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Prowl docs components diff-view.md
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Diff View #

A dedicated window showing what changed in a worktree vs HEAD — review an agent's work before you commit.

Keywords: diff, diff view, changes, review, working tree, HEAD, split, unified, line changes, ⌘⇧Y, show diff

Related: repositories-and-worktrees · github-pull-requests · command-palette

What it is #

The default Diff window shows all changes in the selected worktree's working directory compared against HEAD — exactly what an agent has modified. It's a fast way to review before committing or merging.

Open: click a worktree's diff badge, press ⌘⇧Y (show_diff), or use Command Palette → "Show Diff".

By default Prowl opens its built-in YiTong-based diff window. In Settings → General → Diff Tool, you can choose an external tool instead:

  • Built-in — opens Prowl's diff window. The window is a persistent singleton (remembers size/position) and auto-refreshes when it regains focus. ⌘W closes it.
  • Hunk — opens a new Prowl terminal tab and runs hunk diff in the worktree.
  • FileMerge — creates HEAD/worktree snapshot folders and runs opendiff.
  • Kaleidoscope — creates HEAD/worktree snapshot folders and runs ksdiff --diff.
  • Custom Command — creates HEAD/worktree snapshot folders and runs your command in the worktree directory. Supported placeholders: {leftPath}, {rightPath}, {worktreePath}, {repoPath}, and {branch}.

Tools that are not installed on the Mac are shown disabled in the Diff Tool menu.

What the built-in window shows #

  • A file list sidebar of changed files, each with a colored status badge:
    • M Modified (orange) · A Added/untracked (green) · D Deleted (red) · R Renamed / C Copied (blue) · ? Unknown (grey).
  • The selected file's diff, comparing the HEAD version (git show HEAD:path) against the on-disk version.
  • Both tracked changes and untracked new files are included.

Modes & interactions #

  • Split (side-by-side, default) or Unified view — toggle via the toolbar picker.
  • Click a file in the list to view its diff.
  • Auto-refresh on focus keeps it current as the agent keeps working.

Line-change badges elsewhere #

Repositories can show line-change badges (additions/deletions) on worktree rows, controlled per repo by observeLineDiffsAutomatically (on by default). Disable it for very large repos if it's expensive.

Availability #

Diff is a git-only feature — it's unavailable for plain (non-git) folders.

Gotchas for agents #

  • The diff is working-tree vs HEAD, not vs the base branch — it reflects uncommitted changes in that worktree.
  • External GUI tools receive snapshot folders so untracked files are included without changing the git index.
  • The Hunk integration runs in a terminal tab because Hunk is terminal-native.
  • For changes already in a pull request (vs the base branch, with CI), see github-pull-requests.