Documentation / git-difftool.txton commit Merge branch 'nd/diff-i-t-a' (d0c6922)
   1git-difftool(1)
   2===============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-difftool - Show changes using common diff tools
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git difftool' [<options>] [<commit> [<commit>]] [--] [<path>...]
  12
  13DESCRIPTION
  14-----------
  15'git difftool' is a Git command that allows you to compare and edit files
  16between revisions using common diff tools.  'git difftool' is a frontend
  17to 'git diff' and accepts the same options and arguments. See
  18linkgit:git-diff[1].
  19
  20OPTIONS
  21-------
  22-d::
  23--dir-diff::
  24        Copy the modified files to a temporary location and perform
  25        a directory diff on them. This mode never prompts before
  26        launching the diff tool.
  27
  28-y::
  29--no-prompt::
  30        Do not prompt before launching a diff tool.
  31
  32--prompt::
  33        Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
  34        This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to
  35        override any configuration settings.
  36
  37-t <tool>::
  38--tool=<tool>::
  39        Use the diff tool specified by <tool>.  Valid values include
  40        emerge, kompare, meld, and vimdiff. Run `git difftool --tool-help`
  41        for the list of valid <tool> settings.
  42+
  43If a diff tool is not specified, 'git difftool'
  44will use the configuration variable `diff.tool`.  If the
  45configuration variable `diff.tool` is not set, 'git difftool'
  46will pick a suitable default.
  47+
  48You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the
  49configuration variable `difftool.<tool>.path`. For example, you
  50can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting
  51`difftool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git difftool' assumes the
  52tool is available in PATH.
  53+
  54Instead of running one of the known diff tools,
  55'git difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program
  56by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration
  57variable `difftool.<tool>.cmd`.
  58+
  59When 'git difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the
  60`-t` or `--tool` option or the `diff.tool` configuration variable)
  61the configured command line will be invoked with the following
  62variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary
  63file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE`
  64is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents
  65of the diff post-image.  `$MERGED` is the name of the file which is
  66being compared. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility
  67with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$MERGED`.
  68
  69--tool-help::
  70        Print a list of diff tools that may be used with `--tool`.
  71
  72--[no-]symlinks::
  73        'git difftool''s default behavior is create symlinks to the
  74        working tree when run in `--dir-diff` mode and the right-hand
  75        side of the comparison yields the same content as the file in
  76        the working tree.
  77+
  78Specifying `--no-symlinks` instructs 'git difftool' to create copies
  79instead.  `--no-symlinks` is the default on Windows.
  80
  81-x <command>::
  82--extcmd=<command>::
  83        Specify a custom command for viewing diffs.
  84        'git-difftool' ignores the configured defaults and runs
  85        `$command $LOCAL $REMOTE` when this option is specified.
  86        Additionally, `$BASE` is set in the environment.
  87
  88-g::
  89--gui::
  90        When 'git-difftool' is invoked with the `-g` or `--gui` option
  91        the default diff tool will be read from the configured
  92        `diff.guitool` variable instead of `diff.tool`.
  93
  94--[no-]trust-exit-code::
  95        'git-difftool' invokes a diff tool individually on each file.
  96        Errors reported by the diff tool are ignored by default.
  97        Use `--trust-exit-code` to make 'git-difftool' exit when an
  98        invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit code.
  99+
 100'git-difftool' will forward the exit code of the invoked tool when
 101'--trust-exit-code' is used.
 102
 103See linkgit:git-diff[1] for the full list of supported options.
 104
 105CONFIG VARIABLES
 106----------------
 107'git difftool' falls back to 'git mergetool' config variables when the
 108difftool equivalents have not been defined.
 109
 110diff.tool::
 111        The default diff tool to use.
 112
 113diff.guitool::
 114        The default diff tool to use when `--gui` is specified.
 115
 116difftool.<tool>.path::
 117        Override the path for the given tool.  This is useful in case
 118        your tool is not in the PATH.
 119
 120difftool.<tool>.cmd::
 121        Specify the command to invoke the specified diff tool.
 122+
 123See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details.
 124
 125difftool.prompt::
 126        Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
 127
 128difftool.trustExitCode::
 129        Exit difftool if the invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit status.
 130+
 131See the `--trust-exit-code` option above for more details.
 132
 133SEE ALSO
 134--------
 135linkgit:git-diff[1]::
 136         Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
 137
 138linkgit:git-mergetool[1]::
 139        Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts
 140
 141linkgit:git-config[1]::
 142         Get and set repository or global options
 143
 144GIT
 145---
 146Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite