diff-tool-cli

A fast, zero-bloat file and directory diff CLI built on a pure LCS algorithm.

Install

npm install -g @asdsadw12312dwd2112xz/diff-tool-cli

Or run locally after build:

npx diff-tool <command>

Commands

diff-tool files <file1> <file2>

Line-by-line diff with coloured output (green = added, red = removed).

diff-tool files old.txt new.txt
diff-tool files old.txt new.txt --context 5
diff-tool files old.txt new.txt --ignore-whitespace --ignore-case

diff-tool dirs <dir1> <dir2>

Compare directory contents — shows added, removed, modified, and unchanged files.

diff-tool dirs ./v1 ./v2

diff-tool chars <str1> <str2>

Character-level diff of two strings.

diff-tool chars "hello world" "hello earth"

diff-tool json <file1> <file2>

Semantic JSON diff — key-by-key comparison, nested paths.

diff-tool json a.json b.json

diff-tool stat <file1> <file2>

Summary statistics: lines added, removed, changed, unchanged.

diff-tool stat old.txt new.txt

Options (files, stat)

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -C, --context <n> | Context lines around changes (default: 3) | | -w, --ignore-whitespace | Ignore whitespace differences | | -i, --ignore-case | Ignore case differences |

Build from source

npm install
npm run build
# binary at dist/index.js

Algorithm

Uses a classic O(mn) LCS (Longest Common Subsequence) dynamic-programming algorithm for both line-level and character-level diffs. No external diff libraries — stdlib only (plus commander for CLI parsing and chalk for colour).

License

MIT