Getting Started Reviewing Changes
Reviewing Changes
Review diffs, stage individual lines and hunks, compare revisions, edit files, and follow changes with blame in GitComet.
Select a changed file to open its diff. An unstaged diff compares the working tree with the staging area; a staged diff compares the staging area with the current commit.
Read and search a diff
Use Option+I / Alt+I for an inline diff or Option+S / Alt+S for a side-by-side diff. Settings → Diff controls the default layout, whitespace comparison, visible whitespace characters, word wrapping, line numbers, and scroll synchronization.
Press Cmd+F or Ctrl+F to search. The search box supports Match Case, Whole Word, and Regex, and Shift+Enter inserts a newline for a multiline search. While search is open, F2 and F3 move through matches; otherwise they move through changes.
F1 and F4 move between working-copy files. Option+W / Alt+W toggles visible whitespace characters; this is separate from ignoring whitespace when comparing content.
Stage only what belongs in the commit
GitComet supports staging and unstaging at three levels:
| Scope | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Whole file | Use the file's stage or unstage action. In the raw working-tree diff, Space also advances to an adjacent file. |
| Hunk | Use the action for a changed block in the diff gutter. |
| Individual lines | Use the line staging controls in the gutter to select only part of a change. |
Review the staged diff after partial staging. A file can appear in both the staged and unstaged lists because different changes in that file are selected for the next commit.
Discarding a hunk removes those working-tree edits. Unstaging keeps the edits on disk and removes them from the next commit. GitComet asks for confirmation before staging content that still contains conflict markers.
Compare commits, branches, and tags
- Right-click the first commit, branch, or tag and choose Mark … for comparison.
- Right-click the second item and choose Compare with ….
- Select a changed file to inspect its diff.
Choose Clear comparison mark when you are finished. To compare a revision with your current files, use Compare with working tree directly. That comparison refreshes as working-tree files change.
Edit a working-tree file
Press Option+E / Alt+E to enter or leave the built-in editor. It provides syntax highlighting, and Cmd+S / Ctrl+S saves while the editor buffer has focus. You can enable Auto-save edits in Settings → File editing.
Saving changes the file on disk. Review and stage those edits separately before committing them. Outside the editor, Cmd+S / Ctrl+S can stage the current file, so check which surface has focus.
Use Cmd+Shift+E / Ctrl+Shift+E to open the active repository in your configured external code editor. Cmd+Shift+L / Ctrl+Shift+L reveals the open file in GitComet's Files sidebar.
Preview images and Markdown
GitComet can display image and SVG comparisons and render Markdown. Return to source mode for raw diff navigation and staging controls. Opening diff search from a rendered Markdown preview switches back to source mode automatically.
Syntax highlighting is available in diffs and the editor for many programming, configuration, and markup languages. Language support expands between releases; see the changelog for additions.
Follow a line with blame
Use Blame / Annotate for an open file to see which commits introduced its lines. GitComet shades annotations by recency and distinguishes staged and unstaged local changes. Select an annotation to follow the associated commit, or use file history to review changes over time.
For the complete key reference, see Keyboard Shortcuts. For conflicting files, continue to interactive conflict resolution.