PACDIFF(8)

📦 version 1.13.1, in arch rolling

✨ PACDIFF(8) ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to pacdiff — the pacman-contrib manual page that's about to make you feel very organized 💅. Say hi to your new fave little maintenance utility, iykyk 🫶.

💖 NAME 💖

pacdiff — the pacorig, pacnew and pacsave maintenance utility, aka your personal cleanup crew for all those lil backup files that pile up like laundry 🌸

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

pacdiff [options]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. no positional args, just you and your options 🦋

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So like,, pacdiff is a script (yes, a script, she's humble 💜) that goes looking for pacorig, pacnew and pacsave files — and it finds them by checking out the backup entries chillin' in your local pacman db 👑

And for every single file she finds? You get to choose what happens, no cap:

  • view it 👀
  • merge it 🤝
  • skip it 🙈
  • diff it 🔍
  • remove it 🗑️
  • or overwrite it 🔥

You're literally the main character of your own config files. periodt ✨

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

🍓 Search Options 🍓

  • -f, --find — Scan using find. classic, reliable, does the thing 💖
  • -l, --locate — Scan using locate. speedy lil icon ⭐
  • -p, --pacmandb — Scan active config files from the pacman database. this one's the default, so it's giving main character energy by default 👑

🦋 General Options 🦋

  • -b, --backup — When you're overwriting stuff, save the old files with .bak — a little safety net, we love to see it 🫶
  • -c, --cachedir <dir> — Scan dir instead as the pacman cache for 3-way merge base candidates. you're telling her where to look, bossy queen 💅
  • -h, --help — Display syntax and command-line options. the classic cry for help (affectionate) 😭
  • --nocolor — Do not colorize output. for when you want it plain, no frills, minimal aesthetic 🌸
  • -o, --output — Print files instead of merging them. look but don't touch energy 👀
  • -s, --sudo — Use sudo and sudoedit to merge/remove files. big permissions energy 🔥
  • -3, --threeway — View diffs in 3-way fashion if the base package is available in the cache. Fall back to regular 2-way diff otherwise. she tries her best, and if she can't, she pivots gracefully 🧚
  • -V, --version — Display version information. hi, what's your sign (version) 💀

🌟 ENVIRONMENT 🌟

  • DIFFPROG — Override the default diff program vim -d, or nvim -d if EDITOR=nvim. yes, she checks, she's observant like that 👑
  • DIFFSEARCHPATH — Override the default search path /etc, only when using find. context matters bestie 💜
  • MERGEPROG — Override the default diff3 -m 3-way merge program. One possible alternative is git merge-file -p. options options options ✨

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

pacman(8), pacman.conf(5) — go read those too, they're iconic in their own right 🌈

💀 BUGS 💀

Bugs? 😭 You must be kidding; there are no bugs in this software. she said what she said 💅

But if we happen to be wrong (hypothetically, allegedly, in theory 🙈), file an issue with as much detail as possible at https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman-contrib/-/issues/new. the more deets the better, bestie 🫶

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Current maintainers, the real ones:

  • Johannes Löthberg <johannes@kyriasis.com>
  • Daniel M. Capella <polyzen@archlinux.org>

For additional contributors, use git shortlog -s on the pacman-contrib.git repository. give credit where it's due, always 💖

ok that's the whole page and honestly? she ate. no crumbs. 🍓

and that's a wrap, bestie 🎀 — this was Pacman-contrib 1.13.1, dated 2025-12-11, signing off with a lil kiss and a PACDIFF(8) 💋✨

📦 where this page comes from