DiffLearn 🔍

Interactive git diff learning tool with LLM-powered explanations

DiffLearn helps developers understand code changes through an interactive terminal UI with AI-powered explanations. Navigate diffs with keyboard controls, click on changes to ask questions, and get instant AI insights.

Features

🎨 Interactive Diff Viewer - Red/green syntax highlighting with keyboard navigation
💬 Click-to-Ask - Select any change and ask questions about it
🚀 Unified Dashboard - View local, staged, and history on one screen in the terminal
🔀 Commit Comparison - Select any two commits in Web or CLI to see and analyze the diff between them
🌐 Remote Web UI - Beautiful local web interface with comparison support and AI chat
🆓 Use Your Subscriptions - Works with Gemini CLI, Claude Code, Cursor (no API fees!)
🤖 API Support - Native support for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google AI APIs
🔌 MCP Server - Full integration with Cursor, Claude Code, and other MCP clients
⌨️ Keyboard First - Full scrolling and windowing support for large diffs and histories

Deciding between the GO version or Typescript version

CPU Time is fairly lower on the GO version compared to the Typescript version (it is also far less interactive):

Memory consumption has a huge difference, if I were in a resource constraint machine GO would be my go to:

Disk usage, I do not know why it is higher as I did the same thing... maybe it just node doing node things?

Getting Started

One-Line Install (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lertsoft/DiffLearn/master/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/lertsoft/DiffLearn.git
cd DiffLearn
bun install

# Run directly
bun run dev

# Or install globally
bun link

Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/lertsoft/DiffLearn.git
cd DiffLearn
bun run dev

# Launch web UI
bun run web

# Run tests
bun test

# Run lint
bun run lint

# Auto-fix lint
bun run lint:fix

Quick Start

# 🌐 Launch the Web UI (recommended!)
difflearn web

# Terminal: View local changes interactively
difflearn local

# View staged changes only
difflearn local --staged

# Compare commits
difflearn commit abc123
difflearn commit abc123 --compare def456

# Compare branches
difflearn branch main feature/new-auth

# Quick AI explanations (non-interactive)
difflearn explain
difflearn review
difflearn summary

# Interactive Compare
difflearn local       # Use Tab to switch to History, then Enter to select
difflearn web         # Click '+' buttons next to commits to compare two SHAs

Web UI Accessibility & Controls

The Web Interface (difflearn web) is fully accessible and keyboard-friendly:

Key	Action
`s`/`j`/`↓`	Select next commit in list
`w`/`k`/`↑`	Select previous commit in list
`Enter`	Select currently focused commit / Confirm comparison
`a`/`←`	Switch to previous view (e.g. History → Staged)
`d`/`→`	Switch to next view (e.g. Local → Staged)
`/`	Focus Chat Input
`Esc`	Close panels / Exit comparison mode
`+` (Web)	Click the '+' button next to commits to select for comparison (max 2)

CLI Interactive Controls

Key	Action
`Tab`	Switch between Local Changes, Staged Changes, and History
`↑`/`↓`	Navigate history list or scroll long AI responses
`Enter`	View diff for selected commit or file
`/` / `i`	Focus AI Chat input
`Esc`	Exit chat/scrolling mode back to dashboard
`q`	Quit or go back from current view
`c` (Chat)	Clear current chat history

Slash Commands (type `/` in chat)

Command	Description
`/explain`	Get AI explanation of current changes
`/review`	Get AI code review with suggestions
`/summarize`	Get a quick summary of changes
`/update`	Check for updates
`/export`	Export diff as markdown
`/web`	Open web UI in browser
`/config`	Show LLM configuration status

LLM Configuration

Quick Setup (Recommended)

The easiest way to configure DiffLearn is with the interactive wizard:

difflearn config

This will:

Show available providers (CLI-based and API-based)
Guide you through authentication
Save configuration securely to ~/.difflearn

CLI-Based Providers (Use your current Subscription!)

Use your existing AI subscriptions without extra API costs:

Provider	Requirement
Gemini CLI	Install gemini-cli
Claude Code	Install claude
OpenAI Codex	Install codex
Cursor	Install Cursor CLI

# Gemini CLI (interactive login selection)
gemini

# Claude Code (interactive, then type /login)
claude

# OpenAI Codex
codex login

# Cursor CLI
agent login

# Check which providers are available
difflearn config --status

# Example: Use Gemini CLI
export DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=gemini-cli

Local LLM Providers (Free & Private!)

Run AI locally on your machine with no API costs and full privacy:

Provider	Default URL	Setup
Ollama	`localhost:11434`	Install Ollama + `ollama pull llama3.2`
LM Studio	`localhost:1234`	Install LM Studio + start local server

The easiest way to configure is with the wizard, which detects your downloaded models:

difflearn config
# Select Ollama or LM Studio, then choose from your available models

Or set environment variables directly:

# Use Ollama
export DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=ollama
export DIFFLEARN_MODEL=llama3.2

# Use LM Studio
export DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=lmstudio

# Custom base URL (if not using default port)
export DIFFLEARN_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080/v1

API-Based Providers

For direct API access (pay-per-use):

# Option 1: OpenAI (default)
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# Option 2: Anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
export DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=anthropic

# Option 3: Google AI
export GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY=...
export DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=google

# Optional: Custom model
export DIFFLEARN_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini

Configuration File

DiffLearn stores config in ~/.difflearn:

# ~/.difflearn
DIFFLEARN_LLM_PROVIDER=gemini-cli
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Environment variables override the config file.

Note: DiffLearn works without an API key! When no LLM is configured, it outputs formatted prompts you can use with any AI tool.

MCP Integration

Cursor / Claude Code

Add to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "difflearn": {
      "command": "bun",
      "args": ["run", "/path/to/DiffLearn/src/mcp/server.ts"]
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

get_local_diff - Get uncommitted changes
get_commit_diff - Get diff for a commit
get_branch_diff - Compare branches
get_commit_history - List recent commits
explain_diff - AI explanation of changes
review_diff - AI code review
ask_about_diff - Ask questions about changes

REST API

# Start API server
difflearn serve --api --port 3000

# Endpoints
GET  /diff/local                    # Local changes
GET  /diff/commit/:sha              # Single commit or comparison (using ?compare=sha2)
GET  /diff/branch/:b1/:b2          # Branch diff
GET  /history                       # Commit history with windowing support
POST /explain                       # AI explanation (supports commit/staged/compare)
POST /review                        # AI code review (supports commit/staged/compare)
POST /ask                           # Ask questions (supports commit/staged/compare)
POST /summary                       # Quick summary (supports commit/staged/compare)

CLI Commands

Command	Description
`local [--staged]`	View local changes interactively
`commit <sha> [--compare <sha2>]`	View commit diff
`branch <b1> <b2>`	Compare branches
`explain [--staged]`	AI explanation
`review [--staged]`	AI code review
`summary [--staged]`	Quick summary
`export [--format json\|markdown]`	Export diff
`history [-n count]`	List commits
`web [-p port]`	Launch the web UI
`config [--status]`	Configure LLM provider
`serve --mcp\|--api`	Start server

Architecture

src/
├── cli/
│   ├── index.tsx         # CLI entry point
│   └── components/
│       ├── App.tsx       # Main app component
│       ├── DiffViewer.tsx # Interactive diff viewer
│       └── ChatPanel.tsx  # Q&A chat panel
├── git/
│   ├── extractor.ts      # Git operations
│   ├── parser.ts         # Diff parsing
│   └── formatter.ts      # Output formatting
├── llm/
│   ├── client.ts         # LLM providers
│   └── prompts.ts        # Prompt templates
├── mcp/
│   └── server.ts         # MCP server
└── api/
    └── server.ts         # REST API

License

MIT

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DiffLearn 🔍

Features

Deciding between the GO version or Typescript version

Getting Started

One-Line Install (Recommended)

Manual Installation

Development

Quick Start

Web UI Accessibility & Controls

CLI Interactive Controls

Slash Commands (type `/` in chat)

LLM Configuration

Quick Setup (Recommended)

CLI-Based Providers (Use your current Subscription!)

Local LLM Providers (Free & Private!)

API-Based Providers

Configuration File

MCP Integration

Cursor / Claude Code

Available MCP Tools

REST API

CLI Commands

Architecture

License

FilesExpand file tree

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

DiffLearn 🔍

Features

Deciding between the GO version or Typescript version

Getting Started

One-Line Install (Recommended)

Manual Installation

Development

Quick Start

Web UI Accessibility & Controls

CLI Interactive Controls

Slash Commands (type / in chat)

LLM Configuration

Quick Setup (Recommended)

CLI-Based Providers (Use your current Subscription!)

Local LLM Providers (Free & Private!)

API-Based Providers

Configuration File

MCP Integration

Cursor / Claude Code

Available MCP Tools

REST API

CLI Commands

Architecture

License

Slash Commands (type `/` in chat)