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