---
title: Check your work and inspect history
description: Read Git status and use commit history to investigate how the case files changed.
---

## Ask Git for the current state

```sh
git status
```

`git status` compares your working files, staging area, and current commit. Its summary tells you which branch is checked out and whether files are untracked, modified, staged, or involved in a conflict. A clean working tree means there are no uncommitted file changes; it does not mean there are no commits waiting to be pushed.

Run it often. It is a safe read-only command and helps answer “where am I, and what still needs attention?” before you make a commit, change branches, or push.

## Read the commit timeline

```sh
git log --oneline
```

Each commit is a saved snapshot with a unique identifier, author, timestamp, and message. `git log` lists commits reachable from the current branch, newest first. `--oneline` keeps each entry compact so you can scan the sequence and copy a commit identifier.

History can explain how a file reached its current state. A commit is not merely a backup of one file: Git records a project snapshot, while storing the changes efficiently. Branches and commits let you compare versions without overwriting the only copy.

## Inspect one saved snapshot

```sh
git show <commit-id>
```

`git show` displays details for one commit, including its message and the changes it introduced. Replace `<commit-id>` with an identifier from `git log`. Reading the relevant earlier change can reveal information that is no longer visible in the latest version of a file.

The mission asks you what to investigate. Use the history and evidence to form your own answer; these instructions intentionally do not state the case findings.

[Continue to reviewing, staging, and committing changes](/docs/si/workshops/first-byte-episode-1/changes-and-commits)