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Add a user config for using git's external diff command for paging #4832

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merged 1 commit into from
Aug 20, 2025
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Add a user config for using git's external diff command for paging #4832

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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions docs/Config.md
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Expand Up @@ -306,6 +306,9 @@ git:
# e.g. 'difft --color=always'
externalDiffCommand: ""

# If true, Lazygit will use git's `diff.external` config for paging. The advantage over `externalDiffCommand` is that this can be configured per file type in .gitattributes; see https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes#_defining_an_external_diff_driver.
useExternalDiffGitConfig: false
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Yes, I have tested this feature branch. Indeed, a useExternalDiffGitConfig: true config will have lazygit honor git's existing external diff setup, in Files panel and in Commits panel. Ship it!


# Config relating to committing
commit:
# If true, pass '--signoff' flag when committing
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10 changes: 10 additions & 0 deletions docs/Custom_Pagers.md
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Expand Up @@ -74,3 +74,13 @@ git:
paging:
externalDiffCommand: difft --color=always --display=inline --syntax-highlight=off
```

Instead of setting this command in lazygit's `externalDiffCommand` config, you can also tell lazygit to use the external diff command that is configured in git itself (`diff.external`), by using

```yaml
git:
paging:
useExternalDiffGitConfig: true
```

This can be useful if you also want to use it for diffs on the command line, and it also has the advantage that you can configure it per file type in `.gitattributes`; see https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes#_defining_an_external_diff_driver.
3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion pkg/commands/git_commands/commit.go
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Expand Up @@ -257,10 +257,11 @@ func (self *CommitCommands) ShowCmdObj(hash string, filterPaths []string) *oscom
contextSize := self.UserConfig().Git.DiffContextSize

extDiffCmd := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand
useExtDiffGitConfig := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig
cmdArgs := NewGitCmd("show").
Config("diff.noprefix=false").
ConfigIf(extDiffCmd != "", "diff.external="+extDiffCmd).
ArgIfElse(extDiffCmd != "", "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
ArgIfElse(extDiffCmd != "" || useExtDiffGitConfig, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
Arg("--submodule").
Arg("--color="+self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ColorArg).
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--unified=%d", contextSize)).
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11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions pkg/commands/git_commands/commit_test.go
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Expand Up @@ -256,6 +256,7 @@ func TestCommitShowCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
similarityThreshold int
ignoreWhitespace bool
extDiffCmd string
useExtDiffGitConfig bool
expected []string
}

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -314,6 +315,15 @@ func TestCommitShowCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
extDiffCmd: "difft --color=always",
expected: []string{"-C", "/path/to/worktree", "-c", "diff.external=difft --color=always", "-c", "diff.noprefix=false", "show", "--ext-diff", "--submodule", "--color=always", "--unified=3", "--stat", "--decorate", "-p", "1234567890", "--find-renames=50%", "--"},
},
{
testName: "Show diff using git's external diff config",
filterPaths: []string{},
contextSize: 3,
similarityThreshold: 50,
ignoreWhitespace: false,
useExtDiffGitConfig: true,
expected: []string{"-C", "/path/to/worktree", "-c", "diff.noprefix=false", "show", "--ext-diff", "--submodule", "--color=always", "--unified=3", "--stat", "--decorate", "-p", "1234567890", "--find-renames=50%", "--"},
},
}

for _, s := range scenarios {
Expand All @@ -323,6 +333,7 @@ func TestCommitShowCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
userConfig.Git.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView = s.ignoreWhitespace
userConfig.Git.DiffContextSize = s.contextSize
userConfig.Git.RenameSimilarityThreshold = s.similarityThreshold
userConfig.Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig = s.useExtDiffGitConfig

runner := oscommands.NewFakeRunner(t).ExpectGitArgs(s.expected, "", nil)
repoPaths := RepoPaths{
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3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion pkg/commands/git_commands/diff.go
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Expand Up @@ -21,13 +21,14 @@ func NewDiffCommands(gitCommon *GitCommon) *DiffCommands {
func (self *DiffCommands) DiffCmdObj(diffArgs []string) *oscommands.CmdObj {
extDiffCmd := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand
useExtDiff := extDiffCmd != ""
useExtDiffGitConfig := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig
ignoreWhitespace := self.UserConfig().Git.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView

return self.cmd.New(
NewGitCmd("diff").
Config("diff.noprefix=false").
ConfigIf(useExtDiff, "diff.external="+extDiffCmd).
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff || useExtDiffGitConfig, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
Arg("--submodule").
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--color=%s", self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ColorArg)).
ArgIf(ignoreWhitespace, "--ignore-all-space").
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3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion pkg/commands/git_commands/stash.go
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Expand Up @@ -82,14 +82,15 @@ func (self *StashCommands) Hash(index int) (string, error) {

func (self *StashCommands) ShowStashEntryCmdObj(index int) *oscommands.CmdObj {
extDiffCmd := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand
useExtDiffGitConfig := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig

// "-u" is the same as "--include-untracked", but the latter fails in older git versions for some reason
cmdArgs := NewGitCmd("stash").Arg("show").
Arg("-p").
Arg("--stat").
Arg("-u").
ConfigIf(extDiffCmd != "", "diff.external="+extDiffCmd).
ArgIfElse(extDiffCmd != "", "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
ArgIfElse(extDiffCmd != "" || useExtDiffGitConfig, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--color=%s", self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ColorArg)).
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--unified=%d", self.UserConfig().Git.DiffContextSize)).
ArgIf(self.UserConfig().Git.IgnoreWhitespaceInDiffView, "--ignore-all-space").
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11 changes: 11 additions & 0 deletions pkg/commands/git_commands/stash_test.go
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Expand Up @@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ func TestStashStashEntryCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
similarityThreshold int
ignoreWhitespace bool
extDiffCmd string
useExtDiffGitConfig bool
expected []string
}

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -141,6 +142,15 @@ func TestStashStashEntryCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
extDiffCmd: "difft --color=always",
expected: []string{"git", "-C", "/path/to/worktree", "-c", "diff.external=difft --color=always", "stash", "show", "-p", "--stat", "-u", "--ext-diff", "--color=always", "--unified=3", "--find-renames=50%", "refs/stash@{5}"},
},
{
testName: "Show diff using git's external diff config",
index: 5,
contextSize: 3,
similarityThreshold: 50,
ignoreWhitespace: false,
useExtDiffGitConfig: true,
expected: []string{"git", "-C", "/path/to/worktree", "stash", "show", "-p", "--stat", "-u", "--ext-diff", "--color=always", "--unified=3", "--find-renames=50%", "refs/stash@{5}"},
},
{
testName: "Default case",
index: 5,
Expand All @@ -158,6 +168,7 @@ func TestStashStashEntryCmdObj(t *testing.T) {
userConfig.Git.DiffContextSize = s.contextSize
userConfig.Git.RenameSimilarityThreshold = s.similarityThreshold
userConfig.Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand = s.extDiffCmd
userConfig.Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig = s.useExtDiffGitConfig
repoPaths := RepoPaths{
worktreePath: "/path/to/worktree",
}
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6 changes: 4 additions & 2 deletions pkg/commands/git_commands/working_tree.go
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Expand Up @@ -267,10 +267,11 @@ func (self *WorkingTreeCommands) WorktreeFileDiffCmdObj(node models.IFile, plain
noIndex := !node.GetIsTracked() && !node.GetHasStagedChanges() && !cached && node.GetIsFile()
extDiffCmd := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand
useExtDiff := extDiffCmd != "" && !plain
useExtDiffGitConfig := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig

cmdArgs := NewGitCmd("diff").
ConfigIf(useExtDiff, "diff.external="+extDiffCmd).
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff || useExtDiffGitConfig, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
Arg("--submodule").
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--unified=%d", contextSize)).
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--color=%s", colorArg)).
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -304,11 +305,12 @@ func (self *WorkingTreeCommands) ShowFileDiffCmdObj(from string, to string, reve

extDiffCmd := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.ExternalDiffCommand
useExtDiff := extDiffCmd != "" && !plain
useExtDiffGitConfig := self.UserConfig().Git.Paging.UseExternalDiffGitConfig

cmdArgs := NewGitCmd("diff").
Config("diff.noprefix=false").
ConfigIf(useExtDiff, "diff.external="+extDiffCmd).
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
ArgIfElse(useExtDiff || useExtDiffGitConfig, "--ext-diff", "--no-ext-diff").
Arg("--submodule").
Arg(fmt.Sprintf("--unified=%d", contextSize)).
Arg("--no-renames").
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2 changes: 2 additions & 0 deletions pkg/config/user_config.go
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Expand Up @@ -318,6 +318,8 @@ type PagingConfig struct {
Pager PagerType `yaml:"pager"`
// e.g. 'difft --color=always'
ExternalDiffCommand string `yaml:"externalDiffCommand"`
// If true, Lazygit will use git's `diff.external` config for paging. The advantage over `externalDiffCommand` is that this can be configured per file type in .gitattributes; see https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes#_defining_an_external_diff_driver.
UseExternalDiffGitConfig bool `yaml:"useExternalDiffGitConfig"`
}

type CommitConfig struct {
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions schema/config.json
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Expand Up @@ -1675,6 +1675,11 @@
"externalDiffCommand": {
"type": "string",
"description": "e.g. 'difft --color=always'"
},
"useExternalDiffGitConfig": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "If true, Lazygit will use git's `diff.external` config for paging. The advantage over `externalDiffCommand` is that this can be configured per file type in .gitattributes; see https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes#_defining_an_external_diff_driver.",
"default": false
}
},
"additionalProperties": false,
Expand Down
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