Git Integration

WinXMerge integrates with Git as both a difftool and a mergetool.

difftool Setup

# Build and install
cargo build --release --features desktop
cp target/release/winxmerge ~/.local/bin/

# Configure git
git config --global diff.tool winxmerge
git config --global difftool.winxmerge.cmd 'winxmerge "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE"'
git config --global difftool.prompt false

mergetool Setup (3-Way Merge)

git config --global merge.tool winxmerge
git config --global mergetool.winxmerge.cmd 'winxmerge "$BASE" "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE"'
git config --global mergetool.winxmerge.trustExitCode true

Usage

# View working tree changes
git difftool

# Diff a specific file
git difftool -- path/to/file.rs

# Diff between branches
git difftool main..feature-branch

# Resolve merge conflicts
git mergetool

Single-Instance Tab Mode

When git difftool processes multiple changed files, WinXMerge uses IPC (Unix domain socket) to detect a running instance. Instead of opening multiple windows, subsequent diffs are opened as new tabs in the existing window.

When two or more file pairs are opened this way, they are displayed as a virtual folder comparison view. Double-click a file in the folder view to open its detailed diff in a new tab.

This behavior is automatic — no additional configuration is needed.