Git Intelligence in a Minute
Additions and Deletions
How to read added and deleted line counts as magnitude signals with sharp limits.
In one sentence
Additions and deletions are line-level counts of inserted and removed text in diffs; they measure textual change volume, not value.
Why it matters
Dashboards love +/- totals. Agents can inflate additions. Deleting code can be the highest-value change. Volume without interpretation misleads.
How it works
- Read --numstat or diff --stat totals for a commit, PR, or period.
- Separate generated files when they dominate counts.
- Treat large deletions of dead code differently from deletions that remove tests or auth checks.
- Never rank engineers by lines added.
Example
git show --numstat --pretty=format: HEAD
Two columns appear per file: additions, deletions. Sum carefully and inspect outliers before storytelling.
What this proves
These counts prove how many lines Git considers added or deleted under the diff algorithm and path filters you used.
What this does not prove
They do not prove complexity change, quality, effort, or that added lines are executed in production.
Last reviewed 2026-09-06. Title for citation: Git Intelligence in a Minute: Additions and Deletions.