gert::git_diff != git diff #152

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1. jeroen commented on Aug 30, 2021

   

   jeroen

   on Aug 30, 2021

   Last edited by jeroen

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   git_diff() returns a data frame, with a column containing the file name for each change? For example:

   git_diff('HEAD^')$new

   Shows the files changed in your most recent commit.
2. assignUser commented on Aug 30, 2021

   

   assignUser

   on Aug 30, 2021

   Last edited by assignUser

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   Right. But only files changed in this commit. (or current working dir vs. last commit)

   Not the changed files between two commits as you would with git diff ref1 ref2 -- (--name-only just for better readability):

   $> git diff --name-only main run-on-change --
   API
   NAMESPACE
   R/core.R
   R/source.R
   R/utils.R
   inst/script.R
   man/add_lib_dirs.Rd     
   man/benchmark_run_ref.Rd
   tests/testthat/test-utils.R

   I am looking for this behaviour because I want to run some tests/benchmarks on pull requests only if the relevant file has changed between the branches (e.g. main and devel), so it would not be enough to only check the files changed in the last/one specific commit.

   For now I can use system but I would rather use your great package to do it within R 😃

   edit: And thank you for your quick response!
3. gadenbuie commented on Oct 16, 2025

   

   gadenbuie

   on Oct 16, 2025

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   I'm working on adding git support to btw (i.e. tools for LLMs) using gert, and as requested here it would be very helpful for git_diff() to be able to provide a unified diff between two arbitrary refs.

   An interface like this would be awesome:

   git_diff("main..run-on-change") # shows unified diff of changes in run-on-change branch
   git_diff("HEAD~2..HEAD") # shows unified diff of the last three commits

   In other words, I'm thinking of something similar to GitHub's /compare endpoint with ref_base..ref_compare syntax.

   Alternatively, it could be a new function, git_diff_compare():

   git_diff_compare(base = "main", compare = "run-on-change")
   
   # or
   git_diff_compare(ref_base = "main", ref_compare = "run-on-change")
   
   # or
   git_diff_compare(start = "main", end = "run-on-change")

   Without this, git_diff() is limited to returning the diff of a single commit, i.e. git_diff("run-on-change") shows the diff of the last commit in the run-on-change branch, which is useful but limited.
4. maelle commented on Apr 10, 2026

   

   maelle

   on Apr 10, 2026

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   @gadenbuie would you want to open a PR? 😸
5. maelle

   added

   featurea feature request or enhancementa feature request or enhancement

   on Apr 10, 2026