Compare Refs

You can use the Compare Refs tab to view the file-level differences between two Git refs.

Navigate the Compare Refs tab

You can open the Compare Refs tab from the Branches tab. Click a branch to expand the row and then click Compare to open the Compare Refs tab with the selected branch and the current branch.

The Changed Files section lists each file that changed between the refs. It works as in the Commit view: click View Diffs to open the comparison in the Diffs view, or click a file to open the Diffs view at that file. Right-click a file for more commands. See Changed files and Diffs view.

In the Compare Refs tab, Base is the ref to compare against and Compare is the ref to compare to. Click the arrow beside a field to open its list, which has Local Branches, Remote Branches, and Tags. Type in the field to search the list. When you choose a ref from the list, the comparison updates at once. You can also type a commit hash or a revision such as HEAD~1; the comparison updates when you press Enter or leave the field. Click the Swap base and head icon to swap the base ref with the compare ref.

If a branch and a tag have the same name, the field asks you to choose one from the list. If no ref has the name you typed, the field says so and the comparison does not change.

Click List view or Tree view after View Diffs to switch between views.

Filter Compare Refs

Click the filter button in the Compare Refs header to show the filters. Type in Filter files to filter the files by name, and select a Status: All statuses, Added, Modified, Deleted, or Renamed. While a filter is set, a line below the filters says how many files match, for example 3 matches. Each filter that is set shows as a chip above the count, for example Search: src. Click a chip to change the filter, or click its x to remove it. To remove all of them, click Clear filters at the end of the count line. In a narrow panel the button says Clear. These filters do not change the files that View Diffs shows. If the Diffs view for the comparison is already open, it keeps its own filters.

Assist with This

Right-click the Compare Refs tab and point to Assist with This. Under Zide Assist, click Add to Conversation to attach the comparison to a Zide Assist tab. For more information, see Attach items to a message.

Under Ask Zide, click Open Ask Zide. Zide opens an Ask Zide panel beside the tab. In the panel, click Summarize Changes or Review Changes. See Ask Zide beside a tab.

Partial clones

In a partial clone, Compare Refs downloads the file versions that the two refs change before it shows line counts. If the download fails, the tab shows the reason. See Partial clones.