Pick two things and diff them. Context-menu git diffing for VS Code — no panels, no sidebars, no activity-bar icons. Just the menus that are already there.
Right-click a commit. Pick what to compare it against (another commit, a branch, a tag, the index, the working copy). Walk through the changed files in a QuickPick that stays open. That's the whole product.
- VS Code: search Diffr in the Extensions view, or
- Command line:
code --install-extension nimblesite.diffr - Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=nimblesite.diffr
Diffr depends on the built-in Git extension and needs git on PATH.
VS Code's built-in "Open Changes" only diffs a file against its parent commit. To compare anything else — a commit against a branch tip, your working copy against three commits back, a single file across two arbitrary refs — you end up in git diff on the terminal or installing a heavy "git client" extension.
Diffr fills exactly that gap with the smallest possible surface area:
- No new UI. Every entry point hangs off menus VS Code already shows (SCM history, SCM resource state, editor tab, file explorer) plus a few palette commands.
- No custom renderer. Diffs open in
vscode.diff— the same native diff editor as everything else. - One QuickPick per flow. Browsing many changed files is a list, not a panel. The picker stays open after each diff so you can fly through a review.
- Pure shells out to
git. No libgit2, no native binaries, no surprises about what's being compared.
Source Control (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G)
└── History
└── <right-click a commit>
├── Diffr: Compare with… ← pick anything for Side B
├── Diffr: Compare with Working Copy ← Side B = on-disk
└── Diffr: Compare with Previous ← Side B = parent commit
Source Control → Changes / Staged Changes / Merge Changes
└── <right-click a file>
└── Diffr: Compare with Commit… ← pick commit; diff vs working copy
Editor tab (right-click) ──┐
File Explorer (right-click file) ──┼──► Diffr: Compare with Commit…
└── (uses that file as the target)
Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P)
├── Diffr: Compare Two Commits
├── Diffr: Compare with Commit… ← uses focused editor's file
└── Diffr: Reopen Last Comparison
Diff tabs are titled human-first, e.g. a1b2c3d ↔ Working Copy — src/foo.ts or a1b2c3d ↔ 9f8e7d6 — src/foo.ts. No internal labels, no debug strings.
There are seven commands. Three are reachable from the Command Palette; four are reachable only from a right-click menu (they need a target — a commit, a file — that the menu provides).
Open Source Control (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+G), expand a repository's History section, and right-click any commit:
| Menu label | Command ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Diffr: Compare with… | diffr.compareWith |
The right-clicked commit is Side A. A QuickPick asks what Side B is: Working Copy, Index, Pick a commit…, or Pick a branch or tag…. Then a file QuickPick lists every changed file; selecting one opens vscode.diff. The picker stays open so you can open many files in a row. |
| Diffr: Compare with Working Copy | diffr.compareWithWorkingCopy |
Same as above, but Side B is hardcoded to your on-disk working copy. Skips the Side B prompt. |
| Diffr: Compare with Previous | diffr.compareWithPrevious |
Side A is the right-clicked commit, Side B is its first parent (<sha>^1). Classic "what changed in this commit?" view. |
These three are intentionally hidden from the Command Palette — they only make sense when invoked against a specific commit, which the right-click target provides.
Right-click any file under Changes, Staged Changes, or Merge Changes:
| Menu label | Command ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Diffr: Compare with Commit… | diffr.compareFileWithCommit |
Pick a commit from a log QuickPick. Opens a single-file diff: that file at the chosen commit ↔ your working copy. |
| Menu label | Command ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Diffr: Compare with Commit… | diffr.compareFileWithCommit |
Same as above; the target is the file whose tab you right-clicked. |
| Menu label | Command ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Diffr: Compare with Commit… | diffr.compareFileWithCommit |
Same again — the target is the file you clicked in the tree. |
Type Diffr: to filter. Three entries appear:
| Palette label | Command ID | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Diffr: Compare Two Commits | diffr.compareTwoCommits |
No target needed. QuickPick chain: pick repo → pick Side A commit → pick Side B (working copy / index / commit / ref) → pick files. |
| Diffr: Compare with Commit… | diffr.compareFileWithCommit |
Uses the currently focused editor's file as the target. Same flow as the right-click version. If no editor is focused, Diffr will tell you to open a file first. |
| Diffr: Reopen Last Comparison | diffr.reopenLast |
Reopens the file picker for the last A↔B comparison you made (stored per-workspace). Handy after closing the picker mid-review. |
Diffr: Show Logs(diffr.showLogs) exists but is hidden from the palette — it's reserved for the extension to surface its OutputChannel programmatically. Open it manually via View → Output → "Diffr".
Whenever Diffr asks you to pick Side B, you get four choices:
- Working Copy — the on-disk files in the repo (uncommitted changes included).
- Index — the staging area (what
git diff --cachedwould compare against). - Pick a commit… — choose from a QuickPick of recent log entries.
- Pick a branch or tag… — choose from all refs; resolved to its tip commit.
- VS Code ^1.85.0
- Git on
PATH - The built-in Git extension (Diffr depends on it via
extensionDependencies)
- "No git repository found" — Diffr uses the built-in Git extension's repo list. If VS Code doesn't see your repo, neither will Diffr. Open the Source Control view and confirm the repo appears there.
- Diffr menus don't appear in the SCM History view — make sure the workspace has commits and that you're right-clicking inside the History section (not Changes).
- Anything else —
View → Output → "Diffr"shows structured logs for every operation. Or run Diffr: Show Logs to focus the channel.
Bugs, feature requests, and PRs welcome at https://github.com/Nimblesite/Diffr/issues.
MIT