diff-so-fancy
A script that makes git and plain diff output easier for humans to read.
- Stars
- 18.1k
- Forks
- 350
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Perl
- Last update
- 18 days ago
- Type
- CLI
What it is
diff-so-fancy is a command-line script that reformats the text output of diff tools, including git diff, so changes are easier to scan. It adds color, simplifies headers, and hides the leading + and - symbols, which helps you spot mistakes faster. You plug it into git as a pager or diff filter, or pipe ordinary diff output into it.
- Set git's core.pager so every git diff and git show output is formatted
- Pipe a unified diff from diff -u into diff-so-fancy to read it more easily
- Compare folders recursively with diff --recursive -u and format the result
- Customize colors-free output options such as ASCII rulers or shorter headers via git config
Great for
- Developers who review many diffs in the terminal
- People who use git from the command line and want clearer output
- Users who want a simple drop-in change with no complex setup
- Anyone reviewing changes made with plain diff -u
Not ideal for
- People who do not use a terminal or command-line git, since it only formats text output
- Users who want syntax-aware or structural diffs, because the README describes only line-based formatting
- Anyone who needs the exact raw diff text, since the symbols and headers are changed for display
How to get it
- 1
Download the app
You'll need: Perl (the project is written in Perl)
Clone the repository (for development features)
git clone https://github.com/so-fancy/diff-so-fancySet git to use diff-so-fancy as the pager
git config --global core.pager "diff-so-fancy | less --tabs=4 -RF"Set git to use diff-so-fancy for interactive patch mode
git config --global interactive.diffFilter "diff-so-fancy --patch" - 2
Run it
- Copy the diff-so-fancy script from the latest GitHub release into a folder on your PATH
- Run the git config command for core.pager shown in the README
- Run git diff in any repository to see the formatted output
- Optionally run diff -u file_a file_b | diff-so-fancy to test it on plain files
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Turn off features you do not want with git config --bool --global diff-so-fancy.<option> false, such as markEmptyLines or useUnicodeRuler
- Set diff-so-fancy.rulerWidth to a fixed number for consistent ruler lines
- Use diff-so-fancy.shortHeaders true for one-line file headers
- Read the project's pro-tips document linked from the README for advanced usage
Downloads
Strengths
- Simple to install: the README says copying one script into your PATH is enough
- Configurable through several git config options with documented defaults
- Works with both git and standard diff output
Trade-offs
- The README describes several installation routes, and packaging problems must be reported to those package maintainers
- Some features, like semIntegration, depend on a separate tool named sem
- Only the README was reviewed here, so behavior on edge cases is not verified
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| diff-so-fancy (this) | 18.1k | CLI | beginner | 18 days ago | Developers who review many diffs in the terminal |
| delta | 32.6k | Dev tool | beginner | 9 days ago | Developers who read a lot of git diffs or git show output in the terminal |
| lazygit | 83.6k | CLI | beginner | 5 days ago | Developers who already use git from the command line and want a faster overview of their repository |
| difftastic | 26.1k | CLI | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers reviewing code changes in git where reformatting adds noise |
| cli | 46.8k | CLI | beginner | 6 days ago | Developers who already work in the terminal and use GitHub daily |
| gitleaks | 30.6k | CLI | beginner | 9 days ago | Developers who want to catch accidentally committed credentials before they reach a shared repository |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.