Git Notes Unleash Distributed Code Metadata

Git notes let you attach metadata to any Git object (commits, blobs, trees) without rewriting history.

You can add a note with git notes add -m and view it in git log alongside commit details.

Projects use notes to link commits to mailing list discussions, track review/test data, and log time spent.

Gerrit's reviewnotes plugin demonstrates offline code review metadata stored in refs/notes and shown with git log.

Google’s git-appraise uses notes for a fully distributed code review system independent of forges.

Despite their power, notes suffer from poor usability and limited support (e.g., GitHub dropped note display).

Well-adopted notes could enable true forge-independence and fully distributed project history.