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

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


SYNOPSIS
--------
[synopsis]
git diff [<options>] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
git diff [<options>] (--cached|--staged) [--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.

The <<EXAMPLES,EXAMPLES>> section has examples of the most common ways
to diff.

`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 linkgit:git-add[1].

`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|--staged) [--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 --staged --merge-base A` is equivalent to
`git diff --staged $(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 linkgit:git-merge[1]).
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 linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
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 linkgit:gitrevisions[7].

`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 "base" version (stage #1) when using `-1` or `--base`,
 * "our branch" (stage #2) when using `-2` or `--ours`, or
 * "their branch" (stage #3) when using `-3` or `--theirs`.
--
+
The index contains these stages only for unmerged entries i.e.
while resolving conflicts.  See linkgit:git-read-tree[1]
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]]
EXAMPLES
--------

Diff uncommitted changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show unstaged changes::
`git diff`

Show staged changes::
`git diff --staged` or `git diff --cached`

Show all changes since the latest commit::
`git diff HEAD`

Show changes made to resolve a merge conflict::
`git diff AUTO_MERGE`

Diff a specific file/directory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can usually put a filename or directory at the end to restrict the
diff to that file/directory. You don't always need to put a `--`, but it
makes it unambiguous.

Show how `file.txt` has changed since `main`::
`git diff main -- file.txt`

Show unstaged changes for `file.txt`::
`git diff -- file.txt`

Show unstaged changes in `dir/`::
`git diff -- ./dir`

Diff branches or commits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show changes on the `topic` branch since it branched off `main`::
`git diff --merge-base main topic`

Show changes between the `topic` branch and the `main` branch::
`git diff main topic`

Show changes between commit `ff11cc` and `HEAD`::
`git diff ff11cc HEAD`

Options to summarize the output
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show how many lines in each file were changed::
`git diff` <<stat,`--stat`>>

Only show names of changed files::
`git diff` <<name_only,`--name-only`>>

Only show filenames and whether they were modified/deleted/added::
`git diff` <<name_status,`--name-status`>>

Options to display the diff in another way
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ignore all whitespace changes::
`git diff` <<ignore_all_space,`--ignore-all-space`>>

Show which individual words changed instead of the whole line::
`git diff` <<word_diff,`--word-diff`>>

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

include::includes/cmd-config-section-all.adoc[]

:git-diff: 1
include::config/diff.adoc[]

SEE ALSO
--------
`diff`(1),
linkgit:git-difftool[1],
linkgit:git-log[1],
linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
linkgit:git-apply[1],
linkgit:git-show[1]

GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite