feat: list the commits a pull request would land

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- **The Pulls screen now lists the commits a pull request would land.** A new
+  "Commits" tab, counted next to its name, shows every commit oldest first: the
+  subject line, who committed it and when, and clicking a row opens its message
+  body — the branch's story, which the diff and the file list never tell. The commits ride along with the lookup the screen already makes,
+  so it costs no extra round-trip.
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - **A new directory of files now counts as the files it holds, not as one.** The

frontend/src/components/pulls/Pulls.tsx

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input"
 import { Label } from "@/components/ui/label"
 import { Skeleton } from "@/components/ui/skeleton"
 import { PullsChecks } from "./PullsChecks"
+import { PullsCommits } from "./PullsCommits"
 import { PullsFiles } from "./PullsFiles"
 
 // Ragged widths, so the body placeholder reads as prose instead of a block.
@@ -213,7 +214,8 @@ function PullRequestView({
 }: PullRequestViewProps) {
   const [merging, setMerging] = useState(false)
   const [edit, setEdit] = useState<EditState | null>(null)
-  const [tab, setTab] = useState<"overview" | "files" | "checks">("overview")
+  const [tab, setTab] = useState<"overview" | "commits" | "files" | "checks">("overview")
+  const commitCount = detail.commits?.length ?? 0
   const blocked = detail.isDraft
     ? "Pull request is a draft"
     : detail.mergeable === "CONFLICTING"
@@ -338,6 +340,12 @@ function PullRequestView({
           <TabButton active={tab === "overview"} onClick={() => setTab("overview")}>
             Overview
           </TabButton>
+          <TabButton active={tab === "commits"} onClick={() => setTab("commits")}>
+            Commits
+            {commitCount > 0 && (
+              <span className="tabular-nums text-muted-foreground">{commitCount}</span>
+            )}
+          </TabButton>
           <TabButton active={tab === "files"} onClick={() => setTab("files")}>
             Files changed
             {detail.changedFiles > 0 && (
@@ -358,9 +366,9 @@ function PullRequestView({
           <PullsFiles path={path} head={head} pullRequest={detail.url} onInject={onInject} />
         ) : (
           <div className="h-full overflow-y-auto">
-            {tab === "checks" ? (
-              <PullsChecks checks={detail.checkRuns} />
-            ) : (
+            {tab === "checks" && <PullsChecks checks={detail.checkRuns} />}
+            {tab === "commits" && <PullsCommits commits={detail.commits} />}
+            {tab === "overview" && (
               <div className="max-w-3xl px-6 py-5">
                 {detail.body.trim() !== "" ? (
                   <Markdown>{detail.body}</Markdown>

frontend/src/components/pulls/PullsCommits.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { useState } from "react"
+import { ChevronRight } from "lucide-react"
+import { Notice } from "@/components/common/Notice"
+import type { PullRequestCommit } from "@/lib/api-types"
+import { cn } from "@/lib/utils"
+
+// PullsCommits is the "Commits" tab of the Pulls screen: every commit the pull
+// request would land, oldest first as gh lists them — the story of the branch,
+// which the diff never tells. A row is its subject line and clicking it opens
+// the message body, so a branch of fifteen commits stays a list you can scan.
+export function PullsCommits({ commits }: { commits: PullRequestCommit[] | null }) {
+  if (!commits || commits.length === 0) {
+    return <Notice className="px-6 py-5 text-sm">No commits.</Notice>
+  }
+  return (
+    <div className="flex flex-col py-1">
+      {commits.map((commit) => (
+        <CommitRow key={commit.oid} commit={commit} />
+      ))}
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
+function CommitRow({ commit }: { commit: PullRequestCommit }) {
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false)
+  const body = commit.body.trim()
+  return (
+    <div>
+      {/* The whole row is the affordance — a body is read by clicking the commit
+          it belongs to, not a control beside it. A one-line commit has nothing
+          to open, so its row stays inert rather than offering an empty toggle. */}
+      <button
+        type="button"
+        onClick={() => setOpen(!open)}
+        disabled={body === ""}
+        aria-expanded={body === "" ? undefined : open}
+        className="flex w-full cursor-default items-center gap-2 px-6 py-2 text-left transition-colors hover:bg-accent/50 disabled:hover:bg-transparent"
+      >
+        <span className="min-w-0 flex-1">
+          <span className="block truncate text-sm font-medium" title={commit.headline}>
+            {commit.headline}
+          </span>
+          <span className="block text-xs text-muted-foreground">{commitMeta(commit)}</span>
+        </span>
+        {body !== "" && (
+          <ChevronRight
+            className={cn(
+              "size-3.5 shrink-0 text-muted-foreground transition-transform",
+              open && "rotate-90",
+            )}
+          />
+        )}
+        <span className="shrink-0 font-mono text-xs text-muted-foreground" title={commit.oid}>
+          {commit.oid.slice(0, 7)}
+        </span>
+      </button>
+      {open && (
+        <p className="whitespace-pre-wrap px-6 pb-3 text-xs leading-relaxed text-muted-foreground">
+          {body}
+        </p>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  )
+}
+
+// Who landed it and when, in git's own phrasing. Either half can be missing — a
+// merge commit from the web flow carries no author — so the line is built from
+// what is there instead of printing an empty "committed on".
+function commitMeta(commit: PullRequestCommit): string {
+  const at = new Date(commit.date)
+  const date = Number.isNaN(at.getTime()) ? "" : at.toLocaleDateString()
+  if (commit.author && date) {
+    return `${commit.author} committed ${date}`
+  }
+  return commit.author || (date && `Committed ${date}`) || ""
+}

frontend/src/lib/api-types.ts

@@ -49,6 +49,19 @@ export interface CheckItem {
   completedAt: string
 }
 
+/** internal/project.PRCommit — one commit of the PR, for the Commits tab. */
+export interface PullRequestCommit {
+  oid: string
+  /** The message's subject line. */
+  headline: string
+  /** The rest of the message; "" for a one-line commit. */
+  body: string
+  /** The first author's login, or their name; "" when gh reports none. */
+  author: string
+  /** gh's ISO committedDate. */
+  date: string
+}
+
 /** internal/project.PRDetail — the branch's open PR in full, for the Pulls panel. */
 export interface PullRequestDetail {
   number: number
@@ -64,6 +77,8 @@ export interface PullRequestDetail {
   checks: ChecksRollup
   /** The rollup itself, worst state first; null when the PR reports no checks. */
   checkRuns: CheckItem[] | null
+  /** Every commit the PR would land, oldest first; null when gh reports none. */
+  commits: PullRequestCommit[] | null
 }
 
 /** internal/project.Worktree — a git worktree checkout: branch and path. */

internal/project/pr.go

@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func runGH(timeout time.Duration, dir string, args ...string) ([]byte, error) {
 }
 
 // prViewFields is the gh `pr view --json` selection backing the Pulls panel.
-const prViewFields = "number,url,state,title,body,isDraft,mergeable,baseRefName,headRefName,statusCheckRollup,changedFiles"
+const prViewFields = "number,url,state,title,body,isDraft,mergeable,baseRefName,headRefName,statusCheckRollup,changedFiles,commits"
 
 // PRDetail is the full view of a branch's open pull request — richer than the
 // footer badge's PullRequest — driving the dock's Pulls panel: the title, body,
@@ -73,6 +73,17 @@ type PRDetail struct {
 	ChangedFiles int          `json:"changedFiles"`
 	Checks       ChecksRollup `json:"checks"`
 	CheckRuns    []CheckItem  `json:"checkRuns"`
+	Commits      []PRCommit   `json:"commits"`
+}
+
+// PRCommit is one commit the pull request would land, split the way git itself
+// splits a message: the subject line, then the body (empty for a one-liner).
+type PRCommit struct {
+	OID      string `json:"oid"`
+	Headline string `json:"headline"`
+	Body     string `json:"body"`
+	Author   string `json:"author"`
+	Date     string `json:"date"` // gh's ISO committedDate
 }
 
 // ChecksRollup collapses gh's statusCheckRollup array into the counts the panel
@@ -111,6 +122,22 @@ type ghPRView struct {
 	HeadRefName       string      `json:"headRefName"`
 	ChangedFiles      int         `json:"changedFiles"`
 	StatusCheckRollup []checkItem `json:"statusCheckRollup"`
+	Commits           []ghCommit  `json:"commits"`
+}
+
+// ghCommit is one entry of gh's commits array. Authors is a list because of
+// co-authored commits; the first one is the one the list names.
+type ghCommit struct {
+	OID             string           `json:"oid"`
+	MessageHeadline string           `json:"messageHeadline"`
+	MessageBody     string           `json:"messageBody"`
+	CommittedDate   string           `json:"committedDate"`
+	Authors         []ghCommitAuthor `json:"authors"`
+}
+
+type ghCommitAuthor struct {
+	Login string `json:"login"`
+	Name  string `json:"name"`
 }
 
 // checkItem is one statusCheckRollup entry. gh emits two shapes: a CheckRun
@@ -171,9 +198,34 @@ func parsePRDetail(out []byte) (*PRDetail, error) {
 		ChangedFiles: v.ChangedFiles,
 		Checks:       reduceChecks(v.StatusCheckRollup),
 		CheckRuns:    toCheckItems(v.StatusCheckRollup),
+		Commits:      toCommits(v.Commits),
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// toCommits flattens gh's commits into the list the Commits tab renders, in
+// gh's own order — oldest first, the order the branch built them. Returns nil
+// when gh reports none, so the tab can tell "no commits" from a list.
+func toCommits(commits []ghCommit) []PRCommit {
+	if len(commits) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := make([]PRCommit, 0, len(commits))
+	for _, c := range commits {
+		author := ""
+		if len(c.Authors) > 0 {
+			author = firstNonEmpty(c.Authors[0].Login, c.Authors[0].Name)
+		}
+		out = append(out, PRCommit{
+			OID:      c.OID,
+			Headline: c.MessageHeadline,
+			Body:     c.MessageBody,
+			Author:   author,
+			Date:     c.CommittedDate,
+		})
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 // The verdict of one check, shared by the rollup counts and the Checks tab.
 const (
 	checkPassed  = "passed"

internal/project/pr_test.go

@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ func TestParsePRDetail(t *testing.T) {
 			"statusCheckRollup": [
 				{"status": "COMPLETED", "conclusion": "SUCCESS"},
 				{"state": "SUCCESS"}
+			],
+			"commits": [
+				{"oid": "a4dbc1f", "messageHeadline": "feat: the panel", "messageBody": "why"}
 			]
 		}`)
 		pr, err := parsePRDetail(out)
@@ -45,6 +48,9 @@ func TestParsePRDetail(t *testing.T) {
 		if pr.ChangedFiles != 6 {
 			t.Errorf("wrong changed files: %d", pr.ChangedFiles)
 		}
+		if len(pr.Commits) != 1 || pr.Commits[0].Headline != "feat: the panel" {
+			t.Errorf("wrong commits: %+v", pr.Commits)
+		}
 	})
 
 	t.Run("draft flag survives", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -221,6 +227,55 @@ func TestToCheckItems(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestToCommits(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("no commits yields no list", func(t *testing.T) {
+		if got := toCommits(nil); got != nil {
+			t.Errorf("toCommits(nil) = %+v, want nil", got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("subject, body and author survive in gh's order", func(t *testing.T) {
+		got := toCommits([]ghCommit{
+			{
+				OID:             "a4dbc1f",
+				MessageHeadline: "fix: retire the badge",
+				MessageBody:     "The footer badge only looked up again on HEAD moves.",
+				CommittedDate:   "2026-07-25T22:32:47Z",
+				Authors:         []ghCommitAuthor{{Login: "omartelo", Name: "omartelo"}},
+			},
+			{OID: "f55ebe9", MessageHeadline: "docs: changelog"},
+		})
+		if len(got) != 2 {
+			t.Fatalf("want 2 commits, got %+v", got)
+		}
+		first := got[0]
+		if first.OID != "a4dbc1f" || first.Headline != "fix: retire the badge" {
+			t.Errorf("wrong header: %+v", first)
+		}
+		if !strings.Contains(first.Body, "HEAD moves") || first.Author != "omartelo" {
+			t.Errorf("lost body or author: %+v", first)
+		}
+		if first.Date != "2026-07-25T22:32:47Z" {
+			t.Errorf("wrong date: %q", first.Date)
+		}
+		// A one-line commit has no body and a web-flow merge commit no author;
+		// both are rows, not errors.
+		if got[1].Body != "" || got[1].Author != "" {
+			t.Errorf("second commit should be bare: %+v", got[1])
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a nameless login falls back to the name", func(t *testing.T) {
+		got := toCommits([]ghCommit{{
+			OID:     "c0ffee0",
+			Authors: []ghCommitAuthor{{Name: "Ada Lovelace"}},
+		}})
+		if len(got) != 1 || got[0].Author != "Ada Lovelace" {
+			t.Errorf("author fallback failed: %+v", got)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 func TestMergeArgs(t *testing.T) {
 	// An unrecognised method must be refused before any gh shell-out.
 	if _, err := mergeArgs("force", "", ""); err == nil {