History Graph

Available

The History Graph is a Draftline workspace graph visualization of your project’s complete history across all timelines. It shows snapshots, fork points, and merge snapshots in a single interactive view.

Opening the History Graph

Click the History button in the Snapshots panel header. The graph opens as a dedicated tab — like Settings, it’s a singleton that you can keep open alongside your sketch editor.

Reading the Graph

Nodes

Each circle in the graph represents a snapshot (saved version):

Filled circles — Regular snapshots
Nodes with a ring — The current HEAD position
Merge nodes — Snapshots with two incoming edges (created by merging timelines)

Lanes and Colors

Each timeline gets its own colored lane:

Main is always the leftmost lane
Forks appear in additional lanes to the right
Colors are consistent with the timeline selector — the same color you see in the dropdown appears in the graph

Edges

Lines connecting nodes show parent-child relationships:

Straight vertical lines — Sequential snapshots on the same timeline
Diagonal lines — Fork points where a timeline branched off
Converging lines — Merge snapshots where timelines were combined

Labels

Branch tips show the timeline name as a badge (e.g., “Main”, “Experiment”)
Snapshot messages appear on hover or alongside nodes
Timestamps help orient you in the history

Interacting with the Graph

Click a Node

Clicking a snapshot node in the graph:

Switches to that timeline (if you’re on a different one)
Navigates to that snapshot in the linear view
Shows the snapshot’s details (message, date, files changed)

Orientation

The graph supports two orientations:

Vertical (default) — Time flows top-to-bottom, most recent at top
Horizontal — Time flows left-to-right

Both orientations show the same information; choose whichever feels more natural for your workflow.

Ancestry Indicators

When viewing the linear snapshot list for a specific timeline, the graph shows ancestry — snapshots inherited from the parent timeline appear in the parent’s color. This helps you understand where a fork originated and how much history it shares with other timelines.

Remote Tracking

When a remote is configured, the History Graph shows remote state:

Remote branch labels appear alongside local ones (e.g., “origin/main”)
Divergence is visible — local-only snapshots appear beyond the remote marker
Incoming snapshots (after fetch) appear as distinct nodes

See Remote Sync for details on configuring a remote.

Technical Details

The graph is rendered as SVG using a custom layout engine
Layout uses topological sorting with lane assignment per timeline
Merge edges are drawn as smooth curves between lanes
The graph recomputes on save, merge, or timeline switch
Performance is optimized for projects with hundreds of snapshots