git diff between local branch and remote tracking branch

Question

I simply want to get a non-zero exit code if there is a diff between a local branch and the remote tracking branch.

For example, say the local branch is foo, and I have it checked out, so the diff command would be:

git fetch origin
git diff --exit-code remotes/origin/foo

However, my question is - is there a generic/programmatic way to run this kind of diff command for any local branch? I want to diff a local branch with the remote tracking branch, generically.

Yes, you could write a script which uses the local branch name (e.g. `foo`) as a parameter, and uses the rest of what you wrote above as a template. — Tim Biegeleisen, Sep 12 '18 at 06:33
That assumes the remote tracking branch has the name foo it in, etc. Is there some way to programmatically get the name of the remote tracking branch? — Alexander Mills, Sep 12 '18 at 06:34
Got it...I was half expecting you to ask that. [See here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/171550/find-out-which-remote-branch-a-local-branch-is-tracking). — Tim Biegeleisen, Sep 12 '18 at 06:35
Still not seeing a good generic/programmatic way to do this. — Alexander Mills, Sep 12 '18 at 07:17
You seem to asking a few question lately about automating things in Git which I would just type out by hand. May I ask if you are doing some devops infrastructure work? — Tim Biegeleisen, Sep 12 '18 at 07:18
ah yes torek to the rescue, I think I knew that, can you pls add an answer? thanks — Alexander Mills, Sep 12 '18 at 15:56

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 12 '18 at 17:50

To reliably programmatically get the upstream for your current branch, you can use:

HEAD@{upstream}

so in this context, it would be:

git diff HEAD HEAD@{upstream}

and for all I know, that might be the default, when you run:

git diff

without anymore arguments; I prefer to be explicit though.

git diff between local branch and remote tracking branch

1 Answers1