delta/README.md

Δ

A syntax-highlighter for git.

(This project is at a very early stage, but please feel free to open issues.)

Usage

delta 0.1.0
A syntax-highlighter for git. Use 'delta | less -R' as core.pager in .gitconfig

USAGE:
    delta [FLAGS] [OPTIONS]

FLAGS:
        --compare-themes    Compare available syntax highlighting themes. To use this option, supply git diff output to
                            delta on standard input. For example: `git show --color=always | delta --compare-themes`.
        --dark              Use colors appropriate for a dark terminal background.  For more control, see --theme,
                            --plus-color, and --minus-color.
    -h, --help              Prints help information
        --light             Use colors appropriate for a light terminal background. For more control, see --theme,
                            --plus-color, and --minus-color.
        --list-languages    List supported languages and associated file extensions.
        --list-themes       List available syntax highlighting themes.
    -V, --version           Prints version information

OPTIONS:
        --minus-color <minus_color>    The background color (RGB hex) to use for removed lines.
        --plus-color <plus_color>      The background color (RGB hex) to use for added lines.
        --theme <theme>                The syntax highlighting theme to use.
    -w, --width <width>                The width (in characters) of the diff highlighting. By default, the highlighting
                                       extends to the last character on each line.

Installation

1. Install the Rust development environment:
   See https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install.

2. Clone this repo
   

3. Build the executable:
   

   cd delta
   cargo build
   

   This creates an executable inside the repo at target/debug/delta. Make sure this executable is found on your shell $PATH.

   For example, if ~/bin is in your $PATH, then you could use a symlink:

   cd ~/bin
   ln -s /path/to/delta/target/debug/delta delta
   

   Alternatively, you can ignore $PATH and use /path/to/delta/target/debug/delta | less -R in the next step.

4. Configure git to use delta:
   (Note that delta defaults to a light theme, so if you're using a dark terminal background, you'll want to use --dark or --theme=<theme-name>.)

   Edit your ~/.gitconfig:

   [core]
       pager = delta | less -R
   

   Alternatively, run this command:

   git config --global core.pager 'delta | less -R'
   

   You can pass arguments to delta in your .gitconfig. An example is

   [core]
       pager = delta --width=100 --plus-color="#012800" --minus-color="#340001" --theme="base16-ocean.dark" | less -R
   

   Please include the = characters; I'm not sure why yet, but they're necessary when writing a delta command line in .gitconfig!

All git commands that display diff output should now display syntax-highlighted output. For example:

• git diff
• git show
• git log -p
• git stash show -p

24 bit color

delta works best if your terminal application supports 24 bit colors. See https://gist.github.com/XVilka/8346728. For example, on macos, iTerm2 works but Terminal.app does not.

If you're using tmux, it's worth checking that 24 bit color is working correctly. For example, run a color test script like this one, or the others listed at https://gist.github.com/XVilka/8346728. If you do not see smooth color gradients, see the discussion at tmux#696. The short version is you need something like this in your ~/.tmux.conf:

set -ga terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:Tc"

and you may then need to quit tmux completely for it to take effect.

Credit

https://github.com/trishume/syntect
https://github.com/sharkdp/bat