diff --git a/lib/shared/src/codebase-context/messages.ts b/lib/shared/src/codebase-context/messages.ts
index 7bea5ccb05..e91c7a3382 100644
--- a/lib/shared/src/codebase-context/messages.ts
+++ b/lib/shared/src/codebase-context/messages.ts
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ export enum ContextItemSource {
 /**
  * An item (such as a file or symbol) that is included as context in a chat message.
  */
-export type ContextItem = ContextItemFile | ContextItemSymbol | ContextItemPackage
+export type ContextItem = ContextItemFile | ContextItemSymbol | ContextItemPackage | ContextItemHistory
 
 /**
  * A file (or a subset of a file given by a range) that is included as context in a chat message.
@@ -147,6 +147,19 @@ export interface ContextItemSymbol extends ContextItemCommon {
 /** The valid kinds of a symbol. */
 export type SymbolKind = 'class' | 'function' | 'method'
 
+/**
+ * The output of source control history for a file.
+ *
+ * Note: Currently this is only used for the "Explain History" action which runs
+ * on a symbol.
+ */
+export interface ContextItemHistory extends ContextItemCommon {
+    type: 'history'
+
+    /** The symbol name we asked history for, used for presentation only (not semantically meaningful). */
+    symbolName: string
+}
+
 /** {@link ContextItem} with the `content` field set to the content. */
 export type ContextItemWithContent = ContextItem & Required<Pick<ContextItem, 'content'>>
 
diff --git a/lib/shared/src/index.ts b/lib/shared/src/index.ts
index 12b3d32ca2..b1307e28e8 100644
--- a/lib/shared/src/index.ts
+++ b/lib/shared/src/index.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ export type {
 export {
     type ContextItem,
     type ContextItemFile,
+    type ContextItemHistory,
     ContextItemSource,
     type ContextItemWithContent,
     type ContextItemSymbol,
diff --git a/vscode/src/commands/context/git-log.ts b/vscode/src/commands/context/git-log.ts
index aa95b9ed6c..32ada1c20b 100644
--- a/vscode/src/commands/context/git-log.ts
+++ b/vscode/src/commands/context/git-log.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ import { type SpawnOptionsWithoutStdio, spawn } from 'node:child_process'
 import path from 'node:path'
 import {
     type ContextItem,
+    type ContextItemHistory,
     ContextItemSource,
     type FileURI,
     wrapInActiveSpan,
 } from '@sourcegraph/cody-shared'
-import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 
 export async function getContextFileFromGitLog(
     file: FileURI,
@@ -45,15 +45,15 @@ export async function getContextFileFromGitLog(
             throw new Error(`git log failed with exit code ${result.code}: ${result.stderr}`)
         }
 
-        return [
-            {
-                type: 'file',
-                content: result.stdout,
-                title: 'Terminal Output',
-                uri: vscode.Uri.file('terminal-output'),
-                source: ContextItemSource.History,
-            },
-        ]
+        const contextItem: ContextItemHistory = {
+            type: 'history',
+            content: result.stdout,
+            title: `history for ${options.funcname}`,
+            uri: file,
+            symbolName: options.funcname,
+            source: ContextItemSource.History,
+        }
+        return [contextItem]
     })
 }
 
diff --git a/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/nodes/ContextItemMentionNode.ts b/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/nodes/ContextItemMentionNode.ts
index b4a5d3599c..9915cb54e2 100644
--- a/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/nodes/ContextItemMentionNode.ts
+++ b/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/nodes/ContextItemMentionNode.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import styles from './ContextItemMentionNode.module.css'
 import {
     type ContextItem,
     type ContextItemFile,
+    type ContextItemHistory,
     type ContextItemPackage,
     type ContextItemSymbol,
     displayLineRange,
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ export type SerializedContextItem = { uri: string; title?: string; content?: und
     | Omit<ContextItemFile, 'uri' | 'content'>
     | Omit<ContextItemSymbol, 'uri' | 'content'>
     | Omit<ContextItemPackage, 'uri' | 'content'>
+    | Omit<ContextItemHistory, 'uri' | 'content'>
 )
 
 export function serializeContextItem(
@@ -180,20 +182,19 @@ export function contextItemMentionNodeDisplayText(contextItem: SerializedContext
     // range needs to go to the start (0th character) of line 5. Also, `RangeData` is 0-indexed but
     // display ranges are 1-indexed.
     const rangeText = contextItem.range?.start ? `:${displayLineRange(contextItem.range)}` : ''
-    if (contextItem.type === 'file') {
-        if (contextItem.provider && contextItem.title) {
-            return `@${contextItem.title}`
-        }
-        return `@${decodeURIComponent(displayPath(URI.parse(contextItem.uri)))}${rangeText}`
-    }
-    if (contextItem.type === 'symbol') {
-        return `@${displayPath(URI.parse(contextItem.uri))}${rangeText}#${contextItem.symbolName}`
-    }
-    if (contextItem.type === 'package') {
-        return `@${contextItem.ecosystem}:${contextItem.name}`
+    switch (contextItem.type) {
+        case 'file':
+            if (contextItem.provider && contextItem.title) {
+                return `@${contextItem.title}`
+            }
+            return `@${decodeURIComponent(displayPath(URI.parse(contextItem.uri)))}${rangeText}`
+        case 'symbol':
+            return `@${displayPath(URI.parse(contextItem.uri))}${rangeText}#${contextItem.symbolName}`
+        case 'package':
+            return `@${contextItem.ecosystem}:${contextItem.name}`
+        case 'history':
+            return `@history:${contextItem.symbolName}:${displayPath(URI.parse(contextItem.uri))}`
     }
-    // @ts-ignore
-    throw new Error(`unrecognized context item type ${contextItem.type}`)
 }
 
 export function $createContextItemMentionNode(
diff --git a/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/plugins/atMentions/OptionsList.tsx b/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/plugins/atMentions/OptionsList.tsx
index 642974d7d0..830a9cc884 100644
--- a/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/plugins/atMentions/OptionsList.tsx
+++ b/vscode/webviews/promptEditor/plugins/atMentions/OptionsList.tsx
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ const Item: FunctionComponent<{
     const isFileType = item.type === 'file'
     const isPackageType = item.type === 'package'
     const icon =
-        isFileType || isPackageType ? null : item.kind === 'class' ? 'symbol-structure' : 'symbol-method'
+        item.type === 'symbol' ? (item.kind === 'class' ? 'symbol-structure' : 'symbol-method') : null
     const title =
         item.title ?? (isFileType || isPackageType ? displayPathBasename(item.uri) : item.symbolName)