git-diff

Show differences between commits and files

TLDR

Show unstaged changes

$ git diff

Show staged changes

$ git diff --staged

Diff between branches

$ git diff [branch1]..[branch2]

Diff specific file

$ git diff [file.txt]

Show word-level diff

$ git diff --word-diff

Show stat summary

$ git diff --stat

Diff between commits

$ git diff [commit1] [commit2]

Diff against merge base (changes on a branch since it diverged)

$ git diff [main]...[feature-branch]

SYNOPSIS

git diff [options] [commit] [--] [path...]

git diff shows differences between commits, branches, working directory, and staging area. It is essential for reviewing changes before committing and understanding what changed between versions.By default, it shows unstaged changes (working directory vs index). With --staged, it shows what will be committed. When given two commits or branches, it shows all changes between them.

PARAMETERS

--staged, --cached

Compare staged changes to last commit.

--stat

Show diffstat summary.

--word-diff

Show word-level changes.

--color-words

Colored word diff.

--name-only

Show only changed file names.

--name-status

Show names and change status.

-U n, --unified n

Lines of context.

--no-index

Compare files outside repository.

--diff-filter filter

Filter by change type (A, D, M, R).

-b, --ignore-space-change

Ignore whitespace changes.

-w, --ignore-all-space

Ignore all whitespace.

-M, --find-renames

Detect and report renamed files.

-C, --find-copies

Detect and report copied files.

INSTALL

sudo apt install git

sudo dnf install git

sudo pacman -S git

sudo apk add git

sudo zypper install git

brew install git

nix profile install nixpkgs#git