diffnav

A git diff pager based on delta but with a file tree, à la GitHub.

❤️ Sponsoring

If you enjoy diffnav and want to help, consider supporting the project with a donation at the sponsors page.

Sponsors

TUI Innovator

  

TUI Visionary

     

TUI Power User

                                      

TUI Backer

  

Installation

Homebrew:

brew install diffnav

or from my tap directly:

brew install dlvhdr/formulae/diffnav

Go:

git clone https://github.com/dlvhdr/diffnav.git
cd diffnav
go install .

Usage

Pipe into diffnav

• git diff | diffnav
• gh pr diff https://github.com/dlvhdr/gh-dash/pull/447 | diffnav

Set up as Global Git Diff Pager

git config --global pager.diff diffnav

Flags

Flag	Description
--side-by-side, -s	Force side-by-side diff view
--unified, -u	Force unified diff view
--watch, -w	Watch mode: periodically re-run a command and refresh
--watch-cmd	Command to run in watch mode (implies --watch, default: git diff)
--watch-interval	Interval between watch refreshes (default: 2s)

Example:

git diff | diffnav --unified
git diff | diffnav -u

Watch Mode

Watch mode lets diffnav periodically re-run a diff command and refresh the display automatically. This is useful for monitoring changes as you work.

# watch unstaged changes (default: git diff, every 2s)
diffnav --watch

# watch staged changes with a custom interval
diffnav --watch-cmd "git diff --cached" --watch-interval 5s

# watch changes against a specific branch
diffnav --watch-cmd "git diff main..."

Configuration

The config file is searched in this order:

1. $DIFFNAV_CONFIG_DIR/config.yml (if env var is set)
2. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/diffnav/config.yml (if set, macOS only)
3. ~/.config/diffnav/config.yml (macOS and Linux)
4. OS-specific config directory (e.g., ~/Library/Application Support/diffnav/config.yml on macOS)

Example config file:

ui:
  # Hide the header to get more screen space for diffs
  hideHeader: true

  # Hide the footer (keybindings help)
  hideFooter: true

  # Start with the file tree hidden (toggle with 'e')
  showFileTree: false

  # Customize the file tree width (default: 26)
  fileTreeWidth: 30

  # Customize the search panel width (default: 50)
  searchTreeWidth: 60

  # Icon style: "status" (default), "simple", "filetype", "full", "unicode", or "ascii"
  icons: nerd-fonts-status

  # Color filenames by git status (default: true)
  colorFileNames: false

  # Show the amount of lines added / removed next to the file
  showDiffStats: false

  # Use side-by-side diff view (default: true, set false for unified)
  sideBySide: true

  # How many levels of folders to open on start (-1 = all, 0 = none, 1 = first level, etc.)
  startFoldersOpenDepth: 1

  # The ID of the theme to use. Press `T` to see available themes - IDs are
  shown below each theme name. (default: tokyo_night)
  theme: gruvbox_dark

Option	Type	Default	Description
ui.hideHeader	bool	false	Hide the “DIFFNAV” header
ui.hideFooter	bool	false	Hide the footer with keybindings help
ui.showFileTree	bool	true	Show file tree on startup
ui.fileTreeWidth	int	26	Width of the file tree sidebar
ui.searchTreeWidth	int	50	Width of the search panel
ui.icons	string	nerd-fonts-status	Icon style (see below for details)
ui.colorFileNames	bool	true	Color filenames by git status
ui.showDiffStats	bool	true	Show the amount of lines added / removed next to the file
ui.sideBySide	bool	true	Use side-by-side diff view (false for unified)
ui.startFoldersOpenDepth	int	-1	Folder open depth on start (-1 = all, 0 = none)
ui.theme	string	tokyo_night	The ID of the theme to use

Icon Styles

Style	Description
nerd-fonts-status	Boxed git status icons colored by change type
nerd-fonts-simple	Generic file icon colored by change type
nerd-fonts-filetype	File-type specific icons (language icons) colored by change type
nerd-fonts-full	Both status icon and file-type icon, all colored
unicode	Unicode symbols (+/⛌/●)
ascii	Plain ASCII characters (+/x/*)

Keys

Key	Description
j	Next node
k	Previous node
n	Next file
p / N	Previous file
Ctrl-d	Scroll the diff half page down
Ctrl-u	Scroll the diff half page up
Ctrl-e	Scroll the diff one line down
Ctrl-y	Scroll the diff one line up
e	Toggle the file tree
t	Search/go-to file
y	Copy file path
i	Cycle icon style
o	Open file in $EDITOR
s	Toggle side-by-side/unified view
Tab	Switch focus between the panes
T	Open the theme picker
q	Quit

Discord

Have questions? Join our Discord community!

Contributing

See the contribution guide at https://www.gh-dash.dev/contributing.

Under the Hood

diffnav uses:

• Bubble Tea for the TUI
• Bubbletint for the theming
• delta for viewing the diffed file

Screenshots use:

• kitty for the terminal
• tokyonight for the color scheme
• CommitMono for the font