diff --git a/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/bin/test.rs b/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/bin/test.rs
index b7dba0379df..cb21d5c2564 100644
--- a/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/bin/test.rs
+++ b/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/bin/test.rs
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ fn main() {
 
     let head = main.get_head();
     let tree = head.get_tree();
-
-    println!(
-        "{:?}",
-        tree.history(main.get_all(), "Cargo.toml")
-            .into_iter()
-            .map(|c| c.summary())
-            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-    );
+    
+    // println!(
+    //     "{:?}",
+    //     tree.history(main.get_all(), "infra/libkookie/nixpkgs/nixos/modules/module-list.nix")
+    //         .into_iter()
+    //         .map(|c| c.summary())
+    //         .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+    // );
 }
diff --git a/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/branch.rs b/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/branch.rs
index 3261d23b917..6b838f4ff42 100644
--- a/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/branch.rs
+++ b/apps/servers/octopus/supergit/src/branch.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use crate::{Commit, HashId};
+use atomptr::AtomPtr;
 use git2::Repository;
 use std::{mem, sync::Arc};
 
@@ -124,6 +125,8 @@ impl Branch {
 /// handles.  This means that without explicitly branching, this
 /// iterator is first-parent.
 pub struct BranchIter {
+    rec: AtomPtr<IterMode>,
+    splits: AtomPtr<Vec<HashId>>,
     repo: Arc<Repository>,
     curr: Option<HashId>,
     limit: SegLimit,
@@ -133,6 +136,8 @@ impl BranchIter {
     /// Create a new branch segment iterator
     fn new(repo: Arc<Repository>, last: HashId, limit: SegLimit) -> Self {
         Self {
+            rec: AtomPtr::new(IterMode::FirstParent),
+            splits: AtomPtr::new(vec![]),
             repo,
             curr: Some(last),
             limit,
@@ -214,6 +219,25 @@ impl Iterator for BranchIter {
     }
 }
 
+/// Specify the mode of a branch iterator
+///
+/// The default value is `FirstParent`, meaning that merged branches
+/// will create a new `Branch` handle that the user must iterate
+/// manually.
+///
+/// This is a reasonable default, but means that history searches for
+/// files become more tedious.  To improve this use-case, iterators
+/// can internally be set to change their iteration behaviour, meaning
+/// that returned commits are always `BranchCommit::Commit`, and can
+pub enum IterMode {
+    /// Default value, iterating only first-parent commits
+    FirstParent,
+    /// Iterate a branch to completion, before picking the next
+    DepthFirst,
+    /// Iterate branches as they come up
+    BreadthFirst,
+}
+
 /// the limit applied to a branch segment
 pub enum SegLimit {
     /// No limit, enumerating all children
@@ -259,3 +283,35 @@ impl BranchCommit {
         }
     }
 }
+
+/// Additional iterator data
+struct IterData {
+    splits: AtomPtr<Vec<HashId>>,
+}
+
+impl IterData {
+    fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            splits: AtomPtr::new(vec![]),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn append(&self, id: HashId) {
+        let mut vec = (**self.splits.get_ref()).clone();
+        let mut new = vec![id];
+        new.append(&mut vec);
+        self.splits.swap(new);
+    }
+
+    fn next(&self) -> Option<HashId> {
+        let mut vec = (**self.splits.get_ref()).clone();
+        let next = if vec.len() < 0 {
+            Some(vec.remove(0))
+        } else {
+            None
+        };
+
+        self.splits.swap(vec);
+        next
+    }
+}