Add Get Latest Commit Timestamp For A File as a Git TIL

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1515 TILs and counting..._
+_1516 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -310,6 +310,7 @@ _1515 TILs and counting..._
 - [Find And Remove Files That Match A Name](git/find-and-remove-files-that-match-a-name.md)
 - [Find The Date That A File Was Added To The Repo](git/find-the-date-that-a-file-was-added-to-the-repo.md)
 - [Find The Initial Commit](git/find-the-initial-commit.md)
+- [Get Latest Commit Timestamp For A File](git/get-latest-commit-timestamp-for-a-file.md)
 - [Get The Name Of The Current Branch](git/get-the-name-of-the-current-branch.md)
 - [Get The Short Version Of The Latest Commit](git/get-the-short-version-of-the-latest-commit.md)
 - [Grab A Single File From A Stash](git/grab-a-single-file-from-a-stash.md)

git/get-latest-commit-timestamp-for-a-file.md

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Get Latest Commit Timestamp For A File
+
+The `git log` command can tell you all the commits that touched a file. That
+can be narrowed down to the latest commit for that file with the `-1` flag. The
+commit that it reports can then be further formatted to with the `--format`
+flag.
+
+The `%ai` format pattern gives the date the commit was authored in an ISO
+8601-like format. The `%aI` (capital `I`) gives the date the commit was
+authored strictly in the ISO 8601 format.
+
+Here are examples of both side by side:
+
+```bash
+❯ git log -1 --format=%ai -- README.md
+2024-10-15 13:59:09 -0500
+
+❯ git log -1 --format=%aI -- README.md
+2024-10-15T13:59:09-05:00
+```
+
+I made use of this in a script where I needed to get an idea of when various
+files were most recently modified.
+
+See `man git-log` and the `PRETTY FORMATS` section for more details.