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>...] <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 [<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 'git diff' [<options>] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  54
  55         This form is to view the changes you have in your
  56         working tree relative to the named <commit>.  You can
  57         use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a
  58         branch name to compare with the tip of a different
  59         branch.
  60
  61 'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  62
  63         This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
  64         <commit>.
  65
  66 'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit>... <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  67
  68         This form is to view the results of a merge commit.  The first
  69         listed <commit> must be the merge itself; the remaining two or
  70         more commits should be its parents.  A convenient way to produce
  71         the desired set of revisions is to use the {caret}@ suffix.
  72         For instance, if `master` names a merge commit, `git diff master
  73         master^@` gives the same combined diff as `git show master`.
  74
  75 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  76
  77         This is synonymous to the earlier form (without the "..") for
  78         viewing the changes between two arbitrary <commit>.  If <commit> on
  79         one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
  80         using HEAD instead.
  81
  82 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  83
  84         This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
  85         and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
  86         of both <commit>.  "git diff A\...B" is equivalent to
  87         "git diff $(git merge-base A B) B".  You can omit any one
  88         of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
  89
  90 Just in case you are doing something exotic, it should be
  91 noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except
  92 in the last two forms that use ".." notations, can be any
  93 <tree>.
  94
  95 For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
  96 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
  97 However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
  98 and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and
  99 "<commit>\...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the
 100 "SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 101
 102 'git diff' [<options>] <blob> <blob>::
 103
 104         This form is to view the differences between the raw
 105         contents of two blob objects.
 106
 107 OPTIONS
 108 -------
 109 :git-diff: 1
 110 include::diff-options.txt[]
 111
 112 -1 --base::
 113 -2 --ours::
 114 -3 --theirs::
 115         Compare the working tree with the "base" version (stage #1),
 116         "our branch" (stage #2) or "their branch" (stage #3).  The
 117         index contains these stages only for unmerged entries i.e.
 118         while resolving conflicts.  See linkgit:git-read-tree[1]
 119         section "3-Way Merge" for detailed information.
 120
 121 -0::
 122         Omit diff output for unmerged entries and just show
 123         "Unmerged".  Can be used only when comparing the working tree
 124         with the index.
 125
 126 <path>...::
 127         The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit
 128         the diff to the named paths (you can give directory
 129         names and get diff for all files under them).
 130
 131
 132 include::diff-format.txt[]
 133
 134 EXAMPLES
 135 --------
 136
 137 Various ways to check your working tree::
 138 +
 139 ------------
 140 $ git diff            <1>
 141 $ git diff --cached   <2>
 142 $ git diff HEAD       <3>
 143 ------------
 144 +
 145 <1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
 146 <2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you
 147     would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option.
 148 <3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
 149     would be committing if you run "git commit -a"
 150
 151 Comparing with arbitrary commits::
 152 +
 153 ------------
 154 $ git diff test            <1>
 155 $ git diff HEAD -- ./test  <2>
 156 $ git diff HEAD^ HEAD      <3>
 157 ------------
 158 +
 159 <1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
 160     tip of "test" branch.
 161 <2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
 162     the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
 163     file "test".
 164 <3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
 165
 166 Comparing branches::
 167 +
 168 ------------
 169 $ git diff topic master    <1>
 170 $ git diff topic..master   <2>
 171 $ git diff topic...master  <3>
 172 ------------
 173 +
 174 <1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
 175 <2> Same as above.
 176 <3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic
 177     branch was started off it.
 178
 179 Limiting the diff output::
 180 +
 181 ------------
 182 $ git diff --diff-filter=MRC            <1>
 183 $ git diff --name-status                <2>
 184 $ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386   <3>
 185 ------------
 186 +
 187 <1> Show only modification, rename, and copy, but not addition
 188     or deletion.
 189 <2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
 190     diff output.
 191 <3> Limit diff output to named subtrees.
 192
 193 Munging the diff output::
 194 +
 195 ------------
 196 $ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C  <1>
 197 $ git diff -R                          <2>
 198 ------------
 199 +
 200 <1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
 201     rewrites (very expensive).
 202 <2> Output diff in reverse.
 203
 204 SEE ALSO
 205 --------
 206 diff(1),
 207 linkgit:git-difftool[1],
 208 linkgit:git-log[1],
 209 linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
 210 linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
 211 linkgit:git-apply[1],
 212 linkgit:git-show[1]
 213
 214 GIT
 215 ---
 216 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite