Git Compare

Compare your working copy with any branch, tag, or commit. The result is a per-file tree in the Source Control sidebar — pick a ref once, then click through the changed files one at a time in a normal diff editor. No stacked "all changes in one scrollable editor" view.

Features

• A "Compare With" view in the Source Control sidebar. Pick a ref and the view fills with the files that differ, grouped and laid out as a folder tree. The selection is remembered per workspace, so it is still there after a window reload until you clear it.

• A ref picker that covers everything git calls a commit-ish. The quick pick groups refs under Upstream (the remote branch matching your current branch name, listed first — the usual "what would I push?" comparison), Default branches (main, master, trunk, develop), Local branches, Remote branches, and Tags, each row showing the short SHA. The last entry is Enter commit-ish…, and anything you type in the filter box is offered as Use "…" — so a raw SHA, HEAD~3, or a branch that has not been fetched into the ref list all work. The picker opens immediately and streams refs in as git lists them, rather than blocking on a cold ref cache.

• Three groups, with merge-base semantics. Under the root row:

  • Changed Files — every file differing between the working copy (edits included, not just commits) and the chosen ref.
  • Behind — files touched by commits the compared ref has and HEAD does not, i.e. the merge-base-to-ref slice. Incoming changes.
  • Ahead — files touched by commits HEAD has and the compared ref does not. Outgoing changes.

  Each group carries a file count, and Behind / Ahead are empty when the two histories are unrelated (no common ancestor).

• A real file tree, not a flat path list. Folders sort before files, both alphabetically, and single-child folder chains collapse into one row (src/util/text) unless you turn gitCompare.compactFolders off. Each file row shows a status letter — A, D, M, R, C, T — with added and deleted files spelled out (A · added, D · deleted) and renames showing the old path (R · old/name.ts →).

• Click a file, get a diff editor. Clicking a row runs Open Diff, which opens VS Code's normal side-by-side diff. For Changed Files the left side is the file at the compared ref and the right side is the file on disk; for Behind and Ahead both sides come from history — merge-base against the compared ref, or merge-base against HEAD. Titles say which is which, e.g. main.ts (v1.2.0) ↔ main.ts or main.ts (merge-base) ↔ main.ts (HEAD). Files that exist on only one side get an empty pane on the other, so a new file reads as all-added instead of erroring; pure additions skip the diff and open the file itself.

• Open a file as it exists at the other ref. Open File at Revision opens a read-only editor holding the file's content at the compared ref (or at HEAD, for rows under Ahead). The document keeps the original filename so syntax highlighting and language features work, and the tab gets a badge — C for the compared side, W for the working side — with the ref name in the hover. Renames are followed to whichever path the file has on that side. If the file does not exist there, you get a message instead of a git error.

• Multi-root and multi-repo aware. With more than one repository open you are asked which one to compare in; the tree tracks that repository's root.

• Keeps itself current. The tree reloads when the repository's git state changes (debounced by 250 ms), when you save a document (turn gitCompare.refreshOnSave off in very large repositories), and when gitCompare.compactFolders changes. Refresh forces a reload by hand.

Everything goes through the built-in Git extension's API rather than a separate git process, so the underlying operations are the same ones the Source Control view uses: git diff <ref> for the changed set, git merge-base HEAD <ref> plus git diff <merge-base> <ref> and git diff <merge-base> HEAD for the behind/ahead sets, and git show <ref>:<path> for file content at a revision. The built-in Git extension (vscode.git) is a hard dependency and must be enabled.

Usage

1. Open the Source Control sidebar and expand Compare With. If no comparison is active the view shows a single Compare with… row.

2. Click it — or run Git Compare: Compare With… from the command palette, or press the compare icon in the view's title bar. If the workspace has several repositories, choose one first.

3. Pick a branch, tag, or remote branch from the list, or type a SHA or other commit-ish and choose Use "…". The view focuses itself and loads.

4. Expand Changed Files, Behind, or Ahead and click any file to open its diff. Hovering a row shows the path, its status, and which side of the comparison it belongs to.

5. Use the two inline buttons on a file row when you want something other than a diff: Open File at Revision for the file's content at the other ref, Open File for the version on disk.

6. When you are done, press Clear Comparison in the title bar (it only appears while a comparison is active) to return the view to its Compare with… state.

Settings

Commands

The three file commands need a file row as their argument, so they are hidden from the command palette; invoking them any other way reports that no file is selected. The extension contributes no keybindings.