gitgutter.txt

*gitgutter.txt*              A Vim plugin which shows a git diff in the gutter.


                           Vim Git Gutter


Author:            Andy Stewart <https://airbladesoftware.com/>
Plugin Homepage:   <https://github.com/airblade/vim-gitgutter>


===============================================================================
CONTENTS                                                            *gitgutter*

  Introduction ................. |gitgutter-introduction|
  Installation ................. |gitgutter-installation|
  Commands ..................... |gitgutter-commands|
  Mappings ..................... |gitgutter-mappings|
  Autocommand .................. |gitgutter-autocommand|
  Options ...................... |gitgutter-options|
  Highlights ................... |gitgutter-highlights|
  FAQ .......................... |gitgutter-faq|
  TROUBLESHOOTING .............. |gitgutter-troubleshooting|


===============================================================================
INTRODUCTION                                           *gitgutter-introduction*

GitGutter is a Vim plugin which shows a git diff in the 'gutter' (sign column).
It shows which lines have been added, modified, or removed.  You can also
preview, stage, and undo individual hunks.  The plugin also provides a hunk
text object.

The signs are always up to date and the plugin never saves your buffer.


===============================================================================
INSTALLATION                                           *gitgutter-installation*

Pathogen:~
>
  cd ~/.vim/bundle
  git clone git://github.com/airblade/vim-gitgutter.git
<
Voom:~

Edit your plugin manifest (`voom edit`) and add:
>
  airblade/vim-gitgutter
<
VimPlug:~

Place this in your .vimrc:
>
    Plug 'airblade/vim-gitgutter'
<
Then run the following in Vim:
>
  :source %
  :PlugInstall
<
NeoBundle:~

Place this in your .vimrc:
>
  NeoBundle 'airblade/vim-gitgutter'
<
Then run the following in Vim:
>
  :source %
  :NeoBundleInstall
<
No plugin manager:~

Copy vim-gitgutter's subdirectories into your vim configuration directory:
>
  cd tmp && git clone git://github.com/airblade/vim-gitgutter.git
  cp vim-gitgutter/* ~/.vim/
<
See |add-global-plugin|.


===============================================================================
COMMANDS                                                   *gitgutter-commands*

Commands for turning vim-gitgutter on and off:~

                                                  *gitgutter-:GitGutterDisable*
:GitGutterDisable       Turn vim-gitgutter off for all buffers.

                                                   *gitgutter-:GitGutterEnable*
:GitGutterEnable        Turn vim-gitgutter on for all buffers.

                                                   *gitgutter-:GitGutterToggle*
:GitGutterToggle        Toggle vim-gitgutter on or off for all buffers.

                                                         *gitgutter-:GitGutter*
:GitGutter              Update signs for the current buffer.  You shouldn't
                        need to run this.

                                                      *gitgutter-:GitGutterAll*
:GitGutterAll           Update signs for all buffers.  You shouldn't need to
                        run this.


Commands for turning signs on and off (defaults to on):~

                                              *gitgutter-:GitGutterSignsEnable*
:GitGutterSignsEnable   Show signs for the diff.

                                             *gitgutter-:GitGutterSignsDisable*
:GitGutterSignsDisable  Do not show signs for the diff.

                                              *gitgutter-:GitGutterSignsToggle*
:GitGutterSignsToggle   Toggle signs on or off.


Commands for turning line highlighting on and off (defaults to off):~

                                     *gitgutter-:GitGutterLineHighlightsEnable*
:GitGutterLineHighlightsEnable  Turn on line highlighting.

                                    *gitgutter-:GitGutterLineHighlightsDisable*
:GitGutterLineHighlightsDisable Turn off line highlighting.

                                     *gitgutter-:GitGutterLineHighlightsToggle*
:GitGutterLineHighlightsToggle  Turn line highlighting on or off.


Commands for jumping between hunks:~

                                                 *gitgutter-:GitGutterNextHunk*
:GitGutterNextHunk      Jump to the next [count] hunk.

                                                 *gitgutter-:GitGutterPrevHunk*
:GitGutterPrevHunk      Jump to the previous [count] hunk.


Commands for operating on a hunk:~

                                                *gitgutter-:GitGutterStageHunk*
:GitGutterStageHunk     Stage the hunk the cursor is in.

                                                 *gitgutter-:GitGutterUndoHunk*
:GitGutterUndoHunk      Undo the hunk the cursor is in.

                                              *gitgutter-:GitGutterPreviewHunk*
:GitGutterPreviewHunk   Preview the hunk the cursor is in.
                        Use |:pclose| or |CTRL-W_CTRL-Z| to close the preview
                        window.

Commands for folds:~

                                                     *gitgutter-:GitGutterFold*
:GitGutterFold          Fold all unchanged lines.  Execute again to undo.


===============================================================================
AUTOCOMMAND                                             *gitgutter-autocommand*

User GitGutter~

After updating a buffer's signs vim-gitgutter fires a |User| |autocmd| with the
event GitGutter.  You can listen for this event, for example:
>
  autocmd User GitGutter call updateMyStatusLine()
<
A dictionary `g:gitgutter_hook_context` is made available during its execution,
which contains an entry `bufnr` that contains the buffer number being updated.


===============================================================================
MAPPINGS                                                   *gitgutter-mappings*

You can disable all these mappings with:
>
    let g:gitgutter_map_keys = 0
<

Hunk operations:~

These can be repeated with `.` if you have vim-repeat installed.

                                                         *gitgutter-<Leader>hp*
<Leader>hp              Preview the hunk under the cursor.

                                                         *gitgutter-<Leader>hs*
<Leader>hs              Stage the hunk under the cursor.

                                                         *gitgutter-<Leader>hu*
<Leader>hu              Undo the hunk under the cursor.

You can change these mappings like this:
>
    nmap ghp <Plug>GitGutterPreviewHunk
    nmap ghs <Plug>GitGutterStageHunk
    nmap ghu <Plug>GitGutterUndoHunk
<

Hunk jumping:~

                                                                 *gitgutter-]c*
]c                      Jump to the next [count] hunk.

                                                                 *gitgutter-[c*
[c                      Jump to the previous [count] hunk.

You can change these mappings like this:
>
    nmap [c <Plug>GitGutterPrevHunk
    nmap ]c <Plug>GitGutterNextHunk
<

Hunk text object:~

                          *gitgutter-ic* *gitgutter-ac* *gitgutter-text-object*
"ic" operates on the current hunk's lines.  "ac" does the same but also includes
trailing empty lines.
>
    omap ic <Plug>GitGutterTextObjectInnerPending
    omap ac <Plug>GitGutterTextObjectOuterPending
    xmap ic <Plug>GitGutterTextObjectInnerVisual
    xmap ac <Plug>GitGutterTextObjectOuterVisual
<


===============================================================================
OPTIONS                                                     *gitgutter-options*

The most important option is 'updatetime' which determines how long (in
milliseconds) the plugin will wait after you stop typing before it updates the
signs.  Vim's default is 4000.  I recommend 100.

Most important option:~

    'updatetime'

Git:~

    |g:gitgutter_git_executable|
    |g:gitgutter_git_args|
    |g:gitgutter_diff_args|
    |g:gitgutter_diff_base|

Grep:~

    |g:gitgutter_grep|

Signs:~

    |g:gitgutter_signs|
    |g:gitgutter_highlight_lines|
    |g:gitgutter_max_signs|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_added|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_modified|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_removed|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_removed_first_line|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_modified_removed|
    |g:gitgutter_sign_column_always|
    |g:gitgutter_override_sign_column_highlight|

Terminal:~

    |g:gitgutter_terminal_reports_focus|

General:~

    |g:gitgutter_enabled|
    |g:gitgutter_map_keys|
    |g:gitgutter_async|
    |g:gitgutter_log|


                                                   *g:gitgutter_git_executable*
Default: 'git'

This option determines what git binary to use.  Set this if git is not on your
path.

                                                         *g:gitgutter_git_args*
Default: empty

Use this option to pass any extra arguments to git when running git-diff.
For example:
>
    let g:gitgutter_git_args = '--git-dir=""'
<

                                                        *g:gitgutter_diff_args*
Default: empty

Use this option to pass any extra arguments to git-diff.  For example:
>
    let g:gitgutter_diff_args = '-w'
<

                                                        *g:gitgutter_diff_base*
Default: empty

By default buffers are diffed against the index.  Use this option to diff against
a revision instead.  For example:
>
    let g:gitgutter_diff_base = '<some commit SHA>'
<

                                                             *g:gitgutter_grep*
Default: 'grep'

The plugin pipes the output of git-diff into grep to minimise the amount of data
vim has to process.  Set this option if grep is not on your path.

grep must produce plain-text output without any ANSI escape codes or colours.
Use this option to turn off colours if necessary.
>
    let g:gitgutter_grep = 'grep --color=never'
<
If you do not want to use grep at all (perhaps to debug why signs are not
showing), set this option to an empty string:
>
    let g:gitgutter_grep = ''
<

                                                            *g:gitgutter_signs*
Default: 1

Determines whether or not to show signs.

                                                  *g:gitgutter_highlight_lines*
Default: 0

Determines whether or not to show line highlights.

                                                        *g:gitgutter_max_signs*
Default: 500

Sets the maximum number of signs to show in a buffer.  Vim is slow at updating
signs, so to avoid slowing down the GUI the number of signs is capped.  When
the number of changed lines exceeds this value, the plugin removes all signs
and displays a warning message.

                                          *g:gitgutter_sign_added*
                                          *g:gitgutter_sign_modified*
                                          *g:gitgutter_sign_removed*
                                          *g:gitgutter_sign_removed_first_line*
                                          *g:gitgutter_sign_modified_removed*
Defaults:
>
    let g:gitgutter_sign_added              = '+'
    let g:gitgutter_sign_modified           = '~'
    let g:gitgutter_sign_removed            = '_'
    let g:gitgutter_sign_removed_first_line = '‾'
    let g:gitgutter_sign_modified_removed   = '~_'
<
You can use unicode characters but not images.  Signs must not take up more than
2 columns.

                                               *g:gitgutter_sign_column_always*
Default: 0

This legacy option controls whether the sign column should always be shown, even
if there are no signs to display.

From Vim 7.4.2201, use 'signcolumn' instead:
>
    set signcolumn=yes
<

                                   *g:gitgutter_override_sign_column_highlight*
Default: 1

Controls whether to make the sign column look like the line-number column (i.e.
the |hl-LineNr| highlight group).

To customise your sign column's background color, first tell vim-gitgutter to
leave it alone:
>
    let g:gitgutter_override_sign_column_highlight = 0
<

And then either update your colorscheme's |hlSignColumn| highlight group or set
it in your |vimrc|:

  Desired appearance                  Command ~
  Same as line-number column          highlight clear SignColumn
  User-defined (terminal Vim)         highlight SignColumn ctermbg={whatever}
  User-defined (graphical Vim)        highlight SignColumn guibg={whatever}


                                           *g:gitgutter_terminal_reports_focus*
Default: 1

Normally the plugin uses |FocusGained| to force-update all buffers when Vim
receives focus.  However some terminals do not report focus events and so the
|FocusGained| autocommand never fires.

If this applies to you, either install something like Terminus
(https://github.com/wincent/terminus) to make |FocusGained| work or set this
option to 0.

When this option is 0, the plugin force-updates the buffer on |BufEnter|
(instead of only updating if the buffer's contents has changed since the last
update).

                                                          *g:gitgutter_enabled*
Default: 1

Controls whether or not the plugin is on at startup.

                                                         *g:gitgutter_map_keys*
Default: 1

Controls whether or not the plugin provides mappings.  See |gitgutter-mapppings|.

                                                            *g:gitgutter_async*
Default: 1

Controls whether or not diffs are run in the background.  This has no effect if
your Vim does not support background jobs.

                                                              *g:gitgutter_log*
Default: 0

When switched on, the plugin logs to gitgutter.log in the directory where it is
installed.  Additionally it logs channel activity to channel.log.


===============================================================================
HIGHLIGHTS                                               *gitgutter-highlights*

To change the signs' colours, set up the following highlight groups in your
colorscheme or |vimrc|:
>
    GitGutterAdd          " an added line
    GitGutterChange       " a changed line
    GitGutterDelete       " at least one removed line
    GitGutterChangeDelete " a changed line followed by at least one removed line
<

You can either set these with `highlight GitGutterAdd {key}={arg}...` or link
them to existing highlight groups with, say:
>
  highlight link GitGutterAdd MyDiffAdd
<

To change the line highlights, set up the following highlight groups in your
colorscheme or |vimrc|:
>
    GitGutterAddLine          " default: links to DiffAdd
    GitGutterChangeLine       " default: links to DiffChange
    GitGutterDeleteLine       " default: links to DiffDelete
    GitGutterChangeDeleteLine " default: links to GitGutterChangeLineDefault
<

For example, to use |hl-DiffText| instead of |hl-DiffChange|:
>
    highlight link GitGutterChangeLine DiffChange
<


===============================================================================
FAQ                                                             *gitgutter-faq*

a. How do I turn off realtime updates?

  Add this to your vim configuration in an |after-directory|:
>
    autocmd! gitgutter CursorHold,CursorHoldI
<

b. I turned off realtime updates, how can I have signs updated when I save a
   file?

  If you really want to update the signs when you save a file, add this to your
  |vimrc|:
>
    autocmd BufWritePost * GitGutter
<

c. Why can't I unstage staged changes?

  This plugin is for showing changes between the working tree and the index
  (and staging/undoing those changes). Unstaging a staged hunk would require
  showing changes between the index and HEAD, which is out of scope.

d. Why are the colours in the sign column weird?

  Your colorscheme is configuring the |hl-SignColumn| highlight group weirdly.
  Please see |g:gitgutter_override_sign_column_highlight| on customising the
  sign column.

e. What happens if I also use another plugin which uses signs (e.g. Syntastic)?

  Vim only allows one sign per line.  Vim-gitgutter will not interfere with
  signs it did not add.


===============================================================================
TROUBLESHOOTING                                     *gitgutter-troubleshooting*

When no signs are showing at all:~

1. Try bypassing grep with:
>
    let g:gitgutter_grep = ''
<
  If it works, the problem is grep outputting ANSI escape codes.  Use this
  option to pass arguments to grep to turn off the escape codes.

2. Verify git is on your path:
>
    :echo system('git --version')
<

3. Verify your git config is compatible with the version of git return by the
   command above.

4. Verify your Vim supports signs.  The following should give 1:
>
    :echo has('signs')
<

5. Check whether the plugin thinks git knows about your file:
>
    :echo getbufvar('','gitgutter').path
<
  If the result is -2, the plugin thinks your file is not tracked by git.


When the whole file is marked as added:~

If you use zsh, and you set "CDPATH", make sure "CDPATH" does not include the
current directory.


When signs take a few seconds to appear:~

Try reducing 'updatetime':
>
    set updatetime=100
<


When signs don't update after focusing Vim:~

Your terminal probably isn't reporting focus events.  Either try installing
Terminus (https://github.com/wincent/terminus) or set:
>
    let g:gitgutter_terminal_reports_focus = 0
<