Code Preview

A universal CLI tool to preview uncommitted code changes with rich syntax highlighting — before you commit them.
It works with any language and any Git repository.

Quickly visualize what your next commit will look like — right in your terminal.

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Features

• Colored Diff Preview: Additions (green), deletions (red), and context (gray).
• Language-Agnostic: Works for Java, Python, JavaScript, Scala, Go, etc.
• Rich Terminal Output: Powered by Textualize Rich.
• Git-Integrated: Shows all unstaged and staged file changes.
• No Commit Required: Safe to preview changes locally anytime.
• Extensible Design: Add plugins or render to HTML in the future.

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Example Output

Here is a preview of what changed in a Java file:

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
a/src/main/java/com/example/App.java → b/src/main/java/com/example/App.java

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 public class App {
     public static void main(String[] args) {
-        System.out.println("Hello, world!");
+        System.out.println("Hello, Aryant!");
+        System.out.println("Code preview is working");
     }
 }
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

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Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

You can install code-preview using pip:

pip install code-preview

From Source

If you want to install it from your local folder for development:

git clone https://github.com/Aryant-Tripathi/code-preview.git
cd code-preview
pip install -e .

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Usage

Preview All Unstaged Changes

Simply run the command in the root of your Git repository:

code-preview

Preview Changes in a Specific Folder

You can limit the preview to a specific directory or file:

code-preview src/

Run Directly Without Installation

You can also run the tool directly as a Python module:

python -m code_preview.cli

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How It Works

1. Detects all files with uncommitted changes using GitPython.
2. Reads their last committed version (HEAD).
3. Compares against your local version using difflib.
4. Renders the diff with syntax highlighting via Rich.

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Roadmap

• Auto-detect syntax for each file type (.java, .py, .js, etc.)
• Add --html mode for browser-based diff preview
• Add --watch mode for real-time change tracking
• Support for non-Git directories (via snapshots)
• VSCode/IntelliJ plugin integration

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Development

Interested in contributing? Here's how to set up your environment.

Setup Virtual Environment

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Install Dependencies

Install the project in "editable" mode:

pip install -e .

Run Locally

Run the tool using the development entry point:

python -m code_preview.cli

Project Structure

code-preview/
├── src/
│   └── code_preview/
│       ├── __init__.py         # Package initializer
│       ├── cli.py              # Main CLI entry point (argparse)
│       ├── git_utils.py        # Git interaction logic
│       ├── diff_renderer.py    # Logic for rendering diffs with Rich
│       └── file_utils.py       # File reading utilities
├── pyproject.toml              # Build configuration (PEP 621)
├── setup.cfg                   # Package metadata
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

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Publishing (For Maintainers)

1. Build:

   python3 -m build

2. Upload to TestPyPI:

   python3 -m twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*

3. Test Install:

   pip install -i https://test.pypi.org/simple/ code-preview

4. Publish to PyPI:

   python3 -m twine upload dist/*

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you find this project useful:

• Star it on GitHub → Aryant-Tripathi/code-preview
• Open issues for feature requests or bugs
• Submit pull requests for enhancements

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Acknowledgements

• Rich for beautiful terminal rendering
• GitPython for Git integration
• Inspired by the need for more readable git diff previews for all developers

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Author

Aryant Tripathi

• Software Engineer | Open Source Contributor | DSA Mentor
• Email: aryanttripathi@gmail.com
• GitHub: @Aryant-Tripathi
• LinkedIn: in/aryant-tripathi

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License

This project is licensed under the Apache-2.0 License — see the LICENSE file for details.