dyff

Diff tool for YAML files that shows changes by their location in the document structure.

Author: Matthias Diester
Alternative to: diff
Language: Go
This page last updated:

dyff compares YAML (and sometimes JSON) files and shows what changed using path-based references rather than raw line numbers, making it much easier to understand structural changes in config files.

Features

  • References differences by location using Spruce dot-style (some.path.in.the.file) or go-patch syntax (/some/path/in/the/file)
  • Color-coded output with indent helpers for readability
  • Accepts local files, remote URIs, or standard input
  • Preserves hash key ordering when processing YAML
  • Automatically detects input format (YAML or JSON)
  • Integrates with kubectl diff and git difftool
dyff showing differences between two deployment manifests
dyff showing differences between two deployment manifests

Availability

Available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.