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, tkdiff, meld, xxdiff, emerge, vimdiff, gvimdiff, ecmerge, and opendiff 32+ 33If a merge resolution program is not specified, 'git-difftool' 34will use the configuration variable `merge.tool`. If the 35configuration variable `merge.tool` is not set, 'git difftool' 36will pick a suitable default. 37+ 38You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the 39configuration variable `mergetool.<tool>.path`. For example, you 40can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting 41`mergetool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git-difftool' assumes the 42tool is available in PATH. 43+ 44Instead of running one of the known merge tool programs, 45'git-difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program 46by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration 47variable `mergetool.<tool>.cmd`. 48+ 49When 'git-difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the 50`-t` or `--tool` option or the `merge.tool` configuration variable) 51the configured command line will be invoked with the following 52variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary 53file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE` 54is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents 55of the diff post-image. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility 56with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$LOCAL`. 57 58--no-prompt:: 59 Do not prompt before launching a diff tool. 60 61CONFIG VARIABLES 62---------------- 63merge.tool:: 64 The default merge tool to use. 65+ 66See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details. 67 68merge.keepBackup:: 69 The original, unedited file content can be saved to a file with 70 a `.orig` extension. Defaults to `true` (i.e. keep the backup files). 71 72mergetool.<tool>.path:: 73 Override the path for the given tool. This is useful in case 74 your tool is not in the PATH. 75 76mergetool.<tool>.cmd:: 77 Specify the command to invoke the specified merge tool. 78+ 79See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details. 80 81 82SEE ALSO 83-------- 84linkgit:git-diff[1]:: 85 Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc 86 87linkgit:git-mergetool[1]:: 88 Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts 89 90linkgit:git-config[1]:: 91 Get and set repository or global options 92 93 94AUTHOR 95------ 96Written by David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>. 97 98Documentation 99-------------- 100Documentation by David Aguilar and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. 101 102GIT 103--- 104Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite