---
name: "bupstash-diff"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "bupstash"
version: "0.12.0-4"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/bupstash-diff"
---

# bupstash-diff(1)

## SYNOPSIS

Diff two snapshots printing the summary to stdout.

**bupstash diff \[OPTIONS\] QUERY1... :: QUERY2...**

## DESCRIPTION

**bupstash diff** fetches two snapshot listings from the remote server and compares them, printing the diff line output to stdout. As a special case, if either query starts with './' or '/' a temporary listing is created for that local directory for comparison.

**bupstash diff** is preferred over running traditional **diff** against the output of **bupstash list-contents** because it takes the full precision of timestamps and also the stored file hash into account when performing the diff operation.

Bupstash supports ignoring items in the diff comparison to aid in analysis. Useful exmples are the **--ignore** values **times** to ignore file modification timestamps and **content** to ignore file size and hash changes.

## OUTPUT FORMAT

Output is consistent with that of **bupstash list-contents**, except each line is prefixed with either **+** or **-** representing removed or added items respectively.

Specifying **--format** alters the underlying output format as described by [bupstash-list-contents(1)](/bupstash-list-contents/1.md). Lines are still prefixed with either **+** or **-** regardless of the output format.

## QUERY LANGUAGE

For full documentation on the query language, see [bupstash-query-language(7)](/bupstash-query-language/7.md).

## QUERY CACHING

The diff command uses the same query caching mechanisms as [bupstash-list(1)](/bupstash-list/1.md), check that page for more information on the query cache.

## OPTIONS

- \-r, --repository REPO

  The repository to connect to, , may be of the form **ssh://$SERVER/$PATH** for remote repositories if ssh access is configured. If not specified, is set to **BUPSTASH\_REPOSITORY**.

- \-k, --key KEY

  Key used to decrypt data and metadata. If not set, defaults to **BUPSTASH\_KEY**.

- \--query-cache PATH

  Path to the query-cache file, defaults to one of the following, in order, provided the appropriate environment variables are set, **$BUPSTASH\_QUERY\_CACHE**, **$XDG\_CACHE\_HOME/.cache/bupstash/bupstash.qcache** or **$HOME/.cache/bupstash/bupstash.qcache**.

- \-i, --ignore

  Comma separated list of file attributes to ignore in comparisons. Valid items are 'content,dev,devnos,inode,type,perms,nlink,uid,gid,times,xattrs'

- \--relaxed

  Shortcut for --ignore 'dev,inode,nlink,uid,gid,times,xattrs'. This option is useful for comparing content without being so concerned with machine specific metadata.

- \--{left,right}-pick PATH

  Perform diff on a sub-directory of the left/right query.

- \--indexer-threads N

  Number of processor threads to use for pipelined parallel file hashing and metadata reads. Defaults to the number of processors.

- \--xattrs

  Fetch xattrs when indexing a local directories.

- \--format FORMAT

  Set output format to one of the following 'human', 'jsonl'.

- \--utc-timestamps

  Display and search against timestamps in utc time instead of local time.

- \--no-progress

  Suppress progress indicators (Progress indicators are also suppressed when stderr is not an interactive terminal).

- \-q, --quiet

  Be quiet, implies --no-progress.

## ENVIRONMENT

- BUPSTASH\_REPOSITORY

  The repository to connect to. May be of the form **ssh://$SERVER/$PATH** for remote repositories if ssh access is configured.

- BUPSTASH\_REPOSITORY\_COMMAND

  A command to run to connect to an instance of [bupstash-serve(1)](/bupstash-serve/1.md). This allows more complex connections to the repository for less common use cases.

- BUPSTASH\_KEY

  Path to a primary key that will be used for decrypting data and metadata.

- BUPSTASH\_KEY\_COMMAND

  A command to run that must print the key data, can be used instead of BUPSTASH\_KEY to fetch the key from arbitrary locations such as the network or other secret storage.

- BUPSTASH\_QUERY\_CACHE

  Path to the query cache file to use.

## EXAMPLES

### Compare two snapshots by query

```
$ bupstash diff id="14eb*" :: id="57de*"
- -rw-r--r-- 1.1kB hello.txt
+ -rw-r--r-- 1.3kB goodbye.txt
```

### Compare a snapshot and a local directory

```
$ bupstash diff --left-pick files --relaxed id="57de*" :: ./files
```

## SEE ALSO

[bupstash(1)](/bupstash/1.md), [bupstash-list(1)](/bupstash-list/1.md), [bupstash-keyfiles(7)](/bupstash-keyfiles/7.md), [bupstash-query-language(7)](/bupstash-query-language/7.md)