GIT-LATEXDIFF(1)

💅 GIT-LATEXDIFF — ok bestie, let's diff some LaTeX

Hiii welcome to git-latexdiff, the git-latexdiff(1) era of your life 💖. Basically? It calls latexdiff on two Git revisions of a file. That's the whole vibe. Two versions of your paper, one gorgeous red-trike/blue-underline glow-up. Slay.

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

First, the shapes this thing can take, fr fr:

Usage: git latexdiff [options] OLD [NEW]
       git latexdiff [options] OLD --
       git latexdiff [options] -- OLD

Call latexdiff on two Git revisions of a file. That's the mission 🫶

OLD and NEW are Git revision identifiers. NEW defaults to HEAD. And if you use -- for NEW? Then bestie we're diffing against the working directory 👑

Now the actual options, one by one, no skips, no cap:

• --help — this help message 💬
• --help-examples — show examples of usage (the receipts ✨)
• --main <file> — name of the main LaTeX, R Sweave, or Emacs Org mode file. If you don't specify it, it will attempt to search for the only file containing documentclass. For non-LaTeX files, a reasonable prepare command will be used unless you explicitly provide one.
• --no-view — don't display the resulting PDF file 🙈
• --latex — run latex instead of pdflatex
• --xelatex — run xelatex instead of pdflatex
• --lualatex — run lualatex instead of pdflatex
• --tectonic — run tectonic instead of pdflatex
• --bibtex, --bbl — display changes in the bibliography (runs bibtex to generate *.bbl files and include them in the source file using latexpand --expand-bbl before computing the diff)
• --biber — like --bibtex, but runs biber instead.
• --run-bibtex, -b — run bibtex as well as latex to generate the PDF file (pdflatex,bibtex,pdflatex,pdflatex)

NOTE: --bibtex usually works better 👀

• --run-biber — run BibLaTex-Biber as well as latex to generate the PDF file (pdflatex,biber,pdflatex,pdflatex)

NOTE: --biber usually works better 👀

• --view — view the resulting PDF file (this is the default if -o is not used)
• --pdf-viewer <cmd> — use <cmd> to view the PDF file (default: $PDFVIEWER)
• --no-cleanup — don't cleanup temp dir after running
• --no-flatten — don't call latexpand to flatten the document
• --cleanup MODE — Cleanup temporary files according to MODE:
  • keeppdf (default): keep only the generated PDF file
  • none: keep all temporary files (may eat your diskspace 😭)
  • all: erase all generated files. Problematic with --view when the viewer is e.g. evince, and doesn't like when the file being viewed is deleted. 💀
• --latexmk — use latexmk
• --build-dir — use pdfs from specific build directory
• --latexopt — pass additional options to latex (e.g. -shell-escape)
• -o <file>, --output <file> — copy resulting PDF into <file> (usually ending with .pdf). Implies --cleanup all
• --tmpdirprefix — where temporary directory will be created (default: /tmp). Relative path will use repository root as a base
• --verbose, -v — give more verbose output 🗣️
• --quiet — redirect output from subprocesses to log files 🤫
• --prepare <cmd> — run <cmd> before latexdiff (e.g. run make to generate included files)
• --filter <cmd> — run <cmd> after latexdiff and before compilation (e.g. to fix up latexdiff output)
• --ln-untracked — symlink uncommited files from the working directory
• --ln-untracked-dir <dir> — symlink subdirectory of uncommited files (relative to the main .tex file)
• --version — show git-latexdiff version.
• --subtree — checkout the tree at and below the main file (enabled by default, disable with --whole-tree)
• --whole-tree — checkout the whole tree (contrast with --subtree)
• --ignore-latex-errors — keep on going even if latex gives errors, so long as a PDF file is produced 💪
• --ignore-makefile — ignore the Makefile, build as though it doesn't exist
• -* — other options are passed directly to latexdiff
• --latexpand OPT — pass option OPT to latexpand. Use multiple times like --latexpand OPT1 --latexpand OPT2 to pass multiple options.
• --latexdiff-flatten — use --flatten from latexdiff instead of latexpand
• --early-exit-if-equal — if two files are identical latexdiff will not be called and git-latexdiff exits gracefully. This option works only if latexpand is used

Unrecognized options are passed unmodified to latexdiff. Bestie behavior honestly 🥰

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Diff the previous revision with the latest commit:

git latexdiff HEAD^

Diff the latest commit with the working tree:

git latexdiff HEAD --

Diff latest commit with branch master:

git latexdiff master HEAD

Pass --type=CHANGEBAR to latexdiff to get changebars in the margins instead of red+trike/blue+underline diff:

git latexdiff --type=CHANGEBAR HEAD^

Use a specific latexdiff configuration file:

git latexdiff --config /path/to/file HEAD^

Add a \makeatletter statement to hopefuly fix some LaTeX compilation errors involving commands containing an @ character:

git latexdiff --latexpand --makeatletter HEAD^

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Ok that's the whole page bestie, you ate 💅 One last thing — this little icon of a manual is dated 07/23/2025 and it lives under the name GIT-LATEXDIFF(1) (that's the source/version energy right there). Go forth and make your diffs iconic 🦋✨👑