Getting started

Diffdesk is a local Git diff viewer for macOS with a GitHub-like review flow. Review branches, commits and working-tree changes in one native window, comment on lines, then copy the comments to an agent. It needs macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon, and Git.

Install

Homebrew
mise

brew install --cask vmaerten/tap/diffdesk

The cask installs Diffdesk.app in /Applications and links diffdesk into Homebrew’s bin.

mise use -g github:vmaerten/ghl@latest

mise keeps the app in its own install directory and puts diffdesk on PATH.

Check it with diffdesk --version. Installation covers upgrades, pinning, rollback and moving from the 0.2.0 browser CLI.

Review a branch

Run diffdesk in a Git repository. The window opens on the current branch against its base, uncommitted work included, and the terminal is yours again; later invocations replace the review in the same window.

diffdesk                    # review the current branch, including uncommitted work
diffdesk feature            # review another revision without checking it out
diffdesk --base main        # choose the comparison base
diffdesk --repo ../other    # review another checkout

Move through files with j and k, or jump to one by name with Cmd+P. Tick a file Viewed with v, and switch between unified and split diffs with Cmd+1 and Cmd+2. Cmd+K finds any other command by name.

Comment and hand over

Select lines and press c, or click the gutter’s +. Comments belong to the reviewed branch and survive refreshes, restarts and reinstalls. Resolve on a card closes a comment once it is addressed, and keeps it.

Shift+Cmd+C copies every comment for an agent: its ID, path, lines and text, and only the code the file no longer has. From the terminal, without opening the window:

diffdesk comments           # the same text
diffdesk comments --json    # the same, as JSON

Comments and Viewed live in each checkout’s .git/ghl/state.json. Run diffdesk --help for every option, and read Reviewing code for comparisons, stacks and how comments follow changing code.