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 -d::
  23 --dir-diff::
  24         Copy the modified files to a temporary location and perform
  25         a directory diff on them. This mode never prompts before
  26         launching the diff tool.
  27
  28 -y::
  29 --no-prompt::
  30         Do not prompt before launching a diff tool.
  31
  32 --prompt::
  33         Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
  34         This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to
  35         override any configuration settings.
  36
  37 -t <tool>::
  38 --tool=<tool>::
  39         Use the diff tool specified by <tool>.  Valid values include
  40         emerge, kompare, meld, and vimdiff. Run `git difftool --tool-help`
  41         for the list of valid <tool> settings.
  42 +
  43 If a diff tool is not specified, 'git difftool'
  44 will use the configuration variable `diff.tool`.  If the
  45 configuration variable `diff.tool` is not set, 'git difftool'
  46 will pick a suitable default.
  47 +
  48 You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the
  49 configuration variable `difftool.<tool>.path`. For example, you
  50 can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting
  51 `difftool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git difftool' assumes the
  52 tool is available in PATH.
  53 +
  54 Instead of running one of the known diff tools,
  55 'git difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program
  56 by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration
  57 variable `difftool.<tool>.cmd`.
  58 +
  59 When 'git difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the
  60 `-t` or `--tool` option or the `diff.tool` configuration variable)
  61 the configured command line will be invoked with the following
  62 variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary
  63 file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE`
  64 is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents
  65 of the diff post-image.  `$MERGED` is the name of the file which is
  66 being compared. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility
  67 with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$MERGED`.
  68
  69 --tool-help::
  70         Print a list of diff tools that may be used with `--tool`.
  71
  72 --[no-]symlinks::
  73         'git difftool''s default behavior is create symlinks to the
  74         working tree when run in `--dir-diff` mode and the right-hand
  75         side of the comparison yields the same content as the file in
  76         the working tree.
  77 +
  78 Specifying `--no-symlinks` instructs 'git difftool' to create copies
  79 instead.  `--no-symlinks` is the default on Windows.
  80
  81 -x <command>::
  82 --extcmd=<command>::
  83         Specify a custom command for viewing diffs.
  84         'git-difftool' ignores the configured defaults and runs
  85         `$command $LOCAL $REMOTE` when this option is specified.
  86         Additionally, `$BASE` is set in the environment.
  87
  88 -g::
  89 --[no-]gui::
  90         When 'git-difftool' is invoked with the `-g` or `--gui` option
  91         the default diff tool will be read from the configured
  92         `diff.guitool` variable instead of `diff.tool`. The `--no-gui`
  93         option can be used to override this setting. If `diff.guitool`
  94         is not set, we will fallback in the order of `merge.guitool`,
  95         `diff.tool`, `merge.tool` until a tool is found.
  96
  97 --[no-]trust-exit-code::
  98         'git-difftool' invokes a diff tool individually on each file.
  99         Errors reported by the diff tool are ignored by default.
 100         Use `--trust-exit-code` to make 'git-difftool' exit when an
 101         invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit code.
 102 +
 103 'git-difftool' will forward the exit code of the invoked tool when
 104 `--trust-exit-code` is used.
 105
 106 See linkgit:git-diff[1] for the full list of supported options.
 107
 108 CONFIG VARIABLES
 109 ----------------
 110 'git difftool' falls back to 'git mergetool' config variables when the
 111 difftool equivalents have not been defined.
 112
 113 diff.tool::
 114         The default diff tool to use.
 115
 116 diff.guitool::
 117         The default diff tool to use when `--gui` is specified.
 118
 119 difftool.<tool>.path::
 120         Override the path for the given tool.  This is useful in case
 121         your tool is not in the PATH.
 122
 123 difftool.<tool>.cmd::
 124         Specify the command to invoke the specified diff tool.
 125 +
 126 See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details.
 127
 128 difftool.prompt::
 129         Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
 130
 131 difftool.trustExitCode::
 132         Exit difftool if the invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit status.
 133 +
 134 See the `--trust-exit-code` option above for more details.
 135
 136 SEE ALSO
 137 --------
 138 linkgit:git-diff[1]::
 139          Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
 140
 141 linkgit:git-mergetool[1]::
 142         Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts
 143
 144 linkgit:git-config[1]::
 145          Get and set repository or global options
 146
 147 GIT
 148 ---
 149 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite