mergers 0.3.3

A visual diff and merge tool for files and directories
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# mergers

[![workflow status](https://github.com/joske/mergers/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/joske/mergers/actions?query=workflow%3A%22CI%22)
[![security audit](https://github.com/joske/mergers/actions/workflows/audit.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/joske/mergers/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Security+Audit%22)

A visual diff and merge tool written in Rust with GTK4, inspired by [Meld](https://meldmerge.org/).

> **WARNING: This software is alpha-quality and under active development. It may eat your files, corrupt your data, or silently discard changes. Always keep backups and use version control. You have been warned.**

## Features

- **Two-way file comparison** with syntax highlighting (GtkSourceView 5)
- **Three-way merge** for resolving conflicts
- **Directory comparison** with recursive scanning and async background diffing
- **Git integration** — run `mergers .` to view uncommitted changes
- Inline **word-level diff** highlighting
- **Ignore whitespace / blank lines** options
- **Find & Replace** within panes
- **Go to line** (Ctrl+L)
- **Undo / Redo**
- **Chunk navigation** with keyboard shortcuts
- **Chunk map** — visual overview strips alongside each pane
- **Patch export** (unified diff format)
- **Swap panes**
- **Custom pane labels** via `-L` flag
- **Directory copy/delete** operations
- **File watcher** — auto-reloads when files change on disk
- **Configurable folder filters** (exclude patterns like `node_modules`, `.git`, etc.)
- **Preferences dialog** — font, color scheme, tab width, filters, with live preview
- **Binary file detection** — prevents loading binary files into text buffers

## Installation

### macOS (Homebrew)

```bash
brew install joske/mergers/mergers
```

This downloads a pre-built binary and pulls in GTK4 and GtkSourceView 5 automatically.

### Linux (AppImage)

Download the latest AppImage from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/joske/mergers/releases):

```bash
chmod +x mergers-x86_64.AppImage
./mergers-x86_64.AppImage
```

### From crates.io

Requires GTK4 and GtkSourceView 5 development libraries (see [Building](#building)).

```bash
cargo install mergers
```

### From source

See [Building](#building) below.

## Usage

```
# Compare two files
mergers file1.txt file2.txt

# Compare two directories
mergers dir1/ dir2/

# Three-way merge (left, merged, right)
mergers local.txt merged.txt remote.txt

# View uncommitted git changes
mergers .

# Custom labels
mergers file1.txt file2.txt -L "Original" -L "Modified"
```

## Git Mergetool

To use mergers as your git merge tool:

```bash
git config merge.tool mergers
git config mergetool.mergers.cmd 'mergers "$LOCAL" "$MERGED" "$REMOTE"'
git config mergetool.mergers.trustExitCode true
```

Then resolve conflicts with:

```bash
git mergetool
```

## Comparison with Similar Tools

| Feature | mergers | [Meld](https://meldmerge.org/) | [Diffuse](https://github.com/MightyCreak/diffuse) |
|---|---|---|---|
| **File Comparison** | 2-way, 3-way | 2-way, 3-way | N-way (arbitrary) |
| **Directory Comparison** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **VCS Integration** | Git | Git, Hg, Bzr, CVS, SVN | Git, Hg, Bzr, CVS, SVN, Darcs, Monotone, RCS |
| **Syntax Highlighting** | Yes (GtkSourceView 5) | Yes (GtkSourceView) | Yes |
| **Word-level Diffs** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Inline Editing** | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Manual Line Alignment** | No | No | Yes |
| **Undo/Redo** | Yes | Yes | Unlimited undo |
| **Find & Replace** | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Go to Line** | Yes | No | No |
| **Patch Export** | Yes | No | No |
| **Ignore Whitespace** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Ignore Blank Lines** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Text Wrapping Options** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **File Monitoring / Auto-reload** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Chunk Map (minimap)** | Yes | Yes | No |
| **Conflict Marker Detection** | Yes | No | No |
| **Folder Filters** | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| **Git Mergetool Support** | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Custom Pane Labels** | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Toolkit** | GTK4 | GTK3 | GTK3 |
| **Language** | Rust | Python | Python |
| **License** | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |

## Building

Requires GTK4 and GtkSourceView 5 development libraries.

```
# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install libgtk-4-dev libgtksourceview-5-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gtk4-devel gtksourceview5-devel

# Arch
sudo pacman -S gtk4 gtksourceview5

# macOS
brew install gtk4 gtksourceview5

# Build
cargo build --release
```

## License

GPL-2.0