TL;DR — Quick Summary

Delta is a syntax-highlighting pager for git diff, grep, and blame. Side-by-side diffs, line numbers, navigate hunks, and beautiful themes in the terminal.

Delta transforms git diff output from a wall of unmarked text into syntax-highlighted, line-numbered, beautifully formatted code changes. Once configured, every git command that shows diffs automatically uses Delta.

Installation

# macOS
brew install git-delta

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S git-delta

# Cargo
cargo install git-delta

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install git-delta

# Verify
delta --version

Git Configuration

Add to ~/.gitconfig:

[core]
    pager = delta

[interactive]
    diffFilter = delta --color-only

[delta]
    navigate = true       # Use n/N to navigate hunks
    side-by-side = true   # Side-by-side view
    line-numbers = true   # Show line numbers
    syntax-theme = Dracula # Choose theme

[merge]
    conflictstyle = zdiff3

Now all these commands use Delta automatically:

  • git diff
  • git log -p
  • git show
  • git blame
  • git stash show -p

Features

Side-by-Side Diffs

# Enabled in config, or per-command:
git diff --side-by-side
# or with alias:
git diff -s

Hunk Navigation

With navigate = true, use n to jump to next hunk and N for previous in the pager.

Syntax Themes

# List available themes
delta --list-syntax-themes

# Preview a theme
delta --syntax-theme="Monokai Extended" < /dev/null

# Popular themes: Dracula, Nord, Monokai Extended, GitHub, OneHalfDark

Diff-so-fancy Emulation

[delta]
    minus-style = "syntax #450a15"
    minus-emph-style = "syntax bold #6f1219"
    plus-style = "syntax #0b4820"
    plus-emph-style = "syntax bold #175c2e"

Comparison

FeatureDeltadiff-so-fancycolordiffdifftastic
LanguageRustPerlPerlRust
Syntax highlightYesNoBasicAST-based
Side-by-sideYesNoNoYes
Line numbersYesNoNoYes
Themes30+111
Hunk navigationYesNoNoNo
Git integrationNativeNativePipePipe
Blame supportYesNoNoNo

Summary

  • Delta is a syntax-highlighting pager for git diff, log, show, blame, and grep
  • One-time Git config change — all git commands automatically use Delta
  • Side-by-side view, line numbers, hunk navigation, and 30+ themes
  • Written in Rust for fast rendering of large diffs
  • Works as a pager for any diff output via piping