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] [--no-index] [--] <path> <path>
  16
  17 DESCRIPTION
  18 -----------
  19 Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes
  20 between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, or changes
  21 between two files on disk.
  22
  23 'git diff' [--options] [--] [<path>...]::
  24
  25         This form is to view the changes you made relative to
  26         the index (staging area for the next commit).  In other
  27         words, the differences are what you _could_ tell git to
  28         further add to the index but you still haven't.  You can
  29         stage these changes by using linkgit:git-add[1].
  30 +
  31 If exactly two paths are given and at least one points outside
  32 the current repository, 'git diff' will compare the two files /
  33 directories. This behavior can be forced by --no-index.
  34
  35 'git diff' [--options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
  36
  37         This form is to view the changes you staged for the next
  38         commit relative to the named <commit>.  Typically you
  39         would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
  40         do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD.
  41         If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborned branches) and
  42         <commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes.
  43         --staged is a synonym of --cached.
  44
  45 'git diff' [--options] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  46
  47         This form is to view the changes you have in your
  48         working tree relative to the named <commit>.  You can
  49         use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a
  50         branch name to compare with the tip of a different
  51         branch.
  52
  53 'git diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  54
  55         This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
  56         <commit>.
  57
  58 'git diff' [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  59
  60         This is synonymous to the previous form.  If <commit> on
  61         one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
  62         using HEAD instead.
  63
  64 'git diff' [--options] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
  65
  66         This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
  67         and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
  68         of both <commit>.  "git diff A\...B" is equivalent to
  69         "git diff $(git-merge-base A B) B".  You can omit any one
  70         of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
  71
  72 Just in case if you are doing something exotic, it should be
  73 noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except
  74 in the last two forms that use ".." notations, can be any
  75 <tree>.  The third form ('git diff <commit> <commit>') can also
  76 be used to compare two <blob> objects.
  77
  78 For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
  79 "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
  80 However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
  81 and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and
  82 "<commit>\...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the
  83 "SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
  84
  85 OPTIONS
  86 -------
  87 :git-diff: 1
  88 include::diff-options.txt[]
  89
  90 <path>...::
  91         The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit
  92         the diff to the named paths (you can give directory
  93         names and get diff for all files under them).
  94
  95
  96 include::diff-format.txt[]
  97
  98 EXAMPLES
  99 --------
 100
 101 Various ways to check your working tree::
 102 +
 103 ------------
 104 $ git diff            <1>
 105 $ git diff --cached   <2>
 106 $ git diff HEAD       <3>
 107 ------------
 108 +
 109 <1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
 110 <2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you
 111 would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option.
 112 <3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
 113 would be committing if you run "git commit -a"
 114
 115 Comparing with arbitrary commits::
 116 +
 117 ------------
 118 $ git diff test            <1>
 119 $ git diff HEAD -- ./test  <2>
 120 $ git diff HEAD^ HEAD      <3>
 121 ------------
 122 +
 123 <1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
 124 tip of "test" branch.
 125 <2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
 126 the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
 127 file "test".
 128 <3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
 129
 130 Comparing branches::
 131 +
 132 ------------
 133 $ git diff topic master    <1>
 134 $ git diff topic..master   <2>
 135 $ git diff topic...master  <3>
 136 ------------
 137 +
 138 <1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
 139 <2> Same as above.
 140 <3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic
 141 branch was started off it.
 142
 143 Limiting the diff output::
 144 +
 145 ------------
 146 $ git diff --diff-filter=MRC            <1>
 147 $ git diff --name-status                <2>
 148 $ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386   <3>
 149 ------------
 150 +
 151 <1> Show only modification, rename and copy, but not addition
 152 nor deletion.
 153 <2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
 154 diff output.
 155 <3> Limit diff output to named subtrees.
 156
 157 Munging the diff output::
 158 +
 159 ------------
 160 $ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C  <1>
 161 $ git diff -R                          <2>
 162 ------------
 163 +
 164 <1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
 165 rewrites (very expensive).
 166 <2> Output diff in reverse.
 167
 168 SEE ALSO
 169 --------
 170 diff(1),
 171 linkgit:git-difftool[1],
 172 linkgit:git-log[1],
 173 linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
 174 linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
 175 linkgit:git-apply[1]
 176
 177 GIT
 178 ---
 179 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite