Support unified format like kubectl diff for difftool compatibility (Meld)

[Llyth]

Hello,

kubectl diff by default output in an unified format like diffutils does.
It also supports KUBECTL_EXTERNAL_DIFF environment variable which can be used to pass a gui tool like Meld.

Is it possible to add an unified format option to --output ?

Resources:

• https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/generated/kubectl_diff/
• https://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/manual/diffutils.html#Unified-Format
• https://meldmerge.org/

Best regards.

[varunpalekar]

I am also interested, recently argocd also included it.

[dudicoco]

The helm diff format is already unified, what kind of output are you referring to?

[varunpalekar]

Currently kubectl/argocd support using any external tool like diff, vs code, sublime, etc. to show the diff which is especially useful when diff are exceptionally long.

[Llyth]

Up :)

[eagafonov]

JFYI: I'm working on similar feature here https://github.com/eagafonov/helm-diff/tree/external-diff

It's a WIP branch.

$> helm diff --help
   ...
   --external-diff string                     command used to compare the manifests instead of the built-in --output renderers (can also be set via the env var HELM_DIFF_EXTERNAL_DIFF). The old and the new manifest file paths are appended as the last two arguments
   ...