Skip to main content
The Diff Viewer gives you a clear picture of every change in your working directory or between branches. Use it to inspect what an AI agent has written, compare your feature branch against main, or review staged changes before committing — all with syntax highlighting and a navigable file list.

​
Opening the Diff Viewer

​
From Source Control

1

Open the Source Control Navigator

Click the Source Control icon in the sidebar or press Cmd+3.
2

Click a modified file

Select any file from the changed files list. Its diff opens in the editor area.
Staged and unstaged changes are shown in separate sections of the file list.

​
From the Command Palette

1

Open the Command Palette

Press Cmd+Shift+P.
2

Type diff or compare

Filter results to find the comparison you want.
3

Select a comparison

Press Enter to open it.

​
View modes

Toggle between the two display modes using the button in the toolbar.

​
Unified view

A single-column layout similar to GitHub’s diff display. Both the old and new versions of a file appear in one scrollable column:
  • Added lines have a green background.
  • Removed lines have a red background.
  • Unchanged context lines appear without a background.
  • Line numbers from both the old and new file are shown side by side.
Best for: quick reviews, smaller changesets, and reading changes linearly.

​
Side-by-side view

A two-column layout showing the original and modified versions simultaneously:
  • Left column — the original file.
  • Right column — the modified file.
  • Corresponding changes are aligned horizontally so you can compare them directly.
Best for: large refactors, moved code, and situations where you need to compare the before and after in detail.

​
Color coding

​
Navigating diffs

​
File list

The left panel lists all changed files. Each entry shows:
  • The file path
  • A change summary (+additions / -deletions)
  • A status icon indicating the type of change
Use these controls to move through the file list:

​
Within a single diff

  • Scroll to move through the diff.
  • Changes are grouped into hunks, separated by context dividers.
  • Click a line number to jump directly to that line in the editor.

​
Comparing branches

When you open a branch comparison, the Diff Viewer shows:
  • Base branch — the target (e.g., main).
  • Head branch — your feature branch.
  • All commits between the two branches.
  • The complete unified diff across all changed files.
The title bar displays the comparison: for example, feature-x vs main.

​
Integration with Code Review

The Diff Viewer and Code Review work together:
1

Review your changes visually

Open the Diff Viewer to confirm the diff is what you expect.
2

Click Code Review

Press the Code Review button in the toolbar. The AI agents analyze the same diff you’re viewing.
3

Read the feedback

Agent output appears in terminal tabs. Address the suggestions, then re-check the diff.

​
Keyboard shortcuts

Use the side-by-side view when reviewing refactored code. It makes it easy to spot relocated blocks and verify that logic was preserved.
The file list summary gives you additions and deletions at a glance, so you can prioritize which files to review first.