Documentation/git-difftool.txt

   1 git-difftool(1)
   2 ===============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-difftool - Show changes using common diff tools
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git difftool' [<options>] [<commit> [<commit>]] [--] [<path>...]
  12
  13 DESCRIPTION
  14 -----------
  15 'git difftool' is a git command that allows you to compare and edit files
  16 between revisions using common diff tools.  'git difftool' is a frontend
  17 to 'git diff' and accepts the same options and arguments. See
  18 linkgit:git-diff[1].
  19
  20 OPTIONS
  21 -------
  22 -y::
  23 --no-prompt::
  24         Do not prompt before launching a diff tool.
  25
  26 --prompt::
  27         Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
  28         This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to
  29         override any configuration settings.
  30
  31 -t <tool>::
  32 --tool=<tool>::
  33         Use the diff tool specified by <tool>.
  34         Valid diff tools are:
  35         araxis, bc3, diffuse, emerge, ecmerge, gvimdiff, kdiff3,
  36         kompare, meld, opendiff, p4merge, tkdiff, vimdiff and xxdiff.
  37 +
  38 If a diff tool is not specified, 'git difftool'
  39 will use the configuration variable `diff.tool`.  If the
  40 configuration variable `diff.tool` is not set, 'git difftool'
  41 will pick a suitable default.
  42 +
  43 You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the
  44 configuration variable `difftool.<tool>.path`. For example, you
  45 can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting
  46 `difftool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git difftool' assumes the
  47 tool is available in PATH.
  48 +
  49 Instead of running one of the known diff tools,
  50 'git difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program
  51 by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration
  52 variable `difftool.<tool>.cmd`.
  53 +
  54 When 'git difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the
  55 `-t` or `--tool` option or the `diff.tool` configuration variable)
  56 the configured command line will be invoked with the following
  57 variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary
  58 file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE`
  59 is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents
  60 of the diff post-image.  `$MERGED` is the name of the file which is
  61 being compared. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility
  62 with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$MERGED`.
  63
  64 -x <command>::
  65 --extcmd=<command>::
  66         Specify a custom command for viewing diffs.
  67         'git-difftool' ignores the configured defaults and runs
  68         `$command $LOCAL $REMOTE` when this option is specified.
  69         Additionally, `$BASE` is set in the environment.
  70
  71 -g::
  72 --gui::
  73         When 'git-difftool' is invoked with the `-g` or `--gui` option
  74         the default diff tool will be read from the configured
  75         `diff.guitool` variable instead of `diff.tool`.
  76
  77 See linkgit:git-diff[1] for the full list of supported options.
  78
  79 CONFIG VARIABLES
  80 ----------------
  81 'git difftool' falls back to 'git mergetool' config variables when the
  82 difftool equivalents have not been defined.
  83
  84 diff.tool::
  85         The default diff tool to use.
  86
  87 diff.guitool::
  88         The default diff tool to use when `--gui` is specified.
  89
  90 difftool.<tool>.path::
  91         Override the path for the given tool.  This is useful in case
  92         your tool is not in the PATH.
  93
  94 difftool.<tool>.cmd::
  95         Specify the command to invoke the specified diff tool.
  96 +
  97 See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details.
  98
  99 difftool.prompt::
 100         Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
 101
 102 SEE ALSO
 103 --------
 104 linkgit:git-diff[1]::
 105          Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
 106
 107 linkgit:git-mergetool[1]::
 108         Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts
 109
 110 linkgit:git-config[1]::
 111          Get and set repository or global options
 112
 113 GIT
 114 ---
 115 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite