Get all files that have been modified in git branch

Question

Is there a way to see what files have changed in a branch?

Answer 1

An alternative to the answer by @Marco Ponti, and avoiding the checkout:

git diff --name-only <notMainDev> $(git merge-base <notMainDev> <mainDev>)

If your particular shell doesn't understand the $() construct, use back-ticks instead.

Answer 2

All you have to do is the following:

git checkout <notMainDev>
git diff --name-only <mainDev>

This will show you only the filenames that are different between the two branches.

Answer 3

amazed this has not been said so far!

git diff master...branch

So see the changes only on branch

To check the current branch use

git diff master...

Thanks to jqr

This is short hand for

git diff $(git merge-base master branch) branch

so the merge base (the most recent common commit between the branches) and the branch tip

Also using origin/master instead of just master will help in case your local master is dated

Answer 4

I can't believe there are so many ways to do this. I use whatchanged as someone posted before, just with the following arguments:

git whatchanged --name-only --pretty="" origin..HEAD

This just lists the filenames, and only the ones that changed on the current branch.

Answer 5

I really liked @twalberg's answer but I didn't want to have to type the current branch name all the time. So I'm using this:

git diff --name-only $(git merge-base master HEAD)

Answer 6

git whatchanged seems to be a good alternative.

Answer 7

What if it could be as easy as this?

git changed

If you're willing to assume that the main branch is called "master", and that you create your other branches from master, then you can add this alias to your ~/.gitconfig file to make it that easy:

cbranch = !"git branch | grep '*' | cut -f2 -d' '"
changed = !"git diff --name-only $(git cbranch) $(git merge-base $(git cbranch) master)"

Those assumptions will work for most people in most situations, but you must be aware that you're making them.

Also, you must use a shell that supports $(). It's very likely that your shell supports this.

Answer 8

git show --stat origin/branch_name

This will give you a list of the files that have been added or modified under this branch.

Answer 9

git diff --name-only master...branch-name

to which we want to compare.

Answer 10

The accepted answer - git diff --name-only <notMainDev> $(git merge-base <notMainDev> <mainDev>) - is very close, but I noticed that it got the status wrong for deletions. I added a file in a branch, and yet this command (using --name-status) gave the file I deleted "A" status and the file I added "D" status.

I had to use this command instead:

git diff --name-only $(git merge-base <notMainDev> <mainDev>)

Answer 11

Expanding off of what @twalberg and @iconoclast had, if you're using cmd for whatever reason, you can use:

FOR /F "usebackq" %x IN (`"git branch | grep '*' | cut -f2 -d' '"`) DO FOR /F "usebackq" %y IN (`"git merge-base %x master"`) DO git diff --name-only %x %y

Answer 12

The following batch file is based on twalberg's answer but will work in Windows:

@ECHO OFF
C:                               :: <== OR USE A DIFFERENT DRIVE
CD \path\to\where\git\files\are  :: <== CHANGE TO THE ACTUAL PATH
SET /p b="Enter full path of an ALREADY MERGED branch to compare with origin/master: "
bash --login -i -c "git diff --name-only %b% $(git merge-base %b1% origin/drop2/master)"
PAUSE

The above assumes that the main branch is origin/master and that git bash was included when Git was installed (and its location is in the path environment). I actually needed to show the actual differences using a configured diff tool (kdiff3) so substituted the following bash command above:

bash --login -i -c "git difftool --dir-diff %b% $(git merge-base %b1% origin/drop2/master)"

Answer 13

I use grep so I only get the lines with diff --git which are the files path:

git diff branchA branchB | grep 'diff --git'
// OUTPUTS ALL FILES WITH CHANGES, SIMPLE HA :)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json