1git-diff(1) 2=========== 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc 7 8 9SYNOPSIS 10-------- 11[verse] 12'git diff' [options] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...] 13'git diff' [options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...] 14'git diff' [options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...] 15'git diff' [options] <blob> <blob> 16'git diff' [options] [--no-index] [--] <path> <path> 17 18DESCRIPTION 19----------- 20Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes 21between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, changes between 22two blob objects, or changes between two files on disk. 23 24'git diff' [--options] [--] [<path>...]:: 25 26 This form is to view the changes you made relative to 27 the index (staging area for the next commit). In other 28 words, the differences are what you _could_ tell Git to 29 further add to the index but you still haven't. You can 30 stage these changes by using linkgit:git-add[1]. 31 32'git diff' --no-index [--options] [--] [<path>...]:: 33 34 This form is to compare the given two paths on the 35 filesystem. You can omit the `--no-index` option when 36 running the command in a working tree controlled by Git and 37 at least one of the paths points outside the working tree, 38 or when running the command outside a working tree 39 controlled by Git. 40 41'git diff' [--options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]:: 42 43 This form is to view the changes you staged for the next 44 commit relative to the named <commit>. Typically you 45 would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you 46 do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD. 47 If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and 48 <commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes. 49 --staged is a synonym of --cached. 50 51'git diff' [--options] <commit> [--] [<path>...]:: 52 53 This form is to view the changes you have in your 54 working tree relative to the named <commit>. You can 55 use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a 56 branch name to compare with the tip of a different 57 branch. 58 59'git diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]:: 60 61 This is to view the changes between two arbitrary 62 <commit>. 63 64'git diff' [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]:: 65 66 This is synonymous to the previous form. If <commit> on 67 one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as 68 using HEAD instead. 69 70'git diff' [--options] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]:: 71 72 This form is to view the changes on the branch containing 73 and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor 74 of both <commit>. "git diff A\...B" is equivalent to 75 "git diff $(git-merge-base A B) B". You can omit any one 76 of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead. 77 78Just in case if you are doing something exotic, it should be 79noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except 80in the last two forms that use ".." notations, can be any 81<tree>. 82 83For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see 84"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7]. 85However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges, 86and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and 87"<commit>\...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the 88"SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7]. 89 90'git diff' [options] <blob> <blob>:: 91 92 This form is to view the differences between the raw 93 contents of two blob objects. 94 95OPTIONS 96------- 97:git-diff: 1 98include::diff-options.txt[] 99 100<path>...:: 101 The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit 102 the diff to the named paths (you can give directory 103 names and get diff for all files under them). 104 105 106include::diff-format.txt[] 107 108EXAMPLES 109-------- 110 111Various ways to check your working tree:: 112+ 113------------ 114$ git diff <1> 115$ git diff --cached <2> 116$ git diff HEAD <3> 117------------ 118+ 119<1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit. 120<2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you 121would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option. 122<3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you 123would be committing if you run "git commit -a" 124 125Comparing with arbitrary commits:: 126+ 127------------ 128$ git diff test <1> 129$ git diff HEAD -- ./test <2> 130$ git diff HEAD^ HEAD <3> 131------------ 132+ 133<1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the 134tip of "test" branch. 135<2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with 136the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the 137file "test". 138<3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit. 139 140Comparing branches:: 141+ 142------------ 143$ git diff topic master <1> 144$ git diff topic..master <2> 145$ git diff topic...master <3> 146------------ 147+ 148<1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches. 149<2> Same as above. 150<3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic 151branch was started off it. 152 153Limiting the diff output:: 154+ 155------------ 156$ git diff --diff-filter=MRC <1> 157$ git diff --name-status <2> 158$ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386 <3> 159------------ 160+ 161<1> Show only modification, rename, and copy, but not addition 162or deletion. 163<2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual 164diff output. 165<3> Limit diff output to named subtrees. 166 167Munging the diff output:: 168+ 169------------ 170$ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C <1> 171$ git diff -R <2> 172------------ 173+ 174<1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete 175rewrites (very expensive). 176<2> Output diff in reverse. 177 178SEE ALSO 179-------- 180diff(1), 181linkgit:git-difftool[1], 182linkgit:git-log[1], 183linkgit:gitdiffcore[7], 184linkgit:git-format-patch[1], 185linkgit:git-apply[1] 186 187GIT 188--- 189Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite