How to setup kdiff3 in Mac OS?

Question

In.gitconfig file I setup up the git diff as follows:

[diff]
    tool = kdiff3

[difftool "kdiff3"]
    path = path_directory/kdiff3.app

In this setting kdiff is not accessible and I get the following error when I run in terminal

>> git difftool
The diff tool kdiff3 is not available as 'Kdiff_local_software_path/kdiff3.app'
fatal: external diff died, stopping at modified_file

Do you have any suggestion I can fix this issue ? In my current setup Mac OS 10.10.5 git diff tool is git merge tool that I want to replace with kdiff.

Answer 1

kdiff3 is generally located at the following location:

/Applications/kdiff3.app/Contents/MacOS/kdiff3

so, try

[difftool "kdiff3"]
    path = /Applications/kdiff3.app/Contents/MacOS/kdiff3

If you installed kdiff using brew, then you'd not need the difftool parameter in config for git 1.8 onwards. Just the following would work:

[diff]
    tool = kdiff3

If you installed kdiff mounting the dmg file to kdiff.app then set your local path as following:

[difftool "kdiff3"]
    path = directory_path_where_you_installed/kdiff3.app/Contents/MacOS/kdiff3

Answer 2

1. Download kdiff3 and install as app(drag and drop the kdiff3 into your Applications): http://sourceforge.net/projects/kdiff3/files/kdiff3/0.9.98/kdiff3-0.9.98-MacOSX-64Bit.dmg/download

2. Setup git config tool as following, works for me on MacBook Pro:

git config --global merge.tool kdiff3

and:

git config --global mergetool.kdiff3.cmd '/Applications/kdiff3.app/Contents/MacOS/kdiff3 $BASE $LOCAL $REMOTE -o $MERGED'

Answer 3

You don't need to add any paths to your gitconfig as described in the other answers. This is all you need to configure in you .gitconfig

[diff]
    guitool = kdiff3
[merge]
    tool = kdiff3

Assuming you have homebrew installed on your machine:

brew update
brew tap caskroom/cask
brew cask install kdiff3

Explanation:

1. setup to use cask

   brew tap caskroom/cask
   

2. downloads kdiff3, moves it to your Applications dir and links kdiff3.sh to /usr/local/bin/kdiff3

   brew cask install kdiff3
   

Answer 4

1. First check whether kdiff3 is installed and recognized by git:

   $ type -a kdiff3
   -bash: type: kdiff3: not found
   

   In cases where kdiff3 is not installed in macOS, git will also show following messages:

   $ git difftool --tool-help
   $ # OR (both command would do)
   $ git mergetool --tool-help
   'git mergetool --tool=<tool>' may be set to one of the following:
           emerge
           opendiff
           vimdiff
           vimdiff2
           vimdiff3
   
   The following tools are valid, **but not currently available**:
           ...
           gvimdiff3
           kdiff3
           meld
           ...
   
   Some of the tools listed above only work in a windowed
   environment. If run in a terminal-only session, they will fail.
   

---

2. Then we should install kdiff3, there are many ways to do it:

   • by using MacPort
   • by using Homebrew
   • by downloading SourceForge dmg package
   • building from source
   • etc.

   I personally prefer MacPort:

   $ port search kdiff3
   kdiff3 @0.9.98_4 (devel)
       kdiff3 is a file comparing and merging tool.
   $ sudo port install kdiff3
   ...installing process...
   

   After this, kdiff3 should be available to macOS and git

   $ type -a kdiff3
   kdiff3 is /opt/local/bin/kdiff3
   $ git difftool --tool-help
   'git difftool --tool=<tool>' may be set to one of the following:
           emerge
           kdiff3
           opendiff
           ...
   

---

3. Finally, make sure the correct configuration for git:

   [diff]
       tool = kdiff3
   [difftool]
       prompt = false
   [merge]
       tool = kdiff3
       conflictstyle = diff3