Get the parent branch name and commit hash from current feature branch

Question

Branch from master branch

git checkout -b feature-abc
# update several times on this feature branch.
git add ...; git commit ...  ; git push ...

Now I'd like to know how to get its parent branch name (should be master branch) and which latest commit I checked out before.

Maybe I merged from master branch several times, I need know the latest commit hash id from its parent branch.

master branch

1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5-> 
     |         |
     |-> 1 -> ---> 2

feature-abc

So currently I am at feature branch (2), how I get the commit hash of 4?

What commands I can run to get these information?

Branch names do not have parent branch names. They are, in effect, just sticky-note labels attached to commits. The act of making a new commit causes whichever branch is the current branch to have its label peeled off the old commit and put on the new one. Many labels can be stuck on a single commit; only one moves (automatically) by the act of committing; and no label has any parent/child relationship with any other label. — torek
– torek, Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 6:45

Marcus · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-15 05:53:24Z

3

git rev-list master..feature --boundary

will show

So if you ignore all lines without a "-", you will find your commit 4.

Since git log is based on git rev-list, you can also use this together with git log, for example:

git log master..feature --boundary --oneline

is quite informative.

answered Feb 15, 2019 at 5:53

Marcus

7354 silver badges8 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Answer 1