Documentation/git-diff.txt

   1 git-diff(1)
   2 ===========
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
   7
   8
   9 SYNOPSIS
  10 --------
  11 [verse]
  12 'git diff' [<options>] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
  13 'git diff' [<options>] --cached [--merge-base] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
  14 'git diff' [<options>] [--merge-base] <commit> [<commit>...] <commit> [--] [<path>...]
  15 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>...<commit> [--] [<path>...]
  16 'git diff' [<options>] <blob> <blob>
  17 'git diff' [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path>
  18
  19 DESCRIPTION
  20 -----------
  21 Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes
  22 between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, changes resulting
  23 from a merge, changes between two blob objects, or changes between two
  24 files on disk.
  25
  26 'git diff' [<options>] [--] [<path>...]::
  27
  28         This form is to view the changes you made relative to
  29         the index (staging area for the next commit).  In other
  30         words, the differences are what you _could_ tell Git to
  31         further add to the index but you still haven't.  You can
  32         stage these changes by using linkgit:git-add[1].
  33
  34 'git diff' [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path>::
  35
  36         This form is to compare the given two paths on the
  37         filesystem.  You can omit the `--no-index` option when
  38         running the command in a working tree controlled by Git and
  39         at least one of the paths points outside the working tree,
  40         or when running the command outside a working tree
  41         controlled by Git. This form implies `--exit-code`.
  42
  43 'git diff' [<options>] --cached [--merge-base] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
  44
  45         This form is to view the changes you staged for the next
  46         commit relative to the named <commit>.  Typically you
  47         would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
  48         do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD.
  49         If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and
  50         <commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes.
  51         --staged is a synonym of --cached.
  52 +
  53 If --merge-base is given, instead of using <commit>, use the merge base
  54 of <commit> and HEAD.  `git diff --cached --merge-base A` is equivalent to
  55 `git diff --cached $(git merge-base A HEAD)`.
  56
  57 'git diff' [<options>] [--merge-base] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  58
  59         This form is to view the changes you have in your
  60         working tree relative to the named <commit>.  You can
  61         use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a
  62         branch name to compare with the tip of a different
  63         branch.
  64 +
  65 If --merge-base is given, instead of using <commit>, use the merge base
  66 of <commit> and HEAD.  `git diff --merge-base A` is equivalent to
  67 `git diff $(git merge-base A HEAD)`.
  68
  69 'git diff' [<options>] [--merge-base] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  70
  71         This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
  72         <commit>.
  73 +
  74 If --merge-base is given, use the merge base of the two commits for the
  75 "before" side.  `git diff --merge-base A B` is equivalent to
  76 `git diff $(git merge-base A B) B`.
  77
  78 'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit>... <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  79
  80         This form is to view the results of a merge commit.  The first
  81         listed <commit> must be the merge itself; the remaining two or
  82         more commits should be its parents.  Convenient ways to produce
  83         the desired set of revisions are to use the suffixes `^@` and
  84         `^!`.  If A is a merge commit, then `git diff A A^@`,
  85         `git diff A^!` and `git show A` all give the same combined diff.
  86
  87 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  88
  89         This is synonymous to the earlier form (without the `..`) for
  90         viewing the changes between two arbitrary <commit>.  If <commit> on
  91         one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
  92         using HEAD instead.
  93
  94 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  95
  96         This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
  97         and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
  98         of both <commit>.  `git diff A...B` is equivalent to
  99         `git diff $(git merge-base A B) B`.  You can omit any one
 100         of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
 101
 102 Just in case you are doing something exotic, it should be
 103 noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except
 104 in the `--merge-base` case and in the last two forms that use `..`
 105 notations, can be any <tree>. A tree of interest is the one pointed to
 106 by the ref named `AUTO_MERGE`, which is written by the 'ort' merge
 107 strategy upon hitting merge conflicts (see linkgit:git-merge[1]).
 108 Comparing the working tree with `AUTO_MERGE` shows changes you've made
 109 so far to resolve textual conflicts (see the examples below).
 110
 111 For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
 112 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 113 However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
 114 and the range notations (`<commit>..<commit>` and
 115 `<commit>...<commit>`) do not mean a range as defined in the
 116 "SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 117
 118 'git diff' [<options>] <blob> <blob>::
 119
 120         This form is to view the differences between the raw
 121         contents of two blob objects.
 122
 123 OPTIONS
 124 -------
 125 :git-diff: 1
 126 include::diff-options.txt[]
 127
 128 -1 --base::
 129 -2 --ours::
 130 -3 --theirs::
 131         Compare the working tree with the "base" version (stage #1),
 132         "our branch" (stage #2) or "their branch" (stage #3).  The
 133         index contains these stages only for unmerged entries i.e.
 134         while resolving conflicts.  See linkgit:git-read-tree[1]
 135         section "3-Way Merge" for detailed information.
 136
 137 -0::
 138         Omit diff output for unmerged entries and just show
 139         "Unmerged".  Can be used only when comparing the working tree
 140         with the index.
 141
 142 <path>...::
 143         The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit
 144         the diff to the named paths (you can give directory
 145         names and get diff for all files under them).
 146
 147
 148 include::diff-format.txt[]
 149
 150 EXAMPLES
 151 --------
 152
 153 Various ways to check your working tree::
 154 +
 155 ------------
 156 $ git diff            <1>
 157 $ git diff --cached   <2>
 158 $ git diff HEAD       <3>
 159 $ git diff AUTO_MERGE <4>
 160 ------------
 161 +
 162 <1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
 163 <2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you
 164     would be committing if you run `git commit` without `-a` option.
 165 <3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
 166     would be committing if you run `git commit -a`
 167 <4> Changes in the working tree you've made to resolve textual
 168     conflicts so far.
 169
 170 Comparing with arbitrary commits::
 171 +
 172 ------------
 173 $ git diff test            <1>
 174 $ git diff HEAD -- ./test  <2>
 175 $ git diff HEAD^ HEAD      <3>
 176 ------------
 177 +
 178 <1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
 179     tip of "test" branch.
 180 <2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
 181     the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
 182     file "test".
 183 <3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
 184
 185 Comparing branches::
 186 +
 187 ------------
 188 $ git diff topic master    <1>
 189 $ git diff topic..master   <2>
 190 $ git diff topic...master  <3>
 191 ------------
 192 +
 193 <1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
 194 <2> Same as above.
 195 <3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic
 196     branch was started off it.
 197
 198 Limiting the diff output::
 199 +
 200 ------------
 201 $ git diff --diff-filter=MRC            <1>
 202 $ git diff --name-status                <2>
 203 $ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386   <3>
 204 ------------
 205 +
 206 <1> Show only modification, rename, and copy, but not addition
 207     or deletion.
 208 <2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
 209     diff output.
 210 <3> Limit diff output to named subtrees.
 211
 212 Munging the diff output::
 213 +
 214 ------------
 215 $ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C  <1>
 216 $ git diff -R                          <2>
 217 ------------
 218 +
 219 <1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
 220     rewrites (very expensive).
 221 <2> Output diff in reverse.
 222
 223 CONFIGURATION
 224 -------------
 225
 226 include::includes/cmd-config-section-all.txt[]
 227
 228 include::config/diff.txt[]
 229
 230 SEE ALSO
 231 --------
 232 diff(1),
 233 linkgit:git-difftool[1],
 234 linkgit:git-log[1],
 235 linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
 236 linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
 237 linkgit:git-apply[1],
 238 linkgit:git-show[1]
 239
 240 GIT
 241 ---
 242 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite