dandavison/delta
A syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, grep, rg --json, and blame output
Recommended between 2025-11-10 and 2026-05-11. Last pushed 2026-10-28.
▲ 8 recommend · ▼ 0 criticisms
What hackers say
“Those features save me a lot of time when I review diffs that include indentation changes or variable renames.”
— roryokane, 2026-05-11 · strong recommendation · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
Many diff tools, such as delta ( https://github.com/dandavison/delta ) and the ones built into VS Code and IDEs by JetBrains, can configured to highlight changes within each line (by word) and ignore changes to whitespace. Those features save me a lot of time when I review diffs that include indentation changes or variable renames.
“I find I use both icdiff and delta side-by-side on a regular basis.”
— Amorymeltzer, 2026-02-26 · strong recommendation · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
For that in particular, I use delta (< https://github.com/dandavison/delta >) with `side-by-side = true` enabled. I find I use both icdiff and delta side-by-side on a regular basis.
“I settled on configuring git to use delta [0] for now and I'm happy with it”
— llbbdd, 2026-02-26 · strong recommendation · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
…e targeted feedback to the agent. Most diff tools seem to be (rightfully) focused on cleanly visualizing changes and not necessarily iterating on the change. I admit I haven't looked super hard yet, I settled on configuring git to use delta [0] for now and I'm happy with it, but I'm curious if anyone has a workflow for reviewing/iterating on diffs in the terminal that they'd be willing to share. Also open to being told that I'm lightyears behind and that there's a better mental model for this. [0] https://github.com/dandavison/delta/
“along with a couple of helper tools[1][2], I can do 90% of what I need Git for in seconds.”
— imiric, 2025-11-10 · strong recommendation · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
…, but I know those edges well. I sometimes do need to look up how to do something, but those cases are rare. Over the years I've accumulated about a dozen shell aliases and a modest `.gitconfig`, and along with a couple of helper tools[1][2], I can do 90% of what I need Git for in seconds. I truly don't need a fancy TUI, GUI, or any wrappers around Git. Git itself is fine. I tried Magit a few times, and even though Emacs is my main editor, I couldn't get used to it. It forces the user into doing things the "Magit way", and I'd rather not. I don't understand the push to replace Git's porcelain with something shinier. If, and when, a better VCS comes along that truly feels like the next step…
“git supports specifying an external pager so folks can plug in alternatives (such as https://github.com/dandavison/delta )”
— rileymichael, 2026-02-26 · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
getting users to adopt a new tool with its own incantations is a tough sell. git supports specifying an external pager so folks can plug in alternatives (such as https://github.com/dandavison/delta ) while still using the familiar git frontend
“Looks neat! Any chance to integrate delta with it?”
— manescianera, 2026-02-03 · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
Looks neat! Any chance to integrate delta with it? https://github.com/dandavison/delta
“with tools like delta[1] which make things super nice to read.”
— qn9n, 2025-12-30 · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
You can clean up git diffs a lot, I personally find them easy to ready anyway, with tools like delta[1] which make things super nice to read. Also if you use a text editor such as neovim you can integrate these things into your editor and get beautiful diffs right there. That said I do not use neovim or delta, I just use git diffs or my language ide's diff features. [1]: https://github.com/dandavison/delta
“Or delta [0] perhaps?”
— austinjp, 2025-12-15 · original comment on Hacker News ↗
show original comment
> 3. I tried the usual diff tools. They diffed line by line and result was terrible. Um. I don't want to be That Guy (shouting at clouds, or at kids to get off my lawn or whatever) but ... what "usual diff" tools did you use? Because comparing two text files with minor edits is exactly what diff-related tools have excelled at for decades. There is word-level diff, for example. Was that not good enough? Or delta [0] perhaps? [0] https://github.com/dandavison/delta
Badge for your README
[](https://hackerrepos.org/repo/dandavison/delta)