How can I view git diff for any commit using vim-fugitive?

Question

vim-fugitive side-by-side git diff is great for viewing diff of unstaged files.

How can I use vim-fugitive to git diff

staged files?
any git revision?

The question was about how to get :Gstatus + D like functionality for any revision. Edited question. — Sathish, Mar 12 '13 at 20:31

score 77 · Accepted Answer · edited May 05 '14 at 05:58

77

Diff between current file and the index

:Gdiff :0

Diff between current file and some other [revision]

:Gdiff [revision]

Diff between current file and current file 3 commits ago:

:Gdiff ~3

edited May 05 '14 at 05:58

Naga Kiran

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answered Mar 12 '13 at 19:44

Peter Rincker

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For :Gdiff i need to know the files which were changed in a revision. :Gstatus lists uncommitted files on which i can press D to view the diff. How can i get similar file list and diff on any revision. :Gstatus revision doesn't work! – Sathish Mar 12 '13 at 20:28
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I feel like this is the wrong way to approach the problem. You can use `:Glog --` to populate the `quickfix` window with previous commits and explore the commits. I would highly suggest you take a look at the vimcast series on fugitive: http://vimcasts.org/blog/2011/05/the-fugitive-series/ – Peter Rincker Mar 12 '13 at 21:00
These all operate on a single file. If you can stomach the native output of Git, take a look at `:Git!`. For example, `:Git! show [revision]` will load a syntax-highlight patch of _all_ files in `[revision]`. It's not as nice as the custom interaction model of `:Gstatus`, but can be a handy reference in a split. – Bluu Nov 06 '17 at 23:23
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Once you've staged your changes and are typing the commit message inside `Gcommit` I believe the correct command you want is `:Gvdiff ~1` this creates a vertical split which I find easier to see the differences and also more space efficient as the top pane is then still your commit message and your diff is a vertical split below that – icc97 Jul 19 '18 at 13:43
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@icc97 you can also do `:Gcommit --verbose` or `cvc` from the `:Gstatus` window. – Peter Rincker Jul 19 '18 at 14:17
adding to @Bluu 's comment above, the output of `:Git show [commithash]` is actually somewhat interactive. Presing ENTER on a diff summary line for example will give a side-by-side diff of the file. more at http://vimcasts.org/episodes/fugitive-vim-browsing-the-git-object-database/ – Mike Ellery Feb 17 '23 at 19:12

score 40 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 25 '19 at 19:29

You can use :Glog to get the history changes for current file. You can use :cnext or :cprevious to move between changes. When you hit the version that you want to compare then you can use :Gdiff. You can exit from vimdiff closing the buffer :q and exit from history log with :Gedit.

This is my .vimrc keyboard config:

  nnoremap <leader>gs :Gstatus<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gc :Gcommit -v -q<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>ga :Gcommit --amend<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gt :Gcommit -v -q %<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gd :Gdiff<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>ge :Gedit<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gr :Gread<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gw :Gwrite<CR><CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gl :silent! Glog<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gp :Ggrep<Space>
  nnoremap <leader>gm :Gmove<Space>
  nnoremap <leader>gb :Git branch<Space>
  nnoremap <leader>go :Git checkout<Space>
  nnoremap <leader>gps :Dispatch! git push<CR>
  nnoremap <leader>gpl :Dispatch! git pull<CR>

I recommend unimpaired.vim plugin by Tim Pope.

With that configuration, my workflow is:

<Leader>gl to view history

]q and [q to move between versions (unimpaired.vim)

<Leader>gd to open diff

:q to end diff

<Leader>ge to return to my working copy.

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also requires vim-dispatch – gauteh Mar 27 '17 at 06:32

score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 12 '15 at 06:57

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Adding to above answer:

If you want to get a diff, of a particular file from another branch

Gdiff branch_name:path/to/dir/filename.txt

answered Jan 12 '15 at 06:57

prathamesh

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You can also go `Gdiff ` on a buffer if the same file is also present in the . – Ain Tohvri Feb 04 '15 at 12:39

starikovs · Answer 4 · 2017-09-26T05:56:21.113

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I just drop here the way I view a diff if the :Glog -- or :Glog -- % (for current file) is used:

:Glog --
:cw to open a list of commits
Navigate to a commit and its info as well affected files are shown
Focus on a file path
<c-w>gf and the diff is opened in new tab
:tabclose to just close the tab and get the previous state before the diff

edited Sep 26 '17 at 05:56

answered Jul 13 '17 at 08:18

starikovs

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Hi there. This worked perfect. But what is the meaning of `gf` here? I don't find it in `fugitive` documentation. – Eric Sun Sep 04 '19 at 06:54
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Hey! `gf` means editing the existing file under the cursor in the same window. – starikovs Sep 04 '19 at 16:09

How can I view git diff for any commit using vim-fugitive?

4 Answers4