codediff

codediff [options] [before after]codediff git configurecodediff jj configurecodediff util completions shellcodediff util man

codediff compares two files by parsing them with tree-sitter and matching their syntax trees, so a change is reported as an insertion, deletion, update, or move rather than as whichever lines happened to align. It is a command-line tool: an interactive two-panel TUI, a numbered plain-text formatter, or a JSON emitter for editors.Language is taken from the file extension. Twenty-four languages are parsed with a compiled grammar (C, C++, C#, CSS, Go, HTML, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Kotlin, Lua, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Rust, Scala, Bash, Swift, TSX, TypeScript, Vimscript, XML, YAML). An unknown extension is diffed as plain text. Bazel, Dart, Emacs Lisp, Markdown, Protocol Buffers, and SQL are recognised by extension but still diffed as text.With no arguments, the TUI starts empty. Press o to pick each file, ? for keybindings, G for the git review picker, and M for render options. --review is the same as G at startup. The TUI uses 24-bit color when the terminal sets COLORTERM=truecolor, otherwise the nearest 256 colors.--headless (alias --batch) prints the diff as text. Headless mode also starts whenever stdout is not a terminal, so `codediff BEFORE AFTER | less` and `GITEXTERNALDIFF=codediff git diff` work without the flag. Each printed line is prefixed with its line number. Long unchanged runs are collapsed. Each hunk is prefixed with the nearest enclosing function, class, or struct line when that line is not otherwise visible. Binary files print `Binary file <path> differs` and do not fail the rest of a git diff.--mode json prints one JSON object: each side has a path, a detected language, and hunks with an operation (`delete`, `insert`, `update`, `move`) and a 0-indexed range (rows; columns are byte offsets). JSON is never chosen automatically.Exit 0 on success and 2 on error. Pass --exit-code to get 1 when the files differ.`codediff git configure` sets git to use codediff as git difftool. `git diff` and `git log -p` never open the TUI: git pipes through a pager, so codediff always falls back to text there. For the interactive viewer from git, use git difftool. `codediff jj configure` registers jj diff --tool codediff. jj has no equivalent of git difftool's per-file TUI, so for the full-screen viewer on a jj repo run codediff on two files directly.

before after

Files to diff. Also accepts git's 7- or 9-argument GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF list (`path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode [new-path score]`). With no paths the TUI starts empty.

How to show the diff. Default tui. headless and json need two files. headless is also chosen when stdout is not a terminal; json never is.

Shorthand for --mode headless. Conflicts with --mode.

Paint only ranges that carry meaning (the TUI M panel's Minimal preset). Applies for this run only and is not saved. Conflicts with --full.

Paint the fullest reading (the M panel's Full preset, except whole-pair updates). This run only.

Highlight an updated node's matched pair as a whole, not only the part that differs. Combines with --minimal / --full.

Paint a node as moved even when only indentation changed. Turns that M panel option on for this run.

When to ANSI-color headless output. Default auto: color unless NO_COLOR is set (even when stdout is a pipe, so git's pager shows color). always and never override NO_COLOR.

Exit 1 when the files differ (0 identical, 2 on error). Headless and JSON only. Off by default: version-control tools treat a non-zero exit from a display tool as a failure. Ignored under git's GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF argument form.

Unchanged lines to keep around each change in headless output, like diff -U. Default 3.

Open the TUI on the git review picker for the repository around the current directory. TUI only; takes no file pair. Conflicts with paths, --headless, and --mode.

Interactive wizard that writes difftool.codediff.cmd, optionally diff.tool / difftool.prompt, and optionally diff.external. Needs a terminal on stdin.

Interactive wizard that registers codediff as a jj merge tool with diff-invocation-mode file-by-file, and optionally sets ui.diff-formatter.

Print a completion script for bash, zsh, fish, elvish, or powershell on stdout.

Print a roff man page (section 1) on stdout.

Print usage and exit.

Print the version and exit.

$CODEDIFF_CONFIG

If set and non-empty, this file is the only config used.

Nearest existing file at or above the current directory. Never created automatically.

User config (or $HOME/.config/codediff/config.toml). Holds TUI theme, panel layout, recent pairs, custom palette, syntax theme, node highlight, and render options (the M panel). --minimal / --full override render options for one run and are not saved.

Written by codediff git configure (git config, global or local).

Written by codediff jj configure (jj config, user or repo). diff-invocation-mode must be file-by-file.

Licensed AGPL-3.0-or-later. A commercial license is sold separately for organisations that cannot use AGPL software.A source build (`cargo install --locked codediff`) needs rustc 1.88 or later and a C compiler; the first install compiles every tree-sitter grammar and takes several minutes. The crate's default features include the TUI binary.The first positional path cannot be a file literally named git, jj, or util (those are subcommands).--exit-code is ignored in the 7-argument GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF form: git treats a non-zero exit there as fatal and aborts the whole diff.

Written by Marko Ivankovic. First user release 0.1.0 (2026-09-25); 0.1.1 (2026-09-27) dropped the bundled browser front end in favour of the separate codereview project.

diff(1), git-diff(1), git-difftool(1), git-log(1), jj(1), delta(1), difft(1), colordiff(1)

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