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