feat(repo stats): default to walking all commits (with patch-id dedup)#41
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kyle-rader merged 2 commits intoMay 23, 2026
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Flip the default commit walk from `--first-parent` back to all commits.
The `--first-parent` default was introduced as a workaround for inflated
contributor counts after the cross-repo-history merge in a downstream
Microsoft repo, but the workaround over-corrected — it silently dropped
all authorship from history that was merged in via a side-parent.
Now that patch-id dedup (v2.5.0) handles duplicate-commit inflation
properly, restoring the all-commits default gives a much more accurate
picture of who actually contributed to a repo.
Concrete impact in the case-study repo:
Before this PR (default = --first-parent):
Kyle Rader: 131 commits over 6.1 months (drops 14+ months of work)
After this PR (default = all + dedup):
Kyle Rader: 413 commits over 1.2 years (matches reality)
--no-dedup (raw SHA counts, for reference):
Kyle Rader: 704 commits over 1.2 years (inflated by ~290 dup patches)
The `--first-parent` behavior remains available as an opt-in flag for
users who want one-tally-per-PR (e.g. mainline-merge release-history view).
The deprecated `--all` flag is kept as a hidden no-op so existing scripts
and muscle memory don't break — walking all commits is now the default.
Bumps the crate version 2.5.0 -> 2.6.0 (backward-compatible default flip).
Since we're introducing --first-parent as the opt-in toggle in the same release, just drop --all entirely rather than carrying a no-op deprecation shim.
kyle-rader
approved these changes
May 23, 2026
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Problem
In v2.0.0 (Feb 2, 2026) we flipped the default commit walk in
lk repo statsto--first-parentas a workaround for inflated contributor counts after merging a large external history into a downstream repo. That workaround over-corrected: it silently drops all authorship from history that was merged in via a side-parent — i.e. it hides every commit behind a graft merge from the contributor view.Now that patch-id dedup (v2.5.0, PR #40) handles the duplicate-commit inflation properly, the
--first-parentdefault is no longer needed and is actively wrong: it suppresses real contributions.Case study (same repo as v2.5.0)
--first-parent)--no-dedupfor reference(The same person's oldest commit reachable from HEAD via
--first-parentis 2025-11-17; via all refs it's 2025-03-10. The first-parent walk hides 8 months of legitimate authorship.)Solution
--allopt-in flag (it became meaningless once "all" is the default).--first-parentopt-in flag for users who want the one-tally-per-merge release-history view.--first-parentwhen you want PR-granularity.Compat
Defaults change. Anyone scripted on the old default gets the (more accurate) all-commits view; they can restore previous output with
--first-parent. The old default existed for ~3.5 months. Anyone scripted onlk repo stats --allshould drop the flag — it now errors.Bumps the crate version 2.5.0 → 2.6.0.