New in v17.16.0 - ✨Native Inline Diff + Super Diff + Inline Improvements

[olimorris]

Hi All

Back with another feature packed release for v17.16.0.

Native Inline Diff

Native.Inline.Diff.mp4

Thanks to @bassamsdata for the incredible work in #1884, we now have a native, inline diff in CodeCompanion. No dependencies, no external requirements, just a beautiful diff.

From a UX perspective, the cursor will move to the relevant buffer on the user's behalf.

Oh, but what happens if the file you're editing isn't a buffer?! Well it will open right up for you to view the changes:

Native.Inline.Diff.-.Open.File.mp4

As a heads up, the accept and reject keymaps have changed to gda and gdr respectively, but you're told about this in the chat buffer.

Super Diff

You may be thinking this is great and all...but how can I keep track of all of the changes that take place when I've turned off the diff and/or am in automatic tool mode? Then you will likely enjoy the new Super Diff that's also in #1884:

Super.Diff.mp4

The Super Diff allows you to keep track of all edits that have taken place from the chat buffer (access it via gD) making it easier to see what an LLM has changed.

Inline Improvements

• New #{clipboard} variable
• Variable placement can be anywhere in the prompt
• Can now stack variables as well such as :CodeCompanion can you analyze the code in #{buffer} #{clipboard

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Once again thanks to @bassamsdata for the amazing PR in #1884.

[bassamsdata]

Thank you for the shout-out! It was really fun to implement.

By the way, the new #buffer:file style looks really cool too.

[jacobdaddario]

Having the buffer/file automatically open is huge! So excited to see that. Didn't realize it got rolled up in to the native inline diff PR. Shoutout @bassamsdata!

[jesperforsberg]

Very cool, this is a huge improvement! Thanks!

On my first attempt to use it I got the diff in my selected buffer as expected, I was scrolling around looking at the changes when suddenly everything disappeared and the prompt in the Code Companion buffer changed to:

Error editing main.go
User failed to accept the edits in time

Is there a timeout I need to configure or is this something with the model I'm using? (only tried with OpenAI gpt-5-mini so far). This was probably something like 30 seconds. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a diff to accept/reject if you have to do it in a hurry 😅

[olimorris]

There sure is. You'll find it in config.lua

[jesperforsberg]

Thanks, found it!

[yngwi]

I'm not sure If I miss anything, but it would be great if the cursor would be put back into the codecompanion buffer after accepting/rejecting a change.

[bassamsdata]

I was thinking about that too, since the diff now applies to everything (file/buffer), I believe it’s reasonable. I’ll put together a small PR this weekend to address this, along with some other improvements to diff workflow.

[olimorris]

That's a great idea. I also thought about having a config option to open the diff in a floating child window, similar to the super diff.

[bassamsdata]

Great! The floating window was easy to implement, and I’ve created a draft for it. I’m curious, do you think the float option should apply only to files that don’t have buffers open, or should every diff for buffers and files be shown in a floating window when float is true?

Right now, I’ve implemented it only for files with no open buffers, and in those cases, the buffer is closed afterward so it doesn’t interfere with the user’s workflow. But I might be wrong about this approach. What do you think?

[olimorris]

That's a good question...Files, I would say yes, they definitely should be opened in the child window. And the more I think about it, yes I think buffers too. Since we're displaying a diff, it's not like we're duplicating content and the fact it brings everything to the front of the window ensures users give it attention which I quite like from a UX perspective.