Chevron — Compare With Branch, IntelliJ-style
Diff against any branch, tag or commit, and take changes across hunk by hunk.
No account, no AI, no Pro tier, no telemetry.
Pick a branch, tag or commit. Chevron shows every file you've changed since you diverged from it,
opens each one in VS Code's own diff editor, and puts a ← Take from main action on every
changed block, so you can pull the branch's version of just that hunk back into your working file.
Getting started
- Open a folder that's in a git repository.
- Click the Chevron icon in the Activity Bar. Chevron picks
origin/HEAD, main or master
to compare against; run Chevron: Select Branch to Compare to choose any other branch, tag or
commit.
- Click a file to open its diff, then use
← Take from main above any changed block, or
Alt+F7 to walk through every change.
Why Chevron
If you've come from IntelliJ, WebStorm, PyCharm or Rider, you know the workflow: Git → Compare
with Branch, a list of changed files, a side-by-side diff, and a « chevron to take a block back.
VS Code has most of the pieces but not that flow. Chevron is that flow and nothing else.
If you want AI agents, a Kanban board and a full git client, install GitLens; Chevron does one thing.
|
Chevron |
GitLens |
Typical "branch diff" extensions |
| Changed-files tree vs any branch/tag/SHA |
✓ |
✓ (inside a larger UI) |
✓ |
| Merge-base ("three-dot") diffing |
✓ |
✓ |
some |
← Take from <branch> on every hunk, stale-checked, one undo step |
✓ |
—¹ |
—¹ |
| Jump to next change across files |
✓ |
— |
— |
| Compare against another worktree, live |
✓ |
— |
— |
| Account / Pro tier / telemetry |
none |
account for some features |
varies |
¹ VS Code's diff editor itself has a small "Revert Block" arrow in the gutter of any editable
diff, and it works in Chevron's diffs too. Chevron adds a labelled action on every hunk that names
the branch it takes from, a keyboard route, and a check that refuses to apply to a file that changed
underneath it.
Features
Compare with any branch, tag or commit
Chevron: Select Branch to Compare lists local branches, remote-tracking branches, tags and
other worktrees, grouped and searchable — or choose Enter a tag, commit SHA or ref… and paste
anything git rev-parse understands. The branch you're comparing against sorts to the top.
Diffs are merge-base ("three-dot"): you see only what changed on your side since you diverged,
not everything that has landed on theirs since.
Changed files at a glance
The Chevron view in the Activity Bar lists every changed file, coloured like VS Code's own
Source Control (added, modified, deleted, renamed, untracked), each with its +added −deleted line
counts. The header shows how far you've diverged, e.g. main ↓3 ↑5. It refreshes itself after a
save, commit, checkout or pull. Right-click a file to copy its path or reveal it in the Explorer.
← Take from branch
In a Chevron diff, each changed block in your working file gets a ← Take from <branch> action.
Click it and that block is replaced with the branch's version — additions removed, deletions
restored, modifications reverted. It's one edit (one Ctrl/Cmd+Z undoes it), it doesn't save the
file, and it refuses to apply if the file changed underneath it, rather than guessing.
VS Code hides CodeLens actions in diff editors by default. The first time you open a Chevron diff,
Chevron offers to turn on diffEditor.codeLens for you.
Walk every change, across files
Chevron: Next Change / Previous Change (Alt+F7 / Shift+Alt+F7) jump hunk by hunk and roll
over into the next changed file when you reach the end of one — IntelliJ's F7, across the whole
comparison.
Blame, where it helps
Hover any line on either side of a Chevron diff for author, date, commit summary and hash.
Chevron: Toggle Blame Annotations adds a compact author, 3d ago label to each changed
line of your working file.
Multi-root workspaces
Open several folders or repositories and each keeps its own comparison. The view follows the repository
of the file you're editing; Chevron: Select Repository switches explicitly.
Worktrees
Other worktrees (git worktree add) appear in the picker. Choosing one compares live, directly
against that worktree's files on disk, uncommitted edits and untracked files included.
Commands and keybindings
| Command |
Default keybinding |
| Chevron: Select Branch to Compare |
— |
| Chevron: Diff Current File Against Branch |
Ctrl+K Shift+D / Cmd+K Shift+D |
| Chevron: Show Changed Files (Project) |
— |
| Chevron: Next Change |
Alt+F7 |
| Chevron: Previous Change |
Shift+Alt+F7 |
| Chevron: Take Change Under Cursor from Branch |
Ctrl+K Shift+T / Cmd+K Shift+T |
| Chevron: Toggle Blame Annotations |
Ctrl+K Shift+B / Cmd+K Shift+B |
| Chevron: Select Repository (multi-repo workspaces only) |
— |
Next/Previous Change are active only while a comparison is selected and an editor has focus. On some
Linux desktops Alt+F7 is the window manager's "move window" shortcut; rebind it in
Keyboard Shortcuts if so.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
What it does |
chevron.defaultComparisonBranch |
"" |
Ref to compare against automatically when a repository has none selected yet. Empty means: whatever origin/HEAD points at, then main, then master. Never the branch you have checked out (that becomes origin/<branch>). Can be set per folder. |
chevron.autoSelectComparisonBranch |
true |
Pick a comparison branch automatically for a repository that has none, instead of waiting for you to choose. |
chevron.blame.annotationsEnabledByDefault |
false |
Show blame annotations beside changed lines when VS Code starts. The toggle command still switches them per session. |
chevron.blame.dateFormat |
"relative" |
"relative" (3mo ago) or "absolute" (2026-06-14) in annotations. Hover always shows the full date. |
chevron.showUntrackedFiles |
true |
Include untracked files in the view and in change navigation. |
chevron.treeLayout |
"tree" |
"tree" (nested folders) or "list" (flat, with each file's folder beside it). Also toggled from the view's title bar. |
chevron.takeFromBranch.enabled |
true |
Show ← Take from <branch> above each change in Chevron's diffs. |
Known limitations
- No automatic fetch. Chevron compares against your local copy of remote branches; run
git fetch to see what's new upstream.
- Worktree comparisons have no rename detection and no ahead/behind counts — two working
directories don't have a single divergence point the way two branches do.
- Hunk boundaries for
← Take from are computed by Chevron and can occasionally split a change
differently from how VS Code's diff editor draws it.
- Encodings and Git LFS. The branch side is read as UTF-8, without git's filters — files stored
in another encoding, or through Git LFS, aren't supported by the diff or
← Take from.
Deliberately not in scope
Chevron stays small on purpose: no PR review, AI features, accounts, "open on GitHub" links or
custom diff renderer. VS Code and other extensions already do those well.
Privacy
Chevron collects nothing and sends nothing. It has no telemetry and makes no network requests; it
runs your local git and nothing else.
Feedback and contributing
Bug reports and feature requests: GitHub Issues.
Building, testing and releasing: CONTRIBUTING.md.
Licensed MIT.
