rz-diff(1)

rz-diff1

Compare files and find binary differences.

Usage

rz-diff [OPTIONS] file0 file1

Overview

rz-diff compares two files or binary programs and highlights the differences between them. It supports diffing different aspects like raw bytes, text lines, functions, sections, strings, etc., based on the options used.

-A

Compare virtual addresses from file0 with physical addresses in file1

-a [arch]

Specify the architecture plugin to use for analysis (e.g., x86, arm)

-b [bits]

Specify the register size for the chosen architecture (e.g., 16, 32, 64)

-B

Run 'aaa' when loading the binary

-C

Disable the use of colors in the output

-d [algo]

Compute the edit distance between files using the chosen algorithm:

myers

Eugene W. Myers' O(ND) algorithm (no substitution)

leven

Levenshtein O(N^2) algorithm (with substitution)

ssdeep

Context triggered piecewise hashing comparison

-e [k=v]

Set an evaluable config variable

-H

Enable hexadecimal visual mode for comparing files in hexadecimal format

-h

Display the help message

-i

Use command line arguments instead of files (only for -d)

-j

Output the comparison results in JSON format

-q

Generate quiet output with minimal information

-0 [cmd]

Input for file0 when option -t 'commands' is given

-1 [cmd]

Input for file1 when option -t 'commands' is given

-S [WxH]

Set the width and height of the terminal for visual mode

-t [type]

Compute the difference between two files based on the specified type:

bytes

Compare raw bytes in the files (only for small files)

lines

Compare text files

functions

Compare functions found in the files

classes

Compare classes found in the files

command

Compare command output returned when executed in both files. Requires -0 <cmd>, -1 <cmd> is optional.

entries

Compare entries found in the files

fields

Compare fields found in the files

graphs

Compare 2 functions and outputs in graphviz/dot format. Requires -0 <fcnname|offset>, -1 <fcn name|offset> is optional.

imports

Compare imports found in the files

libraries

Compare libraries found in the files

sections

Compare sections found in the files

strings

Compare strings found in the files

symbols

Compare symbols found in the files

-T

Show timestamp information in the output

-V

Show version information for rz-diff

-v

be more verbose (stderr output)

Palette colors can be changed by adding the following lines inside the $HOME/.rizinrc file

ec diff.unknown blue

offset color

ec diff.match green

match color

ec diff.unmatch red

mismatch color

Examples

Compare two binary files using the default settings:

rz-diff file1.bin file2.bin

Compare two text files and display the output in JSON format:

rz-diff -j -t lines file1.txt file2.txt

Compare two functions from an architecture plugin:

rz-diff -t graphs -0 function1 -1 function2 binary1 binary2

Authors

pancake <[email protected]> byteninjaa0

From rizin 0.8.2-2 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's mdoc source.