git-newspaper: Turns Git Commit History into Victorian Newspaper

git-newspaper processes the commit history of any git repository and outputs a single-page HTML file styled as a Victorian-era broadsheet newspaper. Each section pulls directly from git data like commit messages, authors, line changes, deleted files, and activity patterns. The result opens in a browser as newspaper.html, complete with inline fonts, styles, and a preview image showing a sample layout.

This tool runs locally without external APIs, LLMs, or network calls. It uses Node.js and the simple-git library to parse git log --stat. A seeded random number generator ensures the same repository always produces identical output. The project has 104 GitHub stars and is written in JavaScript, available at github.com/LordAizen1/git-newspaper and npmjs.com/package/git-newspaper.

Newspaper sections

The generated page divides into fixed sections, each derived from repository stats over a chosen period.

• Front page headline: Names the commit with the most lines changed.
• Lead article: Summarizes authors, total file counts, and date range.
• Meteorological Report: Maps commit sentiment and activity spikes to weather metaphors.
• Obituaries: Lists files deleted during the period.
• Opinion column: Focuses on the most-edited file, generating text in first person from its changes.
• Vital Statistics: Ranks commits, top authors, and code churn.
• Commit Activity: Shows a timeline chart of commits.
• Classifieds: Tailors notices to detected repository patterns.

No content is fabricated; everything traces to git logs.

Repository archetypes

git-newspaper scans commits to classify the repository and picks matching templates for layout and tone. Triggers include revert percentages, author dominance, or commit types.

These adjust phrasing and emphasis without altering facts.

Getting it running

Node.js 18 or later is required, plus a git repo with commits. No other dependencies install by default.

Run directly with npx:

npx git-newspaper

This analyzes the current directory's repo and opens the result in a browser.

For global install:

npm install -g git-newspaper
git-newspaper

Key options include:

# Target a different repo
git-newspaper --repo /path/to/repo

# Limit time scope
git-newspaper --since "2 weeks ago"
git-newspaper --since "2024-01-01"

# Custom output
git-newspaper --output my-paper.html
git-newspaper --limit 200  # Max commits, default 500
git-newspaper --no-open    # Skip auto-open

PNG export

To save as an image, install Playwright first:

npm install -D playwright
npx playwright install chromium
git-newspaper --format png

This screenshots the HTML using Chromium.

How it processes data

The tool executes git log --stat via simple-git to gather stats on lines added/removed, file changes, and messages. It categorizes commits (e.g., by keywords like "fix", "feat", "revert") and detects archetypes from ratios. Templates fill sections using this data and a fixed seed for consistency. The HTML is self-contained for offline viewing.

Who this fits

Developers and teams use it to visualize repo history in a shareable, printable format. A solo contributor might run it after a feature branch to see their "Solo Marathon" profile. Open-source maintainers could generate papers for release notes or retrospectives, highlighting churn or collaborations. It suits git-heavy workflows where plain git log feels dry—turn a month's activity into a front-page story for a team meeting or blog post.

Quiet repos trigger a "Ghost Town" edition with minimal content, while high-revert projects get crisis-themed warnings. If your repo has lockfile churn from dependencies, expect administrative notices in the classifieds.

Comparisons to other tools

No direct equivalents exist for newspaper-style git visualization. Standard git commands like git log --stat --since="2 weeks ago" output tables, lacking the formatted, thematic presentation. Tools such as git-extras (with git effort for churn stats) or git-quick-stats provide summaries but stay terminal-bound.

For charts, git-quickstats generates activity graphs, though less polished than git-newspaper's timeline. Contribution graphs in GitHub or git-fame focus on per-file blame without archetypes or narratives. If you need API-driven insights, git-history or forgejo/ gitea plugins offer visuals but require servers. git-newspaper stands out for zero-setup, offline use on any repo.

This weighs in at a single Node tool versus heavier dashboards like GitLab's built-in analytics. It's lighter than browser-based git visualizers like GitGraph.js, which require manual commit input.

git-newspaper works best on active repos with 8+ commits; sparse histories yield thin papers. Source at GitHub, MIT licensed.