CLI Diff and Merge Workflows

ABDiff has one default command style for opening the app, and one dedicated image-comparison command.

Blocking App Launch (Default)

These forms launch ABDiff and wait until the opened app instance exits:

abd --local <file> --remote <file> --base <file> --result <file>
abd --local <file> --remote <file>
abd --local <file> --remote <file> --hex
abd --local <file> --remote <file> --image-mode <mode>
abd <file1>
abd <file1> --hex
abd <file1> <file2>
abd <file1> <file2> --hex
abd <image1> <image2> --image-mode <mode>
abd changeset --repo <repo> --left <commitA> --right <commitB>
abd changeset --left-dir <dirA> --right-dir <dirB>

• abd <file1> opens a single file.
• abd <file1> <file2> opens a two-file comparison.
• abd --local/--remote is explicit two-way mode.
• abd --base/--local/--remote/--result is explicit three-way merge mode.
• abd changeset --repo ... --left ... --right ... opens a read-only multi-file changeset between two commits or refs.
• abd changeset --left-dir ... --right-dir ... opens the same read-only changeset UI from two directory snapshots.
• --hex is available for one-file and two-file launches. It forces the hex viewer, cannot be combined with --image-mode, and returns immediately.
• --image-mode is available only for two-file launches (split-line, side-by-side, change-boxes, cross-fade, diff).

ABDiff infers viewer mode (text, image, video, folder, Mach-O, or binary hex) from the files you pass. For VCS integrations, a two-directory --local/--remote launch is interpreted as a changeset, not a folder-comparison tree.

Return Immediately

If you do not want blocking behavior, add:

abd --no-wait ...

Immediate Image Comparison

Use abd image for CI-style image checks:

abd image <left> <right> [options]

This command compares images and exits immediately with a pass/fail code.
See CLI image diff for all options.

Git Tool Integration

For Git tool configuration, use the same top-level options:

• git difftool command pattern: abd --local "$LOCAL" --remote "$REMOTE"
• git mergetool command pattern: abd --base "$BASE" --local "$LOCAL" --remote "$REMOTE" --result "$MERGED"

When a Git client passes two temporary directories for a commit-to-commit comparison, the same abd --local/--remote entry point opens the read-only changeset UI.

See Git Integration.