// Use when asked to view changes, show a diff, review what changed, compare branches, or see recent commits in a rich browser interface. Supports unstaged changes, staged changes, branch comparisons, commit ranges, and live watch mode with auto-refresh.
| name | git-diff-browser |
| description | Use when asked to view changes, show a diff, review what changed, compare branches, or see recent commits in a rich browser interface. Supports unstaged changes, staged changes, branch comparisons, commit ranges, and live watch mode with auto-refresh. |
Display rich, syntax-highlighted git diffs in your browser with a collapsible file tree sidebar.
This skill generates beautiful, interactive git diffs using diff2html and opens them in your browser. It supports multiple diff modes, live-updating watch mode, and optional AI-generated summaries. The sidebar shows a file tree with change statistics, making it easy to navigate large changesets.
| User Request | Command |
|---|---|
| "show diff" / "view changes" | python3 diff-view.py |
| "show staged changes" | python3 diff-view.py --staged |
| "compare to main" | python3 diff-view.py --branch main |
| "show last 3 commits" | python3 diff-view.py --commit HEAD~3 |
| "live diff" / "watch changes" | python3 diff-view.py --watch |
| "watch diff vs main" | python3 diff-view.py --watch --branch main |
Requirements: diff2html-cli (install: npm i -g diff2html-cli)
Note: The diff-view.py script is included in this skill directory. Run it from the skill directory or use the full path to the installed skill.
For instant, one-time diffs, run the all-in-one script directly. No need to read git files or generate JSON manually - the script handles everything.
Step 1: Determine diff arguments from user request
| User Says | Script Args |
|---|---|
| (empty/no args) | (no args) |
staged | --staged |
branch <name> | --branch <name> |
commit HEAD~N | --commit HEAD~N |
commit <sha> | --commit <sha> |
Step 2: Execute diff script
python3 diff-view.py [args]
The script will:
Step 3: Optional AI summary
For static diffs, if you want to add an AI summary:
Read the git diff:
git diff [appropriate args]
Write a concise 2-4 sentence summary explaining the intent
Pass to script:
python3 diff-view.py --summary "Your summary here" [other args]
The sidebar will show your summary instead of just the mechanical stats.
When the user requests live/continuous viewing (watch mode), the diff auto-refreshes as files change.
Step 1: Start watch server in background
python3 diff-view.py --watch [args] &
The script prints:
Serving on http://127.0.0.1:12345 (PID: 67890)
Press Ctrl+C to stop, or it will auto-stop when this session ends.
Step 2: Note the server URL and PID
The URL (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:12345) is where the live diff is served.
Step 3: Dispatch AI summary subagent (async)
While the server runs, spawn a subagent to generate the AI summary:
Subagent prompt:
Generate an AI summary for the current git diff.
1. Read the diff with: git diff [appropriate args based on watch mode]
2. Write a concise 2-4 sentence summary explaining the intent of the changes
3. POST the summary to the watch server:
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:<port>/api/summary \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"summary":"Your summary text here"}'
The summary will appear in the browser sidebar without a page reload.
Step 4: Explain watch mode behavior
Tell the user:
Unstaged changes (default):
git diff
Shows working tree changes not yet staged.
Staged changes:
git diff --staged
Shows changes in the staging area (ready to commit).
Branch comparison:
git diff main...feature
Shows changes in feature since it diverged from main.
Commit range:
git diff HEAD~3..HEAD
Shows last 3 commits worth of changes.
Single commit:
git show <commit-sha>
Shows changes in a specific commit.
The sidebar displays:
Example sidebar:
Current Branch → Main
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Summary
Refactored authentication flow to use JWT tokens instead of
session cookies. Added new middleware for token validation and
updated login/logout handlers.
3 files changed
+187 additions
-93 deletions
├─ src/
│ ├─ auth/
│ │ ├─ middleware.js [M] +125 -45
│ │ └─ tokens.js [A] +42 -0
│ └─ handlers/
│ └─ login.js [M] +20 -48
The watch server exposes a JSON API:
POST /api/summary - Update AI summary
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:<port>/api/summary \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"summary":"New summary text"}'
GET /api/update - Poll for diff changes
curl http://127.0.0.1:<port>/api/update
Returns JSON with current diff hash and HTML if changed.
Install diff2html-cli:
npm install -g diff2html-cli
Verify installation:
which diff2html
# Should output: /usr/local/bin/diff2html (or similar)
"diff2html: command not found"
npm install -g diff2html-cli
Empty diff shown:
git statusgit branch -agit logWatch mode not updating:
curl http://127.0.0.1:<port>git statusBrowser doesn't open:
http://127.0.0.1:<port>$BROWSER environment variableexport BROWSER=open (macOS) or export BROWSER=xdg-open (Linux)This skill works with:
Dependencies:
The diff-view.py script is platform-independent (standard Python 3 libraries).
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