Install ydiff with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• ydiff

Project history

The GitHub repository was created on 2013-01-29, and the changelog begins with early PyPI-era releases in February 2013 under the original `cdiff` name. Within weeks it gained support for patch files, pipes, revision-control output, two-file comparison, color control, logs, and more robust diff parsing.

During 2013 and 2014, the project moved from a small colored-diff helper into a workspace-oriented reviewer: it added Git/SVN/Hg log handling, automatic terminal-width behavior, pager tuning, Python 3.4 support, and fixes for difficult unified diffs.

The 2018 1.1 release renamed the command from `cdiff` to `ydiff` to avoid a binary-name conflict on major distributions. Later releases added Perforce and Windows support, wide-character handling, word-level change blocks, default side-by-side behavior, and customizable themes.

Adoption history

Ydiff adopted well for a small terminal tool because it solved a common packaging pain point: colorful side-by-side diffs without a GUI and without a heavy dependency stack. Its README documents installation from source, PyPI, Homebrew, Fedora, and FreeBSD.

Distribution adoption is visible in Homebrew, Fedora, FreeBSD/OpenBSD, Debian-derived package naming, and Nix-style package indexes. The rename from cdiff to ydiff is especially package-nerd relevant because it was driven by command-name collision management across distributions.

How it is used

Users run `ydiff` inside Git, Mercurial, Perforce, or Subversion workspaces to view current changes, staged Git changes via passed-through options such as `--cached`, or revision logs via `-l`. It can also consume `git show`, `git log -p`, `svn diff`, `diff -u`, directory diffs, and GitHub pull-request `.diff` URLs from stdin.

The practical attraction is that ydiff wraps ordinary unified diffs with readable terminal presentation: side-by-side or unified layout, automatic width detection, line wrapping controls, pager selection, themes, color modes, and safe redirection back to patch files.

Why package nerds care

Ydiff is a neat package-manager case study because almost all of its value ships as one Python command. Packaging it is mostly about naming, executable placement, and keeping terminal behavior consistent across Unix-like systems.

The cdiff-to-ydiff rename captures a real packaging concern: a project can be technically simple and still need an upstream identity change once distribution command namespaces collide.

Timeline

• 2013-01-29: The ymattw/ydiff repository is created.
• 2013-02-04: Early PyPI-oriented changelog entries appear for cdiff.
• 2013-02-18: The changelog adds log-reading support for SVN and Mercurial patch logs.
• 2014-06-04: Python 3.4 support appears in the changelog.
• 2018-06-05: The project is renamed from cdiff to ydiff to avoid binary-name conflicts on major distributions.
• 2020-08-08: Perforce workspace and pager-customization support are added.
• 2024-11-13: Word-level change blocks and theme selection land in the 1.4 line.
• 2025-12-06: The changelog records INI-based custom themes and source/wheel publication changes.

Related projects

• Related tools include cdiff, colordiff, diff, git diff, git show, git log -p, svn diff, hg log -p, Perforce diff tooling, icdiff, delta, diff-so-fancy, less, patchutils, and terminal pager workflows.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/ymattw/ydiff
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ydiff
• https://github.com/ymattw/ydiff
• https://github.com/ymattw/ydiff/issues/66
• https://packages.debian.org/sid/python3-ydiff
• https://pypi.org/project/ydiff/
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ymattw/ydiff/master/CHANGES.rst
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ymattw/ydiff/master/README.rst