// Compare and diff files, directories, builds, releases, archives, or binaries. Use when the user wants to compare two versions of something, diff two directories or files, analyze what changed between builds or releases, or examine differences in .ipa, .apk, .aar, .jar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, Mach-O binaries, plists, or text files.
| name | drift |
| description | Compare and diff files, directories, builds, releases, archives, or binaries. Use when the user wants to compare two versions of something, diff two directories or files, analyze what changed between builds or releases, or examine differences in .ipa, .apk, .aar, .jar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, Mach-O binaries, plists, or text files. |
| argument-hint | <path-a> <path-b> [-m mode] |
| allowed-tools | Bash(drift *), Bash(jq *) |
| context | fork |
Compare $ARGUMENTS using drift --json and analyze the results.
drift --json <path-a> <path-b>
Optional: force a comparison mode with -m <mode> where mode is one of: tree, binary, plist, text. drift auto-detects the correct mode from the inputs - only use -m when the user explicitly requests a mode or auto-detection picks the wrong one.
| Mode | Inputs | What it compares |
|---|---|---|
| tree | Directories, archives (.ipa, .apk, .aar, .jar, .tar, .tar.gz, .tar.bz2) | File tree with per-file status |
| binary | Mach-O executables and dylibs | Sections, sizes, symbols, load commands |
| plist | Property list files (.plist) | Structured key-value diff |
| text | Everything else | Line-by-line unified diff |
drift --json <path-a> <path-b> and capture the outputsummary to give an overview of what changedroot to identify the most significant changes (largest size deltas, added/removed files)When the output is large, use jq to extract specific parts rather than dumping everything. See reference.md for the JSON schema and useful jq recipes.