI generation.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 8/10
Scored 8/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Verified via vendor site/docs/GitHub and reputable coverage, wave 59; Trending score 82/100 from researcher assessment.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.