--- name: "git-difftool" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "git" version: "2.56.0-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/git-difftool" --- # git-difftool(1) Show changes using common diff tools ## NAME git-difftool - Show changes using common diff tools ## SYNOPSIS ``` git difftool [] [ []] [--] [...] ``` ## DESCRIPTION **git** **difftool** is a Git command that allows you to compare and edit files between revisions using common diff tools. **git** **difftool** is a frontend to **git** **diff** and accepts the same options and arguments. See [**git-diff**(1)](/git-diff/1.md). ## OPTIONS - **-d**, **--dir-diff** Copy the modified files to a temporary location and perform a directory diff on them. This mode never prompts before launching the diff tool. - **-y**, **--no-prompt** Do not prompt before launching a diff tool. - **--prompt** Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool. This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to override any configuration settings. - **--rotate-to=***\* Start showing the diff for *\*, the paths before it will move to the end and output. - **--skip-to=***\* Start showing the diff for *\*, skipping all the paths before it. - **-t** *\*, **--tool=***\* Use the diff tool specified by *\*. Valid values include emerge, kompare, meld, and vimdiff. Run **git** **difftool** **--tool-help** for the list of valid *\* settings. If a diff tool is not specified, **git** **difftool** will use the configuration variable **diff.tool**. If the configuration variable **diff.tool** is not set, **git** **difftool** will pick a suitable default. You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the configuration variable **difftool.***\***.path**. For example, you can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting **difftool.kdiff3.path**. Otherwise, **git** **difftool** assumes the tool is available in PATH. Instead of running one of the known diff tools, **git** **difftool** can be customized to run an alternative program by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration variable **difftool.***\***.cmd**. When **git** **difftool** is invoked with this tool (either through the **-t** or **--tool** option or the **diff.tool** configuration variable) the configured command line will be invoked with the following variables available: **$LOCAL** is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and **$REMOTE** is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents of the diff post-image. **$MERGED** is the name of the file which is being compared. **$BASE** is provided for compatibility with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as **$MERGED**. - **--tool-help** Print a list of diff tools that may be used with **--tool**. - **--symlinks**, **--no-symlinks** **git** **difftool**'s default behavior is to create symlinks to the working tree when run in **--dir-diff** mode and the right-hand side of the comparison yields the same content as the file in the working tree. Specifying **--no-symlinks** instructs **git** **difftool** to create copies instead. **--no-symlinks** is the default on Windows. - **-x** *\*, **--extcmd=***\* Specify a custom command for viewing diffs. **git-difftool** ignores the configured defaults and runs *\* **$LOCAL** **$REMOTE** when this option is specified. Additionally, **$BASE** is set in the environment. - **-g**, **--gui**, **--no-gui** When **git-difftool** is invoked with the **-g** or **--gui** option the default diff tool will be read from the configured **diff.guitool** variable instead of **diff.tool**. This may be selected automatically using the configuration variable **difftool.guiDefault**. The **--no-gui** option can be used to override these settings. If **diff.guitool** is not set, we will fallback in the order of **merge.guitool**, **diff.tool**, **merge.tool** until a tool is found. - **--trust-exit-code**, **--no-trust-exit-code** Errors reported by the diff tool are ignored by default. Use **--trust-exit-code** to make **git-difftool** exit when an invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit code. **git-difftool** will forward the exit code of the invoked tool when **--trust-exit-code** is used. See [**git-diff**(1)](/git-diff/1.md) for the full list of supported options. ## CONFIGURATION **git** **difftool** falls back to **git** **mergetool** config variables when the difftool equivalents have not been defined. Everything above this line in this section isn’t included from the [**git-config**(1)](/git-config/1.md) documentation. The content that follows is the same as what’s found there: **diff.tool** Controls which diff tool is used by [**git-difftool**(1)](/git-difftool/1.md). This variable overrides the value configured in **merge.tool**. The list below shows the valid built-in values. Any other value is treated as a custom diff tool and requires that a corresponding **difftool.***\***.cmd** variable is defined. **diff.guitool** Controls which diff tool is used by [**git-difftool**(1)](/git-difftool/1.md) when the **-g**/**--gui** flag is specified. This variable overrides the value configured in **merge.guitool**. The list below shows the valid built-in values. Any other value is treated as a custom diff tool and requires that a corresponding **difftool.***\***.cmd** variable is defined. **araxis** Use Araxis Merge (requires a graphical session) **bc** Use Beyond Compare (requires a graphical session) **bc3** Use Beyond Compare (requires a graphical session) **bc4** Use Beyond Compare (requires a graphical session) **codecompare** Use Code Compare (requires a graphical session) **deltawalker** Use DeltaWalker (requires a graphical session) **diffmerge** Use DiffMerge (requires a graphical session) **diffuse** Use Diffuse (requires a graphical session) **ecmerge** Use ECMerge (requires a graphical session) **emerge** Use Emacs' Emerge **examdiff** Use ExamDiff Pro (requires a graphical session) **guiffy** Use Guiffy’s Diff Tool (requires a graphical session) **gvimdiff** Use gVim (requires a graphical session) **kdiff3** Use KDiff3 (requires a graphical session) **kompare** Use Kompare (requires a graphical session) **meld** Use Meld (requires a graphical session) **nvimdiff** Use Neovim **opendiff** Use FileMerge (requires a graphical session) **p4merge** Use HelixCore P4Merge (requires a graphical session) **smerge** Use Sublime Merge (requires a graphical session) **tkdiff** Use TkDiff (requires a graphical session) **vimdiff** Use Vim **vscode** Use Visual Studio Code (requires a graphical session) **winmerge** Use WinMerge (requires a graphical session) **xxdiff** Use xxdiff (requires a graphical session) **difftool.***\***.cmd** Specify the command to invoke the specified diff tool. The specified command is evaluated in shell with the following variables available: **LOCAL** is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and **REMOTE** is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents of the diff post-image. See the **--tool=***\* option in [**git-difftool**(1)](/git-difftool/1.md) for more details. **difftool.***\***.path** Override the path for the given tool. This is useful in case your tool is not in the PATH. **difftool.trustExitCode** Exit difftool if the invoked diff tool returns a non-zero exit status. See the **--trust-exit-code** option in [**git-difftool**(1)](/git-difftool/1.md) for more details. **difftool.prompt** Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool. **difftool.guiDefault** Set **true** to use the **diff.guitool** by default (equivalent to specifying the **--gui** argument), or **auto** to select **diff.guitool** or **diff.tool** depending on the presence of a **DISPLAY** environment variable value. The default is **false**, where the **--gui** argument must be provided explicitly for the **diff.guitool** to be used. ## SEE ALSO [**git-diff**(1)](/git-diff/1.md) Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc [**git-mergetool**(1)](/git-mergetool/1.md) Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts [**git-config**(1)](/git-config/1.md) Get and set repository or global options ## GIT Part of the [**git**(1)](/git/1.md) suite