{
  "id": 17187479,
  "title": "Git seance: I let deleted functions speak from beyond the grave (with local Gemma)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/git-seance-i-let-deleted-functions-speak-from-beyond-the-grave-with",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-30T06:22:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/drunkwiz/git-seance-i-let-deleted-functions-speak-from-beyond-the-grave-with-local-gemma-2mge"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This is a Python script that reads a repository's git history and summons deleted functions to speak through a local Gemma model. It walks the git history, identifies functions that were deleted and never returned, and enables one of them to speak through a local Gemma model, revealing who wrote it, when it was added, and the commit that removed it. The script uses standard Python libraries and works with Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, and Rust definitions. It was demonstrated on the psf/requests repository with the gemma3:4b model running on a laptop CPU through Ollama, uncovering seven ghosts from the last 400 commits. The most poignant is set_http_proxy, a 85-line function that meticulously handled proxy configurations, added to the Session object on November 27, 2020, and reverted the same day by its creator. The script can operate in offline mode if no model is reachable, presenting only the factual details.",
  "summary": "This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge: Ghost in the Machine What I Built Every repository is a graveyard. Functions get written, argued over, shipped, and then one day a commit quietly removes them, and nobody says a word. git seance holds the funeral they never got. It walks your git history, finds functions that were deleted and never came back, and lets one of…",
  "key_points": [
    "Script reads repository's git history to summon deleted functions",
    "Identifies functions never returned, reveals writer, addition date, removal commit",
    "Demonstrated on psf/requests repo, uncovered seven \"ghosts\" from last 400 commits"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Automating the recovery of deleted code through local language models transforms version control history from a static archive into an interactive narrative of a project's technical evolution.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}