DiffWatch.nvim

A QoL plugin that displays inline diffs between the previous and current buffer state, with intuitive navigation and change resolution.

Installation

With lazy.nvim:

return {
    {
        "yuukibarns/diffwatch.nvim",
        keys = {
            { "<leader>cw", "<Cmd>DiffWatchToggle<CR>", desc = "Diff Watch Toggle" },
            { "<leader>cr", "<Cmd>DiffWatchReset<CR>",  desc = "Diff Watch Reset" },
            { "[w",         "<Cmd>DiffWatchPrev<CR>",   desc = "Diff Watch Prev" },
            { "]w",         "<Cmd>DiffWatchNext<CR>",   desc = "Diff Watch Next" },
        },
        config = function()
            require("diffwatch").setup({
                -- Configuration goes here
            })
        end
    },
}

Default configuration:

local CONFIG = {
    highlights = {
        added = 'DiffWatchAdd',         -- Added lines
        changed = 'DiffWatchChange',    -- Changed lines
        removed = 'DiffWatchDelete',    -- Removed lines
        modified = "DiffWatchModified", -- Modifed lines
        hint = 'DiffWatchHint',         -- Hint text
    },
    mappings = {
        ours = "<leader>co",
        theirs = "<leader>ca",
        both = "<leader>cu",
        none = "<leader>cn",
    },
    hint_position = 'eol_right_align',
}

Usage

This plugin provides following commands:

• DiffWatch
  Toggles watching the current buffer for changes.

• DiffWatchReset
  Resets the "original buffer" reference to the current state, showing diffs between now and future changes

• DiffWatchPrev
  Go to the previous change

• DiffWatchNext
  Go to the next change

Showcase

Diff Add
Diff Delete
Diff Change

Features

• Inline diffs
  Shows previous versions inline rather than side-by-side, which many find more readable (as shown in the examples)

• Non-invasive
  Never automatically modifies your file - previous versions appear as virtual text without affecting treesitter, LSP, etc. Changes only apply when manually accepted

• Flexible resolution
  When your cursor is in a changed region, hints appear showing resolution keymaps, <leader>co:ours | <leader>ca:theirs....

  Available actions:

  • ours: Keep previous version
  • theirs: Keep current changes
  • both: Combine versions
  • none: Remove both

• Change navigation
  Provides user commands DiffWatchPrev and DiffWatchNext for jumping between changes

Why This Plugin?

Keep It Simple and Stupid!

I previously used avante.nvim for applying AI-generated code, but found it unnecessarily complex when I only needed one small feature that may be even borrowed from plugins like git-conflict.nvim.