17.7 Release Notes (#130)

Adds 17.7 release notes

Author: justinrobots

_images/gl-17-7-commit-reachability-example.mp4

@@ -16,6 +16,169 @@ Features marked with `PREVIEW` require a GitKraken Account, with access level ba
 
 ---
 
+<a id="v17-7"></a>
+
+## Version 17.7
+
+#### Tuesday, November 11, 2025
+GitLens 17.7 expands Commit Composer with branch recomposition capabilities, transforms the Commit Graph with powerful new search operators, file history visualization, and faster performance, and enhances commit details with more context and file actions.
+
+<img src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-hero.png" class="help-center-img img-bordered">
+
+### Commit Composer: Branch Recomposition
+
+Commit Composer now lets you clean up and reorganize commits on existing branches, making it perfect for preparing pull requests or refining your commit history before pushing.
+
+<img src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-recompose-branch.png" class="help-center-img img-bordered">
+
+#### Recompose Entire Branches
+
+Open Commit Composer from any branch in the Commit Graph (or anywhere branches appear in GitLens) to inspect and reorganize its commits. The composer creates draft commits you can review before applying changes to your repository.
+
+**Auto-Recompose with AI**: Let AI analyze your branch and restructure commits into logical, well-documented units. Choose your preferred model and provide custom instructions to match your team's conventions. (Pro tip: Set default instructions in the "Generate Commits: Custom Instructions" setting to save time.)
+
+**Manual Control**: Review AI suggestions, regenerate specific commit messages, or manually edit messages and change organization. The composer gives you complete flexibility to craft the commit story that works best.
+
+<video src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-recompose-example.mp4" autoplay loop controls muted class="help-center-video"></video>
+
+#### Enhanced Composer Capabilities
+
+Commit Composer now handles edge cases that previously blocked composition:
+
+- **Untracked files**: Working changes now include untracked files, so all modifications can be composed together
+- **New repositories**: Compose your initial commits even before a base commit exists
+- **Performance boost**: Significantly faster rendering when working with changes across many files
+
+### Commit Graph Enhancements
+
+#### File History Visualization
+
+The Commit Graph now visualizes complete file histories, making it easy to understand how specific files evolved over time.
+
+Right-click any file in your IDE and select "File History > Open File History in Commit Graph" to filter the graph to commits that modified that file. Each commit displays the file's changes in the Commit Details panel, giving you a focused view of how the file developed.
+
+You can also manually filter using `file:"path/filename"` syntax.
+
+<video src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-file-filter-example.mp4" autoplay loop controls muted class="help-center-video"></video>
+
+#### Search Enhancements
+
+**Reference and Range Searches**: The new `ref:` operator lets you search by references or commit ranges. Natural language search leverages this automatically, so queries like "show me all commits on debt/graph-selection-jump that aren't on main" or "commits after tag v17.6.0" work seamlessly.
+
+**Tip Filtering**: New `is:tip` and `type:tip` operators isolate branch and tag tips, helping you quickly identify meaningful entry points in your history without visual scanning.
+
+**Search History**: Arrow up/down through previous search queries to quickly revisit recent searches.
+
+<video src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-search-history-example.mp4" autoplay loop controls muted class="help-center-video"></video>
+
+#### Solo Branches and Tags
+
+Focus on a single branch or tag with the new "Solo" action, which automatically hides all other references using the `ref:` filter operator.
+
+#### Workflow Improvements
+
+- **Auto-select WIP**: The WIP row automatically selects when you have working changes, keeping your focus on current work
+- **Enhanced WIP row**: The WIP row now shows the number of changed files and lines, providing more context at a glance.
+- **Focused row preservation**: The graph maintains your selected row even when new data refreshes the view. This solved an annoying issue that resulted in losing context in the graph during updates.
+
+#### Commit Details
+
+**Commit Reachability**: Commit Details now display which branches and tags contain a specific commit, giving you instant visibility into how changes have propagated across your repository.
+
+<video src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-commit-reachability-example.mp4" autoplay loop controls muted class="help-center-video"></video>
+
+**File List Actions**: Context menus now provide the full range of file operations you expect from other IDE file lists—opening files, viewing history, applying changes, and more—directly from Commit Details.
+
+<img src="/wp-content/uploads/gl-17-7-file-list-actions.png" class="help-center-img img-bordered">
+
+----
+
+### Added
+
+- Adds new _Commit Composer_ features and improvements
+  - Adds ability to recompose existing branches via the _Recompose Commits (Preview)_ command in the context menu of branches and from the Command Palette ([#4598](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4598), [#4599](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4599))
+  - Adds drag and drop support to reorder auto-composed commits in the commit list ([#4433](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4433))
+  - Adds support for untracked files ([#4636](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4636))
+  - Adds support for composing without a base commit ([#4637](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4637))
+  - Greatly improves performance by virtualizing file diffs ([#4675](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4675))
+  - Improves some cases where staging or working tree changes are incorrectly detected ([#4667](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4667))
+  - Adds a link to the custom instructions setting in the _Commit Composer_ view
+- Adds ability to explain unpushed changes via the _Explain Unpushed Changes_ command in the context menu of branches in the _Commit Graph_ and views ([#4443](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4443))
+- Adds improved experience to the _Commit Graph_
+  - Improves rendering, scrolling, and selection performance and stability
+  - Adds "pill-style" stats to the "Work in Progress" (WIP) row in the _Commit Graph_
+  - Adds new keyboard navigation support: <kbd>Home</kbd>/<kbd>End</kbd> to navigate to the first/last row, <kbd>Page Up</kbd>/<kbd>Page Down</kbd> to navigate by page
+  - Adds ability to show file or folder histories on the _Commit Graph_ ([#4725](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4725))
+    - Adds _Open File History in Commit Graph_ command to files in views
+    - Adds _Open Folder History in Commit Graph_ command to folders in the Explorer view
+  - Adds new _Solo Branch_ and _Solo Tag_ commands to quickly filter the _Commit Graph_ view to a specific branch or tag ([#4739](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4739))
+    - Adds _Solo Branch in Commit Graph_ and _Solo Tag in Commit Graph_ commands to the context menu of branches and tags in views
+      if there are uncommitted changes
+  - Changes to select the "Work in progress" (WIP) row in the _Commit Graph_ by default if there are uncommitted changes ([#4716](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4716))
+    - Adds `gitlens.graph.initialRowSelection` setting to specify whether to select the "Work in progress" (WIP) row instead of HEAD
+- Adds improved search experience on the _Commit Graph_, _Search & Compare_ view, and in the _Search Commits_ command
+  - Adds support for reference or range commit searches ([#4723](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4723))
+    - Adds `ref:` search operator to filter commits by specific references (branches, tags, SHAs) or commit ranges
+    - Adds natural language support to allow for more powerful queries
+      - e.g. "show me all commits on `feature-branch` that aren't on `main`
+      - e.g. "show me all commits after tag v17.6.0"
+  - Adds ability to filter/search to branch & tag tips ([#4726](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4726))
+    - Adds `is:tip` search operator to filter to only commits directly pointed to by a branch or tag
+  - Adds a navigable search history to the search box on the _Commit Graph_ ([#4724](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4724))
+    - Allows navigation with arrow keys and deletion of history items
+  - Adds a _No Results_ message to the _Commit Graph_ when there are no search results
+- Adds new experience improvements to the _Commit Details_ and _Graph Details_ views
+  - Adds "pill-style" file changed stats
+  - Adds rich context menus to files, similar to the tree views
+  - Adds the ability to see which branches and tags contain a specific commit([#4737](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4737))
+  - Adds the ability to see which files are matched by a search on the _Commit Graph_
+    - Adds a filter toggle button to switch between showing all files, highlighting matched files, and only showing matched files
+- Adds a new _Safe Hard Reset_ (`--keep`) option to Git _reset_ command ([#4720](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4720))
+- Adds sort context menu toggles for _Branches_, _Contributors_, _Remotes_, _Repositories_, _Tags_, and _Worktrees_ views ([#4738](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4738))
+  - Adds a new `gitlens.sortWorktreesBy` setting to specify the sort order for worktrees
+- Adds support for Claude 4.5 Haiku model and hides older Claude models for GitLens' AI features
+- Adds "Copy Changes (Patch)" to uncommitted files in the _Worktrees_, _Commit Details_, and _Graph Details_ views
+- Adds "inline" multiline commit message support to the _Commit Graph_
+- Adds _Next Change_ and _Previous Change_ navigation commands to the editor toolbar when the _Changes Annotations_ are active
+- Adds keybinding support for copy actions (<kbd>Ctrl+C</kbd> / <kbd>Cmd+C</kbd>) in the _Launchpad_ view
+- Adds _Quick Show Commit_ (`gitlens.showQuickCommitDetails`) command to the Command Palette
+
+### Changed
+
+- Improves performance and reduces overhead in many areas
+  - Faster/less intensive detection of uncommitted changes
+  - Faster/less intensive conflict file detection
+  - Greatly improves performance providing the status of worktrees
+  - Reduces view refresh frequency related to fetch times to avoid extra processing and re-rendering
+- Changes to use the "merge target" when we are creating pull requests ([#4709](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4709), [#4734](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4734))
+- Changes the minimum VS Code version to 1.95.0 ([#4690](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4690), [#4691](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4691))
+- Improves MCP checks and adds offline detection ([#4687](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4687))
+- Improves reference/revision range entry in reference pickers
+- Consolidates (and fixes missing) progress indicators and spinners on the _Commit Graph_
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Fixes an issue where the _Home_ view would not update when switching repositories ([#4717](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4717))
+- Fixes intermittent stuck loading state on the _Commit Graph_ ([#4669](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4669))
+- Fixes underlines showing on home branch actions ([#4703](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4703))
+- Fixes _Inspect_ view not showing uncommitted files on the Inspect tab ([#4714](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4714))
+- Fixes _Commit Graph_ losing row selection when graph updates ([#4544](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4544))
+- Fixes "Element with id already registered" error on comparison w/ multiple repos ([#4521](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4521))
+- Fixes _Commit Composer_ diffs misaligned with large editor font sizes ([#4573](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4573))
+- Fixes MCP installation flow from proceeding in cases where it shouldn't ([#4672](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4672), [#4673](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4673), [#4674](https://github.com/gitkraken/vscode-gitlens/issues/4674))
+- Fixes missing layout commands in view menus
+- Fixes stage/unstage failures with large file set by adding batching
+- Fixes copying untracked files as a patch
+- Fixes an issue where the "hidden references" control on the _Commit Graph_ could still receive focus
+- Fixes issues with inline versus block Markdown rendering
+- Fixes inconsistencies in the Work-in-Progress (WIP) statistics
+- Fixes an issue where the "visible day range" on the _Commit Graph_ minimap were not updating
+- Fixes showing overview mode when selecting a Work-in-Progress (WIP) row
+- Fixes path issues in untracked files and tree file parsing
+- Fixes action color on the merge/rebase status component
+- Fixes the copy shortcut key on grouped views
+- Fixes issue to ensure the immediate firing of repository close events to avoid potential deadlock issues
+
 <a id="v17-6"></a>
 
 ## Version 17.6