git-diff-xml

A command-line tool that packages Git commit changes or branch comparisons into a single XML file for code analysis by LLMs like Claude.

Installation

npm install -g git-diff-xml

Usage

# Analyze a specific commit
git-diff-xml --commit <commit-hash> --output <output-file.xml>

# Compare changes between branches
git-diff-xml --branch-compare <source>..<target> --output <output-file.xml>

Options

• -c, --commit <hash>: Git commit hash to analyze
• -b, --branch-compare <branches>: Compare branches (format: source..target)
• -o, --output <file>: Output XML file path (default: "git-diff-xml-output.xml")
• -d, --dir <directory>: Git repository directory (default: current directory)
• -h, --help: Display help information
• -V, --version: Display version information

Either --commit or --branch-compare must be specified.

XML Output Structure

The tool generates an XML file with the following structure:

<codebase commit="abc123">
  <file path="src/utils/helper.js">
    <content><![CDATA[
      // Full file source code here
    ]]></content>
    <changes>
      <addition line="10">const newFunction = () => {};</addition>
      <deletion line="15">const oldFunction = () => {};</deletion>
      <modification original-line="20" new-line="20">
        <before>const x = 1;</before>
        <after>const x = 2;</after>
      </modification>
    </changes>
  </file>
  <!-- Additional files -->
</codebase>

Why Use git-diff-xml?

• LLM Context Window Optimization: Package only the relevant changes to maximize the use of Claude's context window
• Structured Analysis: Present code changes in a structured format that's easy for AI to parse
• Full Context: Include both full file content and specific changes for complete understanding
• Simple Interface: Straightforward CLI with minimal dependencies
• Branch Comparison: Compare changes between any two Git branches or refs

Testing

Tests are written using Jest and can be run with:

npm test

The test suite includes:

• Unit tests: Testing individual functions for parsing diffs and generating XML
• Integration tests: Testing the tool against sample Git repositories
• Edge cases: Testing with empty commits, binary files, and large repositories

To run specific test groups:

# Run only unit tests
npm run test:unit

# Run only integration tests
npm run test:integration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Make sure to add tests for any new features and ensure all tests pass.

License

MIT