1git-difftool(1) 2=============== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-difftool - compare changes using common merge tools 7 8SYNOPSIS 9-------- 10'git difftool' [--tool=<tool>] [--no-prompt] ['git diff' options] 11 12DESCRIPTION 13----------- 14'git-difftool' is a git command that allows you to compare and edit files 15between revisions using common merge tools. At its most basic level, 16'git-difftool' does what 'git-mergetool' does but its use is for non-merge 17situations such as when preparing commits or comparing changes against 18the index. 19 20'git difftool' is a frontend to 'git diff' and accepts the same 21arguments and options. 22 23See linkgit:git-diff[1] for the full list of supported options. 24 25OPTIONS 26------- 27-t <tool>:: 28--tool=<tool>:: 29 Use the merge resolution program specified by <tool>. 30 Valid merge tools are: 31 kdiff3, kompare, tkdiff, meld, xxdiff, emerge, 32 vimdiff, gvimdiff, ecmerge, and opendiff 33+ 34If a merge resolution program is not specified, 'git-difftool' 35will use the configuration variable `merge.tool`. If the 36configuration variable `merge.tool` is not set, 'git difftool' 37will pick a suitable default. 38+ 39You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the 40configuration variable `mergetool.<tool>.path`. For example, you 41can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting 42`mergetool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git-difftool' assumes the 43tool is available in PATH. 44+ 45Instead of running one of the known merge tool programs, 46'git-difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program 47by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration 48variable `mergetool.<tool>.cmd`. 49+ 50When 'git-difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the 51`-t` or `--tool` option or the `merge.tool` configuration variable) 52the configured command line will be invoked with the following 53variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary 54file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE` 55is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents 56of the diff post-image. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility 57with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$LOCAL`. 58 59--no-prompt:: 60 Do not prompt before launching a diff tool. 61 62CONFIG VARIABLES 63---------------- 64merge.tool:: 65 The default merge tool to use. 66+ 67See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details. 68 69merge.keepBackup:: 70 The original, unedited file content can be saved to a file with 71 a `.orig` extension. Defaults to `true` (i.e. keep the backup files). 72 73mergetool.<tool>.path:: 74 Override the path for the given tool. This is useful in case 75 your tool is not in the PATH. 76 77mergetool.<tool>.cmd:: 78 Specify the command to invoke the specified merge tool. 79+ 80See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details. 81 82 83SEE ALSO 84-------- 85linkgit:git-diff[1]:: 86 Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc 87 88linkgit:git-mergetool[1]:: 89 Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts 90 91linkgit:git-config[1]:: 92 Get and set repository or global options 93 94 95AUTHOR 96------ 97Written by David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>. 98 99Documentation 100-------------- 101Documentation by David Aguilar and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 102 103GIT 104--- 105Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite