git-diff

git-diff(1) ===========

NAME ---- git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc

SYNOPSIS --------

git diff [\<options>] [\<commit>] [--] [\<path>…] git diff [\<options>] --cached [--merge-base] [\<commit>] [--] [\<path>…] git diff [\<options>] [--merge-base] \<commit> [\<commit>…] \<commit> [--] [\<path>…] git diff [\<options>] \<commit>…\<commit> [--] [\<path>…] git diff [\<options>] \<blob> \<blob> git diff [\<options>] --no-index [--] \<path> \<path> [\<pathspec>…]

DESCRIPTION ----------- Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, changes resulting from a merge, changes between two blob objects, or changes between two files on disk.

git diff [<options>] [--] [<path>…]

This form is to view the changes you made relative to
the index (staging area for the next commit).  In other
words, the differences are what you _could_ tell Git to
further add to the index but you still haven't.  You can
stage these changes by using [git-add](git-add.md).

git diff [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path> [<pathspec>…]

This form is to compare the given two paths on the
filesystem.  You can omit the `--no-index` option when
running the command in a working tree controlled by Git and
at least one of the paths points outside the working tree,
or when running the command outside a working tree
controlled by Git. This form implies `--exit-code`. If both
paths point to directories, additional pathspecs may be
provided. These will limit the files included in the
difference. All such pathspecs must be relative as they
apply to both sides of the diff.

git diff [<options>] --cached [--merge-base] [<commit>] [--] [<path>…]

This form is to view the changes you staged for the next
commit relative to the named _<commit>_.  Typically you
would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
do not give _<commit>_, it defaults to `HEAD`.
If `HEAD` does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and
_<commit>_ is not given, it shows all staged changes.
`--staged` is a synonym of `--cached`.

\ If --merge-base is given, instead of using \<commit>, use the merge base of \<commit> and HEAD. git diff --cached --merge-base A is equivalent to git diff --cached $(git merge-base A HEAD).

git diff [<options>] [--merge-base] <commit> [--] [<path>…]

This form is to view the changes you have in your
working tree relative to the named _<commit>_.  You can
use `HEAD` to compare it with the latest commit, or a
branch name to compare with the tip of a different
branch.

\ If --merge-base is given, instead of using \<commit>, use the merge base of \<commit> and HEAD. git diff --merge-base A is equivalent to git diff $(git merge-base A HEAD).

git diff [<options>] [--merge-base] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>…]

This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
_<commit>_.

\ If --merge-base is given, use the merge base of the two commits for the "before" side. git diff --merge-base A B is equivalent to git diff $(git merge-base A B) B.

git diff [<options>] <commit> <commit>…<commit> [--] [<path>…]

This form is to view the results of a merge commit.  The first
listed _<commit>_ must be the merge itself; the remaining two or
more commits should be its parents.  Convenient ways to produce
the desired set of revisions are to use the suffixes `@` and
`^!`.  If `A` is a merge commit, then `git diff A A^@`,
`git diff A^!` and `git show A` all give the same combined diff.

git diff [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>…]

This is synonymous to the earlier form (without the `..`) for
viewing the changes between two arbitrary _<commit>_.  If _<commit>_ on
one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
using `HEAD` instead.

git diff [<options>] <commit>…<commit> [--] [<path>…]

This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
and up to the second _<commit>_, starting at a common ancestor
of both _<commit>_.  `git diff A...B` is equivalent to
`git diff $(git merge-base A B) B`.  You can omit any one
of _<commit>_, which has the same effect as using `HEAD` instead.

Just in case you are doing something exotic, it should be noted that all of the \<commit> in the above description, except in the --merge-base case and in the last two forms that use .. notations, can be any \<tree>. A tree of interest is the one pointed to by the ref named AUTO_MERGE, which is written by the ort merge strategy upon hitting merge conflicts (see git-merge). Comparing the working tree with AUTO_MERGE shows changes you’ve made so far to resolve textual conflicts (see the examples below).

For a more complete list of ways to spell \<commit>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitrevisions. However, diff is about comparing two endpoints, not ranges, and the range notations (<commit>..<commit> and <commit>…<commit>) do not mean a range as defined in the "SPECIFYING RANGES" section in gitrevisions.

git diff [<options>] <blob> <blob>

This form is to view the differences between the raw
contents of two blob objects.

OPTIONS ------- :git-diff: 1 include::diff-options.adoc[]

-1

--base

-2

--ours

-3

--theirs
Compare the working tree with

The index contains these stages only for unmerged entries i.e. while resolving conflicts. See git-read-tree section "3-Way Merge" for detailed information.

-0
Omit diff output for unmerged entries and just show "Unmerged". Can be used only when comparing the working tree with the index.

<path>…
The \<path> parameters, when given, are used to limit the diff to the named paths (you can give directory names and get diff for all files under them).

include
diff-format.adoc[]

EXAMPLES --------

Various ways to check your working tree
$ git diff ① $ git diff --cached ② $ git diff HEAD ③ $ git diff AUTO_MERGE ④

Comparing with arbitrary commits
$ git diff test ① $ git diff HEAD -- ./test ② $ git diff HEAD^ HEAD ③

Comparing branches
$ git diff topic master ① $ git diff topic..master ② $ git diff topic...master ③

Limiting the diff output
$ git diff --diff-filter=MRC ① $ git diff --name-status ② $ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386 ③

Munging the diff output
$ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C ① $ git diff -R ②

CONFIGURATION -------------