The output format from "git-diff-index", "git-diff-tree", "git-diff-files" and "git diff --raw" are very similar. These commands all compare two sets of things; what is compared differs: git-diff-index :: compares the and the files on the filesystem. git-diff-index --cached :: compares the and the index. git-diff-tree [-r] [...]:: compares the trees named by the two arguments. git-diff-files [...]:: compares the index and the files on the filesystem. An output line is formatted this way: ------------------------------------------------ in-place edit :100644 100644 bcd1234... 0123456... M file0 copy-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... C68 file1 file2 rename-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... R86 file1 file3 create :000000 100644 0000000... 1234567... A file4 delete :100644 000000 1234567... 0000000... D file5 unmerged :000000 000000 0000000... 0000000... U file6 ------------------------------------------------ That is, from the left to the right: . a colon. . mode for "src"; 000000 if creation or unmerged. . a space. . mode for "dst"; 000000 if deletion or unmerged. . a space. . sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged. . a space. . sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if creation, unmerged or "look at work tree". . a space. . status, followed by optional "score" number. . a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used. . path for "src" . a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used; only exists for C or R. . path for "dst"; only exists for C or R. . an LF or a NUL when '-z' option is used, to terminate the record. is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the index. Example: ------------------------------------------------ :100644 100644 5be4a4...... 000000...... M file.c ------------------------------------------------ When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`, respectively. diff format for merges ---------------------- "git-diff-tree", "git-diff-files" and "git-diff --raw" can take '-c' or '--cc' option to generate diff output also for merge commits. The output differs from the format described above in the following way: . there is a colon for each parent . there are more "src" modes and "src" sha1 . status is concatenated status characters for each parent . no optional "score" number . single path, only for "dst" Example: ------------------------------------------------ ::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8... cc95eb0... 4866510... MM describe.c ------------------------------------------------ Note that 'combined diff' lists only files which were modified from all parents. include::diff-generate-patch.txt[] other diff formats ------------------ The `--summary` option describes newly added, deleted, renamed and copied files. The `--stat` option adds diffstat(1) graph to the output. These options can be combined with other options, such as `-p`, and are meant for human consumption. When showing a change that involves a rename or a copy, `--stat` output formats the pathnames compactly by combining common prefix and suffix of the pathnames. For example, a change that moves `arch/i386/Makefile` to `arch/x86/Makefile` while modifying 4 lines will be shown like this: ------------------------------------ arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile | 4 +-- ------------------------------------ The `--numstat` option gives the diffstat(1) information but is designed for easier machine consumption. An entry in `--numstat` output looks like this: ---------------------------------------- 1 2 README 3 1 arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile ---------------------------------------- That is, from left to right: . the number of added lines; . a tab; . the number of deleted lines; . a tab; . pathname (possibly with rename/copy information); . a newline. When `-z` output option is in effect, the output is formatted this way: ---------------------------------------- 1 2 README NUL 3 1 NUL arch/i386/Makefile NUL arch/x86/Makefile NUL ---------------------------------------- That is: . the number of added lines; . a tab; . the number of deleted lines; . a tab; . a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied); . pathname in preimage; . a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied); . pathname in postimage (only exists if renamed/copied); . a NUL. The extra `NUL` before the preimage path in renamed case is to allow scripts that read the output to tell if the current record being read is a single-path record or a rename/copy record without reading ahead. After reading added and deleted lines, reading up to `NUL` would yield the pathname, but if that is `NUL`, the record will show two paths.