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Mintlify Agent
323 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
323 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: git diff
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description: Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
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---
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Display differences between various Git objects.
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## Syntax
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```bash
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git diff [options] [<commit>] [<commit>] [--] [<path>]
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```
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## Description
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`git diff` shows what has changed in your repository. You can compare working directory changes, staged changes, commits, branches, and more.
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## Common usage
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Show unstaged changes:
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```bash
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git diff
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```
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Show staged changes:
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```bash
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git diff --staged
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```
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Compare two commits:
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```bash
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git diff commit1 commit2
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```
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## Options
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<ParamField path="--staged, --cached" type="flag">
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Show changes staged for commit
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```bash
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git diff --staged
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```
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</ParamField>
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<ParamField path="--name-only" type="flag">
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Show only names of changed files
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```bash
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git diff --name-only
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```
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</ParamField>
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<ParamField path="--name-status" type="flag">
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Show names and change types (Added, Modified, Deleted)
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</ParamField>
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<ParamField path="--stat" type="flag">
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Show summary statistics
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```bash
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git diff --stat
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```
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</ParamField>
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<ParamField path="--color-words" type="flag">
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Show word-level differences
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</ParamField>
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## Examples
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### Unstaged changes
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```bash
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git diff
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```
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Shows changes in working directory not yet staged.
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### Staged changes
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```bash
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git diff --staged
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```
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Shows changes that will be included in the next commit.
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### Compare branches
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```bash
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git diff main feature-branch
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```
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### Compare commits
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```bash
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git diff abc123 def456
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```
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### Specific file
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```bash
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git diff path/to/file.txt
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```
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### Changes since last commit
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```bash
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git diff HEAD
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```
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### Changes between branches
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```bash
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git diff main..feature-branch
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```
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## Understanding diff output
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```diff
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diff --git a/file.txt b/file.txt
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index 1234567..abcdefg 100644
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--- a/file.txt
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+++ b/file.txt
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@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
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This line stays
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-This line was removed
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+This line was added
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+Another new line
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This line stays too
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```
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- `---` lines removed
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- `+++` lines added
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- `@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@` shows line numbers
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- Context lines (unchanged) also shown
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## Common workflows
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### Review before committing
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```bash
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# Check unstaged changes
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git diff
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# Stage some files
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git add file1.txt
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# Check what's staged
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git diff --staged
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# Commit
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git commit
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```
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### Compare with remote
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```bash
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git diff origin/main
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```
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### See what changed in last commit
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```bash
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git diff HEAD~1 HEAD
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```
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### Compare specific files between branches
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```bash
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git diff main feature-branch -- path/to/file.txt
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```
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## Filtering output
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### Show only file names
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```bash
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git diff --name-only
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```
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### Show statistics
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```bash
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git diff --stat
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```
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Output:
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```
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file1.txt | 10 +++++-----
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file2.txt | 5 +++++
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2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
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```
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### Show only specific file types
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```bash
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git diff -- '*.js'
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```
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## Word-level diff
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See changes at word level instead of line level:
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```bash
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git diff --color-words
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```
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Useful for prose and documentation.
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## Viewing diffs
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### In external tool
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```bash
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git difftool
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```
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Configure your preferred tool:
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```bash
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git config --global diff.tool vscode
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```
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### Pager navigation
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- `Space` - Scroll down
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- `b` - Scroll up
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- `q` - Quit
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- `/pattern` - Search
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- `n` - Next match
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## Advanced usage
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### Ignore whitespace
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```bash
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git diff -w
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```
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### Show function names
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```bash
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git diff -p
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```
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### Compare working directory to remote
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```bash
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git diff HEAD origin/main
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```
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### Unified diff with more context
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```bash
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git diff -U10
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```
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Shows 10 lines of context instead of default 3.
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## Diff between commits
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### Last commit vs working directory
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```bash
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git diff HEAD
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```
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### Two commits ago vs now
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```bash
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git diff HEAD~2
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```
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### Specific commits
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```bash
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git diff abc123..def456
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```
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## Common scenarios
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### What did I change?
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```bash
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git diff
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```
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### What am I about to commit?
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```bash
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git diff --staged
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```
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### What's different from main branch?
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```bash
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git diff main
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```
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### What changed in the last commit?
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```bash
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git diff HEAD~1
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```
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## Best practices
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- Review `git diff` before `git add`
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- Review `git diff --staged` before `git commit`
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- Use `--stat` for quick overview
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- Use `--name-only` when you just need file list
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- Configure a visual diff tool for complex changes
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## Related commands
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- [git status](/git/status) - See changed files
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- [git show](/git/show) - Show commit contents
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- [git log](/git/log) - View commit history
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- [git add](/git/add) - Stage changes
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