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 revdiff  build Coverage Status Go Report Card

TUI for reviewing diffs, files, and documents with inline annotations. Outputs structured annotations to stdout on quit, making it easy to pipe results into AI agents, scripts, or other tools.

Built for a specific use case: reviewing code changes, plans, and documents without leaving a terminal-based AI coding session (e.g., Claude Code). Just enough UI to navigate diffs and files, annotate specific lines, and return the results to the calling process - no more, no less.

Features

  • Structured annotation output to stdout - pipe into AI agents, scripts, or other tools
  • Full-file diff view with syntax highlighting
  • Intra-line word-diff: highlights the specific changed words within paired add/remove lines using a brighter background overlay, off by default — enable with --word-diff or toggle with W
  • Collapsed diff mode: shows final text with change markers, toggle with v
  • Word wrap mode: wraps long lines at viewport boundary with ↪ continuation markers, toggle with w; optional --wrap-indent N for hanging-indent continuations (handy for markdown lists)
  • Page scroll overlap: --page-overlap N carries the bottom N lines of the screen to the top of the next one on PgUp/PgDn, so the seam between screens keeps context; the carryover is approximate on wrapped or annotated lines, which occupy several rows but are a single cursor stop
  • Horizontal scroll overflow indicators: truncated diff lines show « / » markers at the edges to signal hidden content off-screen
  • Vertical scrollbar thumb: a thicker ┃ segment on pane right borders indicates the visible portion of long diffs, file trees, and markdown TOCs; thumb size and position track scroll progress automatically
  • Line numbers: side-by-side old/new line number gutter for diffs, single column for full-context files, toggle with L
  • Rename-aware diffs (git): a renamed file shows its origin in the diff-pane header as old → new and renders only the real line changes instead of a full delete-and-add
  • Mercurial support: auto-detects hg repos, translates git-style refs (HEAD, HEAD~N) to Mercurial revsets
  • Jujutsu support: auto-detects jj repos (including colocated git+jj), translates git-style refs to jj revsets (HEAD → @-, HEAD~N → @ plus N+1 dashes); --all-files supported
  • Blame gutter: shows author name and commit age per line, toggle with B
  • Annotate any line in the diff (added, removed, or context) plus file-level notes
  • Single-file auto-detection: when a diff contains exactly one file, hides the tree pane and gives full terminal width to the diff view
  • Two-pane TUI: file tree (left) + colorized diff viewport (right)
  • Vim-style / search within diff with n/N match navigation
  • Hunk navigation to jump between change groups
  • Annotation list popup (@): browse all annotations across files, jump to any annotation
  • Filter file tree to show only annotated files
  • Status line with filename, diff stats, hunk position, line number, and mode indicators
  • Help overlay (?) showing all keybindings organized by section
  • Info popup (i) showing launch scope (mode, VCS, ref, filters, file/status counts, aggregate +/- line stats), the optional --description prose, and the commit log subject + body for every commit in the current ref range (git/hg/jj) — useful for restoring narrative context when reviewing PR-style diffs
  • Markdown TOC navigation: single-file markdown files in context-only mode show a table-of-contents pane with header navigation and active section tracking
  • All-files mode: browse and annotate all tracked files with --all-files (git ls-files or jj file list), filter with --include and --exclude
  • No-VCS file review: --only files outside a VCS repo (or not in any diff) are shown as context-only with full annotation support
  • Scratch-buffer review: annotate arbitrary piped or redirected text with --stdin, optionally naming it with --stdin-name. When the piped content sniffs as a git unified diff, revdiff parses it as a real multi-file diff (review gh pr diff or git format-patch -1 --stdout output directly); otherwise the input is shown as a single context-only buffer.
  • Pi package: launch revdiff from pi, capture annotations, and send them to the agent immediately for the normal review loop
  • Review history: auto-saves annotations and diffs to ~/.config/revdiff/history/ on quit as a safety net
  • Fully customizable colors via environment variables, CLI flags, or config file
  • Custom keybindings: remap any key via config file, export defaults with --dump-keys

revdiff screenshot

Requirements

  • git, hg, or jj (used to generate diffs; optional when using --only or --stdin)
  • Jujutsu must be 0.27 or newer. Versions 0.23 through 0.26 have no jj file annotate -T, so the blame gutter does not work. Versions before 0.23 also reject the commit-log template behind the commit-info popup.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew install umputun/apps/revdiff

Arch Linux (AUR):

paru -S revdiff

Debian/Ubuntu (.deb):

# download the latest .deb for your architecture from GitHub Releases
sudo dpkg -i revdiff_*.deb

RPM-based (Fedora, RHEL, etc.):

# download the latest .rpm for your architecture from GitHub Releases
sudo rpm -i revdiff_*.rpm

Go:

go install github.com/umputun/revdiff/app/revdiff@latest

Installs the revdiff binary into GOBIN (defaults to $(go env GOPATH)/bin). Add that directory to your PATH.

Binary releases: download from GitHub Releases (deb, rpm, archives for linux/darwin amd64/arm64).

Claude Code Plugin

revdiff ships with a Claude Code plugin for interactive code review directly from a Claude session. The plugin launches revdiff as a terminal overlay, captures annotations, and feeds them back to Claude for processing.

The plugin requires one of the following terminals since Claude Code itself cannot display interactive TUI applications - the overlay runs revdiff in a separate terminal layer on top of the current session:

Terminal Overlay method Detection
agterm agtermctl session overlay open … --block (full-pane overlay, blocks until quit) $AGTERM_SESSION_ID env var
tmux display-popup (blocks until quit) $TMUX env var
Zellij zellij run --floating $ZELLIJ env var
herdr herdr tab create + herdr pane run (new tab), or a zoomed herdr pane split with REVDIFF_HERDR_PANE=1 $HERDR_ENV env var
kitty kitty @ launch --type=overlay $KITTY_LISTEN_ON env var
wezterm wezterm cli split-pane $WEZTERM_PANE env var
Kaku kaku cli split-pane (same API as wezterm) $WEZTERM_PANE env var
cmux cmux new-split + cmux send $CMUX_SURFACE_ID, __CFBundleIdentifier=com.cmuxterm.app, or GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR / GHOSTTY_BIN_DIR containing cmux.app
ghostty AppleScript split + zoom (macOS only) $TERM_PROGRAM + AppleScript probe
iTerm2 osascript split pane (macOS only) $ITERM_SESSION_ID env var
Emacs vterm New frame via emacsclient $INSIDE_EMACS env var

Priority: agterm → tmux → Zellij → herdr → kitty → wezterm/Kaku → cmux → ghostty → iTerm2 → Emacs vterm (first detected wins). If none are available, the plugin exits with an error.

Note: cmux is detected before ghostty when $CMUX_SURFACE_ID is set, __CFBundleIdentifier=com.cmuxterm.app, or GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR / GHOSTTY_BIN_DIR contains cmux.app. The cmux block uses the cmux CLI (new-split + send --surface) instead of Ghostty's AppleScript API.

Note: iTerm2 uses a split pane (vertical or horizontal, auto-detected from terminal dimensions) rather than a full-screen overlay. The iTerm2 AppleScript API does not expose a zoom command, so the split view shares screen space with the invoking session.

Note: Ghostty and iTerm2 launchers use osascript (Apple Events), which is blocked by Claude Code's sandbox. If you use these terminals with sandbox enabled, add the launcher to excludedCommands in your Claude Code settings.json:

{
  "sandbox": {
    "excludedCommands": ["*/launch-revdiff.sh*"]
  }
}

Terminals that use CLI tools instead of AppleScript (agterm, tmux, Zellij, herdr, kitty, wezterm, Kaku, cmux) are not affected.

Disconnect-resilient tmux window mode: set REVDIFF_TMUX_WINDOW=1 in the launcher's environment to open revdiff in a persistent, server-owned tmux window instead of a client-owned display-popup. A dropped SSH or tmux client tears down a popup and kills the review, but a server-owned window survives the disconnect — reattach and the live review is still there. This is a launcher environment variable, not a revdiff flag.

Pane-scoped overlay (herdr): Set REVDIFF_HERDR_PANE=1 in the launcher's environment to open revdiff in a zoomed split of the agent's own herdr pane instead of a new fullscreen tab, so the agent pane stays one keypress away. It needs a herdr whose CLI carries pane split, pane get and pane close; an unsupported CLI or a refused split falls back to the tab overlay; a split that succeeds but returns no usable pane id fails closed with a warning rather than opening a second surface, and may leave a stray pane to close by hand. This is a launcher environment variable, not a revdiff flag.

Pane-scoped overlay (agterm): set REVDIFF_AGTERM_PANE=1 in the launcher's environment to open revdiff in the agent's own split pane instead of over the whole session, leaving the sibling pane live and visible. It applies only when that session is split — the session-wide overlay stands otherwise, and the launcher retries session-wide if agterm refuses the pane. The review gets pane width rather than session width, which is why it is opt-in. This is a launcher environment variable, not a revdiff flag.

Install:

# add marketplace and install
/plugin marketplace add umputun/revdiff
/plugin install revdiff@revdiff

Use with /revdiff command:

/revdiff                  -- smart detection: uncommitted, last commit, or branch diff
/revdiff HEAD~1 HEAD      -- review last commit
/revdiff main             -- review current branch against main
/revdiff --staged         -- review staged changes only
/revdiff HEAD~3 HEAD      -- review last 3 commits

Use with free text (no slash command needed):

"review diff"                     -- smart detection, same as /revdiff
"review diff HEAD~1 HEAD"         -- last commit
"review diff against main"        -- branch diff
"review changes from last 2 days" -- Claude resolves the ref automatically
"revdiff for staged changes"      -- staged only

When no ref is provided, the plugin auto-detects the VCS (git, hg, or jj) and inspects the current repo state to pick what to review:

  • On main/master with uncommitted changes — reviews uncommitted changes
  • On main/master with clean tree — reviews the last commit
  • On a feature branch with clean tree — reviews branch diff against main
  • On a feature branch with uncommitted changes — asks whether to review uncommitted only or the full branch diff
  • Outside a VCS repo — falls back to asking the user what to review

The plugin includes built-in reference documentation and can answer questions about revdiff usage, available themes, keybindings, and configuration options. It can also create or modify the local config file (~/.config/revdiff/config) on request:

"what chroma themes does revdiff support?"
"switch revdiff to dracula theme"
"what are the revdiff keybindings?"
"set tree width to 3 in revdiff config"

The plugin supports the full review loop: annotate → plan → fix → re-review until no more annotations remain. The bundled launcher treats exit code 10 as success-with-annotations and processes stdout normally.

Ask instead of instruct: an annotation containing ?? anywhere in its text is treated as a question rather than a directive, so the agent explains that code instead of changing it. Openers explain, remind, describe, what is, what are, how does, how do and clarify do the same. ?? is the language-neutral form and works whatever you write in.

## renderer.go:142 (+)
why a pointer here??

## store.go:88 (-)
explain what this lock protects

The answer comes back as a markdown document reopened in revdiff, with a TOC sidebar, so you can annotate the explanation itself to ask follow-ups. That loop repeats until you quit without annotating. Any code-change annotations from the same batch are held and applied afterwards. The Codex plugin behaves the same way; the Pi package classifies questions too but answers them in chat.

Custom launchers: the Claude diff-review skill and the cross-runtime planning plugin resolve launchers through a two-layer chain (user → bundled). Claude uses ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA}/scripts/<launcher>; the Codex planning hook uses ${PLUGIN_DATA}/scripts/launch-plan-review.sh. There is no project-level executable override by design because these hooks auto-fire in any opened repository. See .claude-plugin/skills/revdiff/references/install.md for diff review and plugins/revdiff-planning/README.md for plan review.

Plan Review Plugin

A separate revdiff-planning plugin automatically opens revdiff when Claude or Codex completes a plan, letting you annotate it before implementation. If you add annotations, the agent revises the full plan and presents it again — looping until you're satisfied. Exit code 10 means annotations were captured, not launcher failure.

Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add umputun/revdiff
/plugin install revdiff-planning@revdiff

Codex:

codex plugin marketplace add umputun/revdiff
codex plugin add revdiff-planning@revdiff

Start a new Codex session and trust the hook through /hooks. Codex automatic review is opt-in and only fires for complete <proposed_plan> blocks in Plan mode; /revdiff-plan remains the manual fallback.

This plugin is independent from the main revdiff plugin. In Claude Code it hooks ExitPlanMode, and so does planning from cc-thingz; Claude Code runs both hooks, so enabling both can review the same plan twice.

Pi Package

revdiff also ships as a pi package. The /revdiff command routes requests through the revdiff skill, which resolves refs, files, and natural-language targets before launching the existing revdiff binary through the revdiff_review tool. If no annotations were captured, the agent stops the review loop unless you explicitly ask for another review.

Install:

pi install https://github.com/umputun/revdiff

Command inside pi:

/revdiff [args]

Useful args:

/revdiff                         -- detect uncommitted, staged, or branch changes, then open revdiff
/revdiff HEAD~1 HEAD             -- review last commit
/revdiff main                    -- review against main
/revdiff --staged                -- review staged changes
/revdiff --untracked             -- include untracked files in working-tree review
/revdiff --all-files             -- browse all tracked files
/revdiff --all-files --exclude vendor
/revdiff --only README.md        -- review a single file in context-only mode
/revdiff HEAD~3 --description="why this refactor matters"
/revdiff HEAD~3 --description-file=/tmp/revdiff-desc.md
/revdiff main --annotations=/tmp/revdiff-review.md

Natural-language targets are supported because /revdiff routes through the skill:

/revdiff prev commit
/revdiff last tag
/revdiff 2 weeks ago

You can also call the skill explicitly with /skill:revdiff <request>.

Agent workflow:

  • /revdiff is a Pi command alias for /skill:revdiff; the skill resolves the request and calls revdiff_review.
  • revdiff_review suspends pi, hands the terminal to revdiff, then returns captured annotations to the agent.
  • The agent classifies annotations into explanation requests and code-change directives.
  • Explanation requests are answered first in normal chat, without opening another revdiff session for the explanation.
  • Any no-annotation revdiff_review result stops the loop. The agent must not relaunch revdiff unless you explicitly ask for another review.
  • For explanation-only annotations, the agent asks whether to continue the original review or finish.
  • Before editing repository files, the agent lists planned code/file changes, applies the changes, then reruns revdiff_review with the same args until no annotations are captured.

Notes:

  • Requires the revdiff binary on PATH
  • Set REVDIFF_BIN=/absolute/path/to/revdiff if pi can't find the binary
  • Direct terminal handoff is the only Pi launch mode
  • Exit code 10 means annotations were captured, not failure
  • Use --untracked when agent-created files should be reviewed before they are staged
  • Use --description or --description-file after analysis/refactor work so the info popup carries review context
  • Use --annotations=<tempfile> to preload in-session review notes
  • Successful revdiff_review results include captured annotation text; history is only for explicit latest-history requests or missing-output fallback
  • For "use my latest revdiff annotations", the agent should read the newest file under $REVDIFF_HISTORY_DIR or ~/.config/revdiff/history/ instead of relaunching revdiff
  • In the repo, the pi-specific resources live under plugins/pi/ to keep harness integrations clearly separated

Codex Plugin

revdiff ships with a Codex CLI plugin for interactive diff review and plan annotation directly from a Codex session. The plugin provides two skills:

  • /revdiff — same diff review workflow as the Claude Code plugin (detect ref, launch overlay, capture annotations, feedback loop)
  • /revdiff-plan — extracts the last Codex assistant message from session rollout files, opens it in revdiff for annotation, and feeds feedback back

The plugin uses the same terminal overlay mechanism (tmux, Zellij, herdr, kitty, wezterm, etc.) as the Claude Code plugin.

Install the diff-review skills and automatic plan-review plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add umputun/revdiff
codex plugin add revdiff@revdiff
codex plugin add revdiff-planning@revdiff

If you previously copied the skills manually, remove ~/.codex/skills/revdiff and ~/.codex/skills/revdiff-plan after installing the plugin so the plugin copy is the only one in use.

Start a new session and trust the plugin hook through /hooks. The Stop hook runs only in Plan mode and first checks last_assistant_message; whenever that field has no complete <proposed_plan>, it reads the exact event transcript and selects the last assistant message for the matching session_id and turn_id, without depending on a provider-specific phase. A readable clarification turn is ignored. Missing or mismatched event data, dependencies, and launcher failures warn and fail open.

When annotations are present, the hook asks Codex to return the complete revised plan with a snapshot marker on the first line inside <proposed_plan>. The next round opens a rolling compare (<new> <old>); reviewed snapshots are replaced, and a clean review removes the final snapshot.

The revdiff plugin installs both interactive skills. The separate revdiff-planning plugin adds automatic Plan-mode review.

Requirements:

  • revdiff binary on PATH
  • jq (required only for manual /revdiff-plan session extraction)
  • One of the supported terminal multiplexers for overlay mode

Notes:

  • Codex treats exit code 10 as success-with-annotations and keeps captured output
  • Automatic review uses the opt-in revdiff-planning plugin; /revdiff-plan remains a manual fallback
  • Scripts are portable copies from the Claude Code plugin, not symlinks
  • Codex plugin source lives under plugins/codex/ in the repository

Integration with Other Tools

OpenCode

revdiff integrates with OpenCode. V1 provides a tool, slash command, and plan-review plugin. V2 provides a CLI plugin for /revdiff and automatic plan review, using the shared launcher in the client's terminal environment.

Install (automatically detects OpenCode v1 or v2):

cd plugins/opencode && bash setup.sh

The v2 CLI plugin is discovered automatically under plugins/revdiff/. It runs reviews locally and returns annotations to the session captured at launch. Automatic plan review handles live completion events only, deduplicated between local clients using an atomic marker per event ID. Markers older than one day are removed on the next claim. Clients must share the same state directory and local checkout; the winner may be in a window the user is not looking at. Restart OpenCode after installing.

The installer uses opencode --version from PATH; use bash setup.sh --opencode /path/to/opencode /path/to/config to select another v2 installation. The v2 integration supports OpenCode v2.0.0+ and has no runtime npm dependencies. Its config directory follows OPENCODE_CONFIG_DIR, then XDG defaults. V1 installs only to ~/.config/opencode. Upgrade removes the obsolete v1 plan plugin, Markdown command and exact JSON registration; JSONC is left untouched with a notice. V1 code remains unchanged, and rollback leaves the inert v2 directory in place. See plugins/opencode/README.md for prerequisites, ownership rules and migration details.

Commands inside OpenCode:

V2 also supports /revdiff from the home screen. A clean review leaves it unchanged; annotations create a feedback session using the configured default agent and selected model, falling back to the configured model on older v2 clients.

/revdiff                         -- review git diff with revdiff TUI
/revdiff HEAD~3..HEAD             -- review last 3 commits

The v2 plan-review plugin automatically launches revdiff after a completed plan-agent response in the displayed root session. Annotations and a line-numbered snapshot of the reviewed plan are returned to that session for revision, so the agent does not need the deleted temporary file. V1 uses the plan-mode idle hook.

General

The structured stdout output works with any tool that can read text. By default revdiff exits 0 even when annotations are produced; pass --exit-code-on-annotations to return 10 for successful annotation output:

# capture annotations for processing
rc=0
annotations=$(revdiff --exit-code-on-annotations main) || rc=$?
case "$rc" in
  0) [ -n "$annotations" ] && echo "$annotations" | your-tool ;;
  10) echo "$annotations" | your-tool ;;
  *) exit "$rc" ;;
esac

Exit status: 0 = no annotations, discarded annotations, or default mode; 10 = annotations were produced with --exit-code-on-annotations; 1 = real errors.

Usage

revdiff [OPTIONS] [base] [against]

Positional arguments support several forms:

  • revdiff — uncommitted changes
  • revdiff HEAD~3 — diff a single ref against the working tree
  • revdiff HEAD~1 HEAD — review exactly the last commit
  • revdiff main feature — diff between two refs
  • revdiff main..feature — same as above, using git's dot-dot syntax
  • revdiff main...feature — changes since feature diverged from main

Options

Option Description Default
base Git ref to diff against uncommitted changes
against Second git ref for two-ref diff
--staged Show staged changes, env: REVDIFF_STAGED false
--untracked Show untracked files in the tree, env: REVDIFF_UNTRACKED false
--tree-width File tree panel width in units (1-10), env: REVDIFF_TREE_WIDTH 2
--tab-width Number of spaces per tab character, env: REVDIFF_TAB_WIDTH 4
--no-colors Disable all colors including syntax highlighting, env: REVDIFF_NO_COLORS false
--no-status-bar Hide the status bar, env: REVDIFF_NO_STATUS_BAR false
--wrap Enable line wrapping in diff view, env: REVDIFF_WRAP false
--wrap-indent Indent wrap continuation rows by N columns so they hang under the first row's content (helps when reviewing markdown lists where unindented continuation can be misread as a new bullet), env: REVDIFF_WRAP_INDENT 0
--page-overlap Keep N lines from the previous screen when paging the diff, env: REVDIFF_PAGE_OVERLAP 0
--collapsed Start in collapsed diff mode, env: REVDIFF_COLLAPSED false
--compact Start in compact diff mode (small context around changes), env: REVDIFF_COMPACT false
--compact-context Number of context lines around changes when in compact mode, env: REVDIFF_COMPACT_CONTEXT 5
--cross-file-hunks Allow [ and ] to continue into adjacent files, env: REVDIFF_CROSS_FILE_HUNKS false
--cross-file-motion Allow cursor motion (j/k, PgDown/PgUp, Ctrl+d/Ctrl+u) to continue into adjacent files at a boundary, env: REVDIFF_CROSS_FILE_MOTION false
--start-at-change Position the cursor on the first changed line, env: REVDIFF_START_AT_CHANGE false
--line-numbers Show line numbers in diff gutter, env: REVDIFF_LINE_NUMBERS false
--blame Show blame gutter, env: REVDIFF_BLAME false
--word-diff Highlight intra-line word-level changes in paired add/remove lines, env: REVDIFF_WORD_DIFF false
--filter-unreviewed Show only files not marked reviewed, env: REVDIFF_FILTER_UNREVIEWED false
--annotation-marker Prefix shown before annotation lines, env: REVDIFF_ANNOTATION_MARKER 💬
--exit-code-on-annotations Exit 10 when annotations are produced, env: REVDIFF_EXIT_CODE_ON_ANNOTATIONS, config: exit-code-on-annotations false
--no-confirm-discard Skip confirmation when discarding annotations with Q, env: REVDIFF_NO_CONFIRM_DISCARD false
--no-confirm-reload Skip confirmation when dropping annotations on reload with R, env: REVDIFF_NO_CONFIRM_RELOAD false
--no-mouse Disable mouse support (scroll wheel, click), env: REVDIFF_NO_MOUSE false
--no-tree Hide the file tree pane, env: REVDIFF_NO_TREE false
--vim-motion Enable vim-style motion preset (counts, gg, G, H/M/L, zz/zt/zb, ZZ/ZQ), env: REVDIFF_VIM_MOTION false
--chroma-style Chroma color theme for syntax highlighting, env: REVDIFF_CHROMA_STYLE catppuccin-macchiato
--theme Load color theme from ~/.config/revdiff/themes/; use auto to choose by terminal background, env: REVDIFF_THEME
--auto-theme-dark Theme used by --theme auto on dark terminal backgrounds, env: REVDIFF_AUTO_THEME_DARK revdiff
--auto-theme-light Theme used by --theme auto on light terminal backgrounds, env: REVDIFF_AUTO_THEME_LIGHT catppuccin-latte
--dump-theme Print currently resolved colors as theme file to stdout and exit
--list-themes Print available theme names to stdout and exit
--init-themes Write bundled theme files to themes dir and exit
--init-all-themes Write all gallery themes (bundled + community) to themes dir and exit
--install-theme Install theme(s) from gallery or local file path and exit (repeatable)
-A, --all-files Browse all tracked files, not just diffs (git or jj) false
--compare-old Compare mode: old file path (use with --compare-new; uses git diff --no-index, no VCS repo needed)
--compare-new Compare mode: new file path (use with --compare-old)
--stdin Review stdin as a scratch buffer (piped or redirected input only) false
--stdin-name Synthetic file name for stdin content; enables extension-based highlighting/TOC scratch-buffer
--description Prose context shown in the info popup (markdown; for multi-line text, use a multi-line quoted shell string or --description-file)
--description-file Read the info-popup description from this file (markdown)
-I, --include Include only files matching prefix, may be repeated, env: REVDIFF_INCLUDE (comma-separated)
-X, --exclude Exclude files matching prefix, may be repeated, env: REVDIFF_EXCLUDE (comma-separated)
-F, --only Show only matching files by exact path or suffix, may be repeated (e.g. --only=model.go)
-o, --output Write annotations to file instead of stdout, env: REVDIFF_OUTPUT
--post-flush-command Run command after a successful O flush, env: REVDIFF_POST_FLUSH_COMMAND, config: post-flush-command
--annotations Preload annotations from a markdown file in -o format
--history-dir Directory for review history auto-saves, env: REVDIFF_HISTORY_DIR ~/.config/revdiff/history/
--config Path to config file, env: REVDIFF_CONFIG ~/.config/revdiff/config
--keys Path to keybindings file, env: REVDIFF_KEYS ~/.config/revdiff/keybindings
--dump-keys Print effective keybindings to stdout and exit
--dump-config Print default config to stdout and exit
-V, --version Show version info

Config File

All options can be set in a config file at ~/.config/revdiff/config (INI format). CLI flags and environment variables override config file values. For annotation exit status, use exit-code-on-annotations = true.

Generate a default config file:

mkdir -p ~/.config/revdiff
revdiff --dump-config > ~/.config/revdiff/config

Then uncomment and edit the values you want to change.

Themes

revdiff ships with eight bundled color themes: basic, catppuccin-latte, catppuccin-mocha, dracula, gruvbox, nord, revdiff, and solarized-dark. Themes are stored in ~/.config/revdiff/themes/ and are automatically created on first run.

Press T inside revdiff to open the interactive theme selector with live preview — browse themes, see colors applied instantly, and persist your choice to the config file on confirm.

# apply a theme
revdiff --theme dracula

# choose a theme from the terminal background color
revdiff --theme auto

# list available themes
revdiff --list-themes

# re-create bundled theme files (overwrites bundled, keeps custom themes)
revdiff --init-themes

# install a specific theme from the gallery
revdiff --install-theme catppuccin-latte

# install all gallery themes (bundled + community)
revdiff --init-all-themes

# export current colors as a custom theme
revdiff --dump-theme > ~/.config/revdiff/themes/my-custom

Creating custom themes — two approaches:

  1. From current colors: customize individual colors in your config file or via --color-* flags, then dump the resolved result as a theme: revdiff --dump-theme > ~/.config/revdiff/themes/my-custom
  2. From scratch: copy a bundled theme and edit it directly — each file defines all 23 color keys plus chroma-style in INI format:
# name: my-custom
# description: custom color scheme
chroma-style = dracula
color-accent = #bd93f9
color-border = #6272a4
...all 23 color keys...

Set a default theme in the config file:

theme = dracula

Or via environment variable: REVDIFF_THEME=dracula.

Set theme = auto to query the terminal background and choose a matching theme. By default, auto mode uses revdiff for dark backgrounds and catppuccin-latte for light backgrounds:

theme = auto
auto-theme-dark = revdiff
auto-theme-light = catppuccin-latte

Contributing themes — community themes live in the themes/gallery/ directory. See themes/README.md for the contribution guide, format requirements, and validation instructions.

Precedence: When --theme is set, it takes over completely — all 23 color fields and chroma-style are overwritten by the theme, ignoring any --color-* flags or env vars. Without --theme: built-in defaults → config file → env vars → CLI flags. --theme + --no-colors prints a warning and applies the theme.

Color customization flags (click to expand)

All color options accept hex values (#rrggbb) and have corresponding REVDIFF_COLOR_* env vars.

Option Description Default
--color-accent Active pane borders and directory names #D5895F
--color-border Inactive pane borders #585858
--color-normal File entries and context lines #d0d0d0
--color-muted Divider lines and status bar #585858
--color-selected-fg Selected file text #ffffaf
--color-selected-bg Selected file background #D5895F
--color-annotation Annotation text and markers #ffd700
--color-cursor-fg Cursor indicator color #bbbb44
--color-cursor-bg Cursor indicator background terminal default
--color-add-fg Added line text #87d787
--color-add-bg Added line background #123800
--color-remove-fg Removed line text #ff8787
--color-remove-bg Removed line background #4D1100
--color-word-add-bg Intra-line word-diff add background auto-derived from add-bg
--color-word-remove-bg Intra-line word-diff remove background auto-derived from remove-bg
--color-modify-fg Modified line text (collapsed mode) #f5c542
--color-modify-bg Modified line background (collapsed mode) #3D2E00
--color-tree-bg File tree pane background terminal default
--color-diff-bg Diff pane background terminal default
--color-status-fg Status bar foreground #202020
--color-status-bg Status bar background #C5794F
--color-search-fg Search match text #1a1a1a
--color-search-bg Search match background #4a4a00
Available chroma styles (click to expand)

Dark themes: aura-theme-dark, aura-theme-dark-soft, base16-snazzy, catppuccin-frappe, catppuccin-macchiato (default), catppuccin-mocha, doom-one, doom-one2, dracula, evergarden, fruity, github-dark, gruvbox, hrdark, monokai, modus-vivendi, native, nord, nordic, onedark, paraiso-dark, rose-pine, rose-pine-moon, rrt, solarized-dark, solarized-dark256, tokyonight-moon, tokyonight-night, tokyonight-storm, vim, vulcan, witchhazel, xcode-dark

Light themes: autumn, borland, catppuccin-latte, colorful, emacs, friendly, github, gruvbox-light, igor, lovelace, manni, modus-operandi, monokailight, murphy, paraiso-light, pastie, perldoc, pygments, rainbow_dash, rose-pine-dawn, solarized-light, tango, tokyonight-day, trac, vs, xcode

Other: RPGLE, abap, algol, algol_nu, arduino, ashen, average, bw, hr_high_contrast, onesenterprise, swapoff

Examples

# review uncommitted changes
revdiff

# review changes against a branch
revdiff main

# review staged changes
revdiff --staged

# review last commit
revdiff HEAD~1 HEAD

# diff between two refs
revdiff main feature

# same with git dot-dot syntax
revdiff main..feature

# review only specific files
revdiff --only=model.go --only=README.md

# browse all git-tracked files in a project
revdiff --all-files

# browse all files, excluding vendor and mocks directories
revdiff --all-files --exclude vendor --exclude mocks

# include only src/ files
revdiff --include src

# include src/ but exclude src/vendor/
revdiff --include src --exclude src/vendor

# exclude paths in normal diff mode
revdiff main --exclude vendor

# review a file outside a VCS repo (context-only, no diff markers)
revdiff --only=/tmp/plan.md

# review a file that has no VCS changes (context-only view with annotations)
revdiff --only=docs/notes.txt

# diff two arbitrary files (no VCS repo needed)
revdiff --compare-old=/tmp/plan-old.md --compare-new=docs/plans/plan.md

# review arbitrary piped text as a scratch buffer
printf '# Plan\n\nShip it\n' | revdiff --stdin --stdin-name plan.md

# capture annotations from generated output
some-command | revdiff --stdin --output /tmp/annotations.txt

# round-trip: capture, edit externally, reload
revdiff -o review.md HEAD~1
$EDITOR review.md
revdiff --annotations=review.md HEAD~1

--annotations reads the same markdown format that -o writes (see Output Format below), so any file revdiff produces can be loaded back. You can also hand-author or generate that file from any other source — each record is ## path/to/file.go:LINE (+) followed by the comment body — then step through the comments inline against the actual diff, edit or delete them in the TUI, and quit with q to write the final set to stdout (or to -o).

All-Files Mode

Use --all-files (or -A) to browse all tracked files in a project, not just files with changes. This turns revdiff into a general-purpose code annotation tool. All files are shown in context-only mode (no +/- markers) with full annotation and syntax highlighting support.

--all-files requires a git or jj repository (uses git ls-files or jj file list for file discovery) and is mutually exclusive with refs, --staged, and --only. Not supported in hg repos.

Combine with --include (or -I) to narrow to specific paths and --exclude (or -X) to filter out unwanted paths:

revdiff --all-files --include src
revdiff --all-files --include src --exclude src/vendor
revdiff --all-files --exclude vendor --exclude mocks

--include and --exclude both use prefix matching: --include src keeps only src/, src/foo.go, etc. --exclude vendor skips vendor/, vendor/foo.go, etc. Both work in --all-files and normal diff modes and are composable: include narrows first, then exclude removes from the included set.

Both options can be persisted in the config file:

include = src
exclude = vendor
exclude = mocks

Or via environment variables (comma-separated): REVDIFF_INCLUDE=src, REVDIFF_EXCLUDE=vendor,mocks.

Context-Only File Review

When --only specifies a file that has no VCS changes (or when no VCS repo exists at all), revdiff shows the file in context-only mode: all lines are displayed without +/- gutter markers, with full annotation and syntax highlighting support. This enables reviewing arbitrary files without requiring VCS context.

Two scenarios trigger this mode:

  1. Inside a repo (git/hg/jj) - --only files not in the diff are read from disk and shown alongside any changed files
  2. Outside a VCS repo - --only is required; files are read directly from disk

Two-File Diff

Use --compare-old=<path> together with --compare-new=<path> to diff two arbitrary files on disk using git diff --no-index. No VCS repository is required — this works anywhere git is installed.

revdiff --compare-old=/tmp/plan-old.md --compare-new=docs/plans/plan.md
revdiff --compare-old=a.txt --compare-new=b.txt

--compare-old and --compare-new must be used together and are mutually exclusive with refs, --staged, --only, --all-files, --stdin, --include, --exclude, and --annotations. All standard diff features work: word-diff, compact mode, syntax highlighting, scrollbar, and inline annotations.

Scratch-Buffer Review

Use --stdin to review arbitrary piped or redirected text. revdiff sniffs the input for a git unified-diff signature: when a line beginning with diff --git a/ is found near the start, the input is parsed as a real multi-file diff (one tree entry per file, with +/- markers, hunk navigation, word-diff, compact mode, and per-file annotations); otherwise the input is shown as a single context-only buffer with all lines as context, supporting annotations, file-level notes, search, wrap, collapsed mode, and structured output. Any per-section parse failure falls the whole input back to raw-text mode so a malformed patch never silently drops files. Input is capped at 64 MiB.

--stdin is explicit and mutually exclusive with refs, --staged, --only, --all-files, --include, --exclude, and --annotations. stdin mode requires piped or redirected input; plain terminal stdin is rejected to avoid accidentally launching an empty scratch buffer.

Use --stdin-name to control the synthetic filename for the context-only case (it is ignored in multi-file diff mode, where the tree shows the real paths). This gives annotation output a stable key and enables filename-based syntax highlighting or markdown TOC activation:

echo "plain text" | revdiff --stdin
printf '# Plan\n\nBody\n' | revdiff --stdin --stdin-name plan.md
git show HEAD~1:README.md | revdiff --stdin --stdin-name README.md

# multi-file diff parsing — tree shows real paths, per-file annotations
gh pr diff 123 | revdiff --stdin
git format-patch -1 --stdout | revdiff --stdin

Review Description

Use --description (or --description-file=path.md) to attach prose context to a review. The text is rendered at the top of the info popup (i key), with the same markdown highlighting used for .md files in the diff view. Useful when an agent (or a script) launches revdiff on your behalf and you come back to it later — the popup tells you what the change is and why.

revdiff HEAD~3 --description="# Refactor auth middleware

Drop session-token storage to meet new compliance requirements.
See ticket SEC-441 for context."

# longer descriptions: keep the markdown in a file
revdiff HEAD~3 --description-file=.review-description.md

--description and --description-file are mutually exclusive. The description section is hidden when neither is set, so the flag is purely additive — existing invocations are unchanged.

Markdown TOC Navigation

When reviewing a single markdown file in context-only mode (e.g., revdiff --only=README.md or printf '# title\n' | revdiff --stdin --stdin-name plan.md), revdiff shows a table-of-contents pane on the left listing all markdown headers. Use Tab to switch focus between the TOC and diff panes, j/k to navigate headers, and Enter to jump to a header in the diff. The TOC automatically highlights the current section as you scroll through the file.

This mode activates when all three conditions are met: single file, markdown extension (.md/.markdown), and all lines are context (no diff changes). Headers inside fenced code blocks are excluded from the TOC.

Beyond Code Review

The --only flag enables use cases beyond VCS diffs. Any text file can be loaded for annotation — no VCS repo required.

Reviewing AI-generated drafts — When an AI assistant drafts text to be posted publicly (PR comments, issue responses, release notes), write it to a temp file and review in revdiff. Annotate specific lines with changes, the assistant reads annotations and rewrites, re-open to verify. Same annotate-fix-verify loop as code review.

Reviewing documentation and specs — Markdown files, API specs, config files, and plan documents can all be reviewed with inline annotations. Useful for reviewing RFCs, annotating configs before deployment, or marking up plans with questions.

revdiff --only=docs/plans/feature.md
revdiff --only=/tmp/draft-comment.md

Reviewing generated output — CI configs, Terraform plans, generated migrations, or command output. Load files with --only or stream ephemeral output with --stdin, annotate what needs fixing, feed annotations back to the generator.

Zed Integration

Zed's custom tasks can launch revdiff directly in an editor terminal tab.

See the Zed integration guide for ready-to-use task definitions, keybinding setup, and platform-specific clipboard notes.

Review History

When you quit with annotations (q), revdiff automatically saves a copy of the review session to ~/.config/revdiff/history/<repo-name>/<timestamp>.md. This is a safety net — if annotations are lost (process crash, agent fails to capture stdout), the history file preserves them.

Each history file contains:

  • Header with path, refs, and (git only) a short commit hash
  • Full annotation output (same format as stdout)
  • Raw git diff for annotated files only

History auto-save is always on and silent — errors are logged to stderr, never fail the process. No history is saved on discard quit (Q) or when there are no annotations. For --stdin mode, files are saved under stdin/ subdirectory; for --only without git, the parent directory name is used instead of a repo name.

The history file is also a crash-recovery save when the process is terminated by a signal — a SIGHUP from a dropped SSH or tmux client, or a SIGTERM. On a signal exit only the history file is written, never the -o output, because a signal is not the deliberate handoff that q and O perform. Recover the annotations the usual way — load the newest history file. A signal-delivered SIGTERM previously wrote the -o output; it no longer does.

Override the history directory with --history-dir, REVDIFF_HISTORY_DIR env var, or history-dir in the config file.

In the Claude Code and Codex plugins, you can also tell the agent to use a past review by saying things like "locate my latest revdiff review" or "use the annotations from the review I just did in another terminal". The plugin reads the newest history file for the current repo via the helper script read-latest-history.sh and processes the annotations as if they had come from a fresh launcher call. This is useful for standalone revdiff runs outside the plugin, or when the live launcher output is unavailable (e.g., a broken custom launcher or a crashed agent).

Key Bindings

Navigation:

Key Action
j/k or up/down Navigate files (tree) / scroll diff (diff pane); with --cross-file-motion, continues to the previous/next file at the boundary
h/l Switch between file tree and diff pane
left/right Horizontal scroll in diff pane (truncated lines show « / » overflow indicators at the edges)
Tab Switch between file tree and diff pane
PgDown/PgUp Page scroll in file tree and diff pane; with --cross-file-motion, continues to the previous/next file at the boundary
Ctrl+d/Ctrl+u Half-page scroll in file tree and diff pane; with --cross-file-motion, continues to the previous/next file at the boundary
J/K Scroll diff viewport (works from either pane)
Home/End Jump to first/last item
Enter Switch to diff pane (tree) / start annotation (diff pane)
n/p Next/previous changed file; next/prev header in markdown TOC mode (n = next match when search active)
P Open the file picker
[ / ] Jump to previous/next change hunk in diff; add --cross-file-hunks to continue into the previous/next file at the boundary
e Open focused file in $EDITOR

The file picker lists paths currently visible in the sidebar, so annotated-only and unreviewed-only filters remain active. Printable keys always filter full relative paths; use the arrow keys or mouse wheel to move, and press Enter or left-click to jump. Backspace edits the filter. The first Esc clears a non-empty filter and keeps the picker open; the second closes it. Because printable keys always filter, P typed inside the picker adds to the filter rather than closing it; a jump_file binding with a modifier (e.g. map alt+f jump_file) closes the picker when pressed again.

Search:

Key Action
/ Start search in diff pane
n Next search match (overrides next file when search active)
N Previous file (previous search match when searching)
↑ / Ctrl+P Recall previous search query (in search prompt)
↓ / Ctrl+N Recall next search query / clear (in search prompt)
Esc Cancel search input / clear search results

Annotations:

Key Action
a or Enter (diff pane) Annotate current diff line
A Add file-level annotation (stored at top of diff)
@ Toggle annotation list popup (navigate and jump to any annotation)
} / { Jump to next/previous annotation (always crosses file boundaries; silent no-op at the first/last annotation)
d Delete annotation under cursor
O Export annotations without exiting (requires --output and/or --post-flush-command)
Ctrl+E (during annotation input) Open $EDITOR for multi-line annotation (open_editor — rebindable)
Esc Cancel annotation input

While the annotation input is active, press Ctrl+E (or whatever key is bound to open_editor) to hand off the current text to an external editor for multi-line comments. Editor resolution: $EDITOR → $VISUAL → vi. Values with arguments work (e.g. EDITOR="code --wait"). On editor save and quit, the full file contents (including newlines) become the annotation. Quitting the editor with an empty file cancels the annotation and preserves any previously stored note on that line. Multi-line annotations are rendered line-by-line in the diff view, shown flattened in the annotation list popup (@), and emitted with embedded newlines in the structured output.

Press e in the diff pane to open the focused file in $EDITOR (open_file_in_editor — rebindable) when revdiff has a stable source path. Editor resolution is the same $EDITOR → $VISUAL → vi chain. Known editors receive either $EDITOR +N path or $EDITOR --goto path:N as appropriate; unknown editors receive only the file path. File lines are resolved on a best-effort basis. For working tree changes, a clean editor exit reloads the displayed file. For --staged or refs, a clean editor exit returns to revdiff without reloading the displayed diff. In compare mode, e opens the --compare-new side. Working tree files with line annotations cannot be opened for editing because edits can orphan those annotations. Diffs read with --stdin do not support opening files. Unsupported rows or files and editor errors show a status hint instead of launching an editor or changing the diff.

Press O to export the current annotations without exiting (flush_output, rebindable). Configure --output, --post-flush-command, or both. With --output, each flush atomically overwrites the file with the full current annotation set (a snapshot, not an append log). With --post-flush-command, the same snapshot is sent to the command on stdin. If neither is configured, or if there are no annotations, revdiff shows a status hint and does nothing.

The output file supports a keep-open review loop with an AI agent: annotate, flush with O, let the agent read the file and edit code, then reload with R and continue in the same session.

For a local clipboard-only workflow on macOS, set this in ~/.config/revdiff/config:

post-flush-command = pbcopy

Each O copies the full current annotation set without requiring --output. On Linux, use xclip -selection clipboard for X11 or wl-copy for Wayland.

For a terminal clipboard over SSH or a multiplexer, use OSC 52. revdiff does not include an OSC 52 helper; create an osc-copy shell script on your PATH that reads stdin and writes the clipboard sequence to /dev/tty:

#!/bin/sh
data=$(base64 | tr -d '\n')
printf '\033]52;c;%s\007' "$data" > /dev/tty

After making the script executable, run revdiff with --post-flush-command=osc-copy or set post-flush-command = osc-copy in the config file. No output file is required; add --output only when the same flush should also write a snapshot file.

The post-flush command runs synchronously. Use a fast, non-interactive command because revdiff waits for it to finish before restoring the TUI.

Press Space to mark the focused file reviewed. Press F to toggle the sidebar between all files and unreviewed files; while filtered, marking a file reviewed removes it from the list and advances to the next unfinished file. On R reload, revdiff keeps the mark only when the file's effective text diff is unchanged; rebases that only shift line numbers or surrounding context keep it, while changed or removed files lose it. Binary files and opaque placeholders are conservatively unmarked on reload because their rendered diff does not expose enough content to prove they are unchanged.

View:

Key Action
v Toggle collapsed diff mode (shows final text with change markers)
C Toggle compact diff view (small context around changes, re-fetches current file)
w Toggle word wrap (long lines wrap with ↪ continuation markers)
t Toggle tree/TOC pane visibility (gives diff full terminal width)
L Toggle line numbers (side-by-side old/new for diffs, single column for full-context files)
B Toggle blame gutter (author name + commit age per line)
W Toggle intra-line word-diff highlighting for paired add/remove lines
. Expand/collapse individual hunk under cursor (collapsed mode only)
T Open theme selector with live preview
f Toggle filter: all files / annotated only (shown when annotations exist)
F Toggle filter: all files / unreviewed only
? Toggle help overlay showing all keybindings
i Toggle info popup — review scope (mode, VCS, ref, filters, file/status counts, aggregate +/- stats) plus the commit log for the current ref range when applicable
R Reload diff from VCS (warns if annotations exist)
q Quit, output annotations to stdout
Q Discard all annotations and quit (confirms if annotations exist)

Status Bar Icons

The status bar shows a fixed row of mode indicators on the right side. All slots are always rendered — active modes use the status bar foreground color, inactive modes use muted gray, so the row occupies the same width regardless of what's toggled on. The help overlay (?) shows each icon beside the key that controls it.

Icon Toggle Meaning
▼ v Collapsed diff mode
⊂ C Compact diff mode (small context around changes)
◉ f Filter: annotated files only
↩ w Word wrap mode
≋ / Search active
⊟ t Tree/TOC pane hidden (diff uses full width)
# L Line numbers visible in gutter
b B Blame gutter visible
± W Intra-line word-diff highlighting
✓ / ○ Space / F Reviewed files / unreviewed-only filter active
∅ u Untracked files visible in tree

On narrow terminals, the left-hand segments are dropped before the icons: search position first, then line and hunk info, then the filename truncates. The icon row on the right stays put.

Mouse Support

revdiff enables mouse tracking by default so the scroll wheel and left-click work consistently across terminals.

  • Scroll wheel: scrolls whichever pane the cursor is over. In the tree/TOC pane the wheel moves the cursor one entry per notch (matches j/k). In the diff pane the wheel scrolls the viewport by three lines per notch — the diff cursor stays on its current logical line and is pinned to the visible edge if scrolling pushes it off-screen. During fast scrolls (a trackpad flick) the cursor highlight catches up after a brief pause once the burst settles, matching less/vim behavior.
  • Shift+scroll: half-page scroll in the diff pane. In the tree/TOC pane Shift+wheel behaves the same as plain wheel (one entry per notch — no page step).
  • Left-click in the tree: focuses the tree and selects/loads the clicked entry (same as pressing j/k to land there). Clicking a directory row moves the cursor but does not load a file.
  • Left-click in the diff: focuses the diff and moves the cursor to the clicked line. Enables a "click, then a" annotation flow.
  • Left-click in the TOC pane (single-file markdown): focuses the TOC and selects the clicked header.
  • Scroll wheel in overlay popups (info, annotations, themes, help): scrolls the popup content or moves its cursor. Shift+wheel uses a half-page step. In the theme selector, wheel previews each theme live.
  • Left-click in the annotation popup: jumps to the clicked annotation (same as pressing Enter).
  • Left-click in the theme popup: confirms the clicked theme (same as pressing Enter). Clicks on the filter row or blank separator are ignored.
  • Left-click in the file picker: jumps to the clicked file (same as pressing Enter). Clicks on the filter row or blank separator are ignored.
  • Scroll wheel in the file picker: moves the picker cursor. Shift+wheel uses a half-page step.

Horizontal wheel, right-click, middle-click, drag selection, and clicks on the status bar or diff header are intentionally ignored. Clicks outside an open overlay are swallowed — dismiss an overlay with Esc or its toggle key. Modal states (annotation input, search input, confirm discard, reload confirm) swallow mouse events entirely.

Text selection trade-off — once mouse tracking is on, plain drag is captured by revdiff. For terminal-native text selection:

  • kitty: hold Ctrl+Shift while dragging
  • iTerm2: hold Option while dragging
  • ghostty (and ghostty-based terminals such as agterm): hold Shift while dragging. Ghostty also uses Shift to extend an existing selection, so if text is already selected the drag grows that selection instead of starting a new one - clear it first. Ghostty 1.3.0+ additionally has a toggle_mouse_reporting keybind, unbound by default, which suspends mouse capture without restarting revdiff
  • most other terminals: hold Shift while dragging

Because the tree pane is rendered alongside the diff on the same rows, multi-line Shift+drag will include tree content. For clean copies of diff text, use your terminal's block-select mode (Option+drag in iTerm2, Ctrl+Shift+drag in kitty) or run with --no-mouse to disable mouse capture entirely.

Opt out with --no-mouse, REVDIFF_NO_MOUSE=true, or no-mouse = true in the config file.

Custom Keybindings

All keybindings can be customized via a keybindings file at ~/.config/revdiff/keybindings. Override the path with --keys flag or REVDIFF_KEYS env var.

The file uses a simple map/unmap format (blank lines and # comments are ignored):

# ~/.config/revdiff/keybindings
map ctrl+d half_page_down
map ctrl+u half_page_up
map x quit
unmap q
  • map <key> <action> — binds a key to an action (additive, defaults are kept unless explicitly unmapped)
  • unmap <key> — removes a default binding

Generate a template with all current bindings:

mkdir -p ~/.config/revdiff
revdiff --dump-keys > ~/.config/revdiff/keybindings

Then edit to taste. Fixed modal keys (Enter, Esc in annotation/search input, confirm discard) are not remappable. Keymap-resolved actions like open_editor work during annotation input and can be rebound.

Paging the diff from the file tree: J/K scroll the diff viewport from either pane, but only by a few lines, while PgDown/PgUp and Ctrl+d/Ctrl+u stay pane-relative and page whichever pane has focus. The scroll_diff_page_* and scroll_diff_half_page_* actions are the page-sized versions of J/K — they ship with no default key, so bind them to get lazygit-style paging that always targets the diff:

map pgdown scroll_diff_page_down
map pgup scroll_diff_page_up
map ctrl+d scroll_diff_half_page_down
map ctrl+u scroll_diff_half_page_up

Three consequences worth knowing. This also replaces cursor paging while the diff pane has focus: the keys scroll the viewport and pin the cursor back into view instead of walking the cursor a page at a time. The file tree and markdown TOC lose their own page-sized traversal on those keys. And because page_down, page_up, half_page_down and half_page_up have no other default key, rebinding all four lines leaves them unbound everywhere, including the ? help and i info overlays, which page through the same actions. Omit one pair of mapping lines to keep its default paging. Because they have no default binding, these actions appear in neither the ? help overlay nor --dump-keys until you bind them.

Chord bindings (ctrl/alt leader): bind a two-stage chord by joining the leader and second key with >. The leader must be a ctrl+* or alt+* combo; the second stage is any single key. Only two stages are supported.

map ctrl+w>x mark_reviewed
map alt+t>n theme_select

When the leader is pressed, the status bar shows Pending: ctrl+w, esc to cancel; press the second key to dispatch, or esc to cancel silently. Binding a key as both a standalone action and a chord prefix drops the standalone binding (the chord wins, with a warning). Chord bindings work under non-Latin keyboard layouts — the second-stage key is translated via the same layout-resolve fallback as single-key bindings. Note: chord bindings do not fire during text input (annotation and search prompts) — the leader key is consumed by the text input widget. Use single-key ctrl+* bindings for actions like open_editor that need to work during annotation input.

macOS note: alt+* leaders require your terminal to send Option as Meta/Alt. Most terminals default to "Option composes special characters" (e.g. Option+T → †), in which case Alt chords silently won't fire. To enable: iTerm2 → Profiles → Keys → Left/Right Option key → Esc+; Terminal.app → Profiles → Keyboard → Use Option as Meta key; Kitty → macos_option_as_alt yes; Ghostty → macos-option-as-alt = true. If you'd rather not touch terminal settings, use ctrl+* leaders — those work everywhere with no configuration.

Available actions (click to expand)

Navigation: down, up, page_down, page_up, half_page_down, half_page_up, home, end, scroll_left, scroll_right, scroll_center, scroll_top, scroll_bottom, scroll_diff_down, scroll_diff_up, scroll_diff_page_down, scroll_diff_page_up, scroll_diff_half_page_down, scroll_diff_half_page_up

File/Hunk: next_item, prev_item, jump_file, next_hunk, prev_hunk, open_file_in_editor

Pane: toggle_pane, focus_tree, focus_diff

Search: search

Annotations: confirm (annotate line / select file), annotate_file, delete_annotation, annot_list, open_editor, next_annotation, prev_annotation, flush_output

View: toggle_collapsed, toggle_compact, toggle_wrap, toggle_tree, toggle_line_numbers, toggle_blame, toggle_word_diff, toggle_hunk, toggle_untracked, mark_reviewed, filter_unreviewed, theme_select, filter, info, reload

Quit: quit, discard_quit, help, dismiss

Vim-motion Preset

Opt-in vim-style motion layer activated via --vim-motion, REVDIFF_VIM_MOTION=true, or vim-motion = true in the config file. Off by default — when off, existing single-key bindings are unchanged.

Keys Action
<N>j / <N>k Move cursor N lines down/up (diff pane, 1-9999)
gg Jump to first line (diff pane)
G Jump to last line (diff pane)
<N>G Goto line N (diff pane)
H / <N>H Cursor to top of screen / Nth line from top (diff pane)
M Cursor to middle of screen (diff pane)
L / <N>L Cursor to bottom of screen / Nth line from bottom (diff pane)
zz Center viewport on cursor (diff pane)
zt Align viewport top on cursor (diff pane)
zb Align viewport bottom on cursor (diff pane)
ZZ Quit (any pane)
ZQ Discard annotations and quit (any pane)

When the preset is on, the digits 0-9 and the leader keys g, z, Z are intercepted before the regular keymap, so any standalone binding on those keys is overridden while the flag is active. <N>j/<N>k/<N>G, gg/zz/zt/zb, and the screen-position motions H/M/L apply to the diff pane only — in the file tree they fall through to the normal bindings. ZZ and ZQ work from any pane. While the preset is active L is a screen-position motion rather than the line-numbers toggle (toggle_line_numbers); remap it in the keybindings file if you need both. Press Esc to silently cancel a pending leader; an unknown second key surfaces a transient Unknown: <chord> hint in the status bar. A bare digit 0 is not consumed (falls through to whatever binding is mapped); counts over 9999 are clamped. Modal keys (search input, annotation input, overlay navigation) always take precedence over the interceptor, and ctrl+*/alt+* chord bindings keep working orthogonally.

The help overlay (?) shows a dedicated Vim motion section listing all eleven preset bindings when --vim-motion is on; when off, the section is hidden.

Output Format

## handler.go (file-level)
consider splitting this file into smaller modules

## handler.go:43 (+)
use errors.Is() instead of direct comparison

## handler.go:43-67 (+)
refactor this hunk to reduce nesting

## store.go:18 (-)
don't remove this validation

When annotation text contains the keyword "hunk" (case-insensitive, whole word), the output header automatically expands to include the full hunk line range (e.g., handler.go:43-67 (+) instead of handler.go:43 (+)). This gives AI consumers the range context without any extra steps.

Comment body lines starting with ## (the record-header form) are prefixed with a single space on output so parsers that split on ## record headers cannot confuse a multi-line comment for a new record.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.