Add path, since and until to list_commits

[Luc45]

Summary

Add three optional filter parameters (path, since, until) to list_commits, exposing existing GitHub API capabilities that the go-github library already supports but the MCP tool did not wire up.

Why

Monorepo workflows need to scope commit history to a specific subdirectory (e.g. projects/plugins/boost in a Jetpack monorepo with 50+ products). Without path, the tool returns all commits across the entire repository. Without since/until, date-range queries require fetching everything and filtering client-side, wasting context window.

Fixes #197

What changed

• Added path, since, until schema properties to list_commits (same pattern as existing author parameter)
• Added parameter extraction and wiring to CommitsListOptions.Path, .Since, .Until
• Time parsing uses the existing parseISOTimestamp helper (shared with list_issues and list_gists)
• Added 4 test cases: path filter, since+until, combined path+since+author, invalid timestamp error
• Updated toolsnap and regenerated docs

MCP impact

• No tool or API changes
• Tool schema or behavior changed — three new optional input parameters (path, since, until) added to list_commits. No breaking changes; existing calls work identically.
• New tool added

Prompts tested (tool changes only)

• "Show me commits in the src/utils directory"
• "List commits from the last month"
• "What commits were made to projects/plugins/boost between January and March 2025?"
• "Show commits by username in the docs/ folder since 2025-01-01"

Security / limits

• No security or limits impact — read-only filter parameters passed through to the existing GitHub API. No new data exposure; results are a subset of what list_commits already returns.
• Auth / permissions considered
• Data exposure, filtering, or token/size limits considered

Tool renaming

• I am renaming tools as part of this PR (e.g. a part of a consolidation effort)
  • I have added the new tool aliases in deprecated_tool_aliases.go
• I am not renaming tools as part of this PR

Lint & tests

• Linted locally with ./script/lint
• Tested locally with ./script/test

Docs

• Not needed
• Updated (README / docs / examples)

[Luc45]

❯ List commits in github/github-mcp-server that touched pkg/github/repositories.go

Result:

❯ List commits in https://github.com/github/github-mcp-server that touched pkg dir this month - Expected to use path and since

Result:

• Closes Extend tool list_commits with two optional parameters startdatetime and enddatetime #197 (original issue)
• Supersedes Time range and path filtering for list commits, this should address #197 #783 (stale)
• Supersedes feat: add since and until date filters to list_commits #1928 (missing path)

@JoannaaKL @SamMorrowDrums Would it be possible to ask someone to review this? I'm asking directly because I see two prior PRs for this (#783, #1928) that went unreviewed for months and were closed by the stale bot. @williammartin commented on #197: "Totally makes sense. Would definitely accept a PR for this." — this is a straightforward change and should be quick to review.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds optional GitHub API filters to the list_commits MCP tool so callers can scope commit history by path and/or a time window, improving usability for monorepos and incident/time-range investigations.

Changes:

• Extended list_commits input schema with optional path, since, and until parameters.
• Wired the new parameters into github.CommitsListOptions (including ISO timestamp parsing via the shared parseISOTimestamp helper).
• Added/updated unit tests, toolsnap snapshot, and README docs to reflect the schema change.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
pkg/github/repositories.go	Adds path/since/until params to the list_commits tool and maps them to GitHub API list options.
pkg/github/repositories_test.go	Adds schema assertions and behavioral tests validating query param wiring and timestamp validation.
pkg/github/toolsnaps/list_commits.snap	Updates the tool schema snapshot for the new optional properties.
README.md	Regenerates tool documentation to include the new parameters.

[SamMorrowDrums]

You make a good case! Love it. Thanks for this.