A beautiful terminal UI for reviewing git diffs with syntax highlighting, split view, and word-level diff.
Note: critique requires Bun - it does not work with Node.js.
# Run directly with bunx (no install needed)
bunx critique
# Or install globally
bun install -g critique# View unstaged changes (includes untracked files)
critique
# View staged changes
critique --staged
# View the last commit (works whether pushed or unpushed)
critique HEAD
# View a specific commit
critique --commit HEAD~1
critique abc1234
# View combined changes from last N commits
critique HEAD~3 HEAD # shows all changes from 3 commits ago to now
# Compare two branches (PR-style, shows what head added since diverging from base)
critique main feature-branch # what feature-branch added vs main
critique main HEAD # what current branch added vs main
# Watch mode - auto-refresh on file changes
critique --watch
# Filter files by glob pattern (can be used multiple times)
critique --filter "src/**/*.ts"
critique --filter "src/**/*.ts" --filter "lib/**/*.js"| Key | Action |
|---|---|
← / → |
Navigate between files |
↑ / ↓ |
Scroll up/down |
Ctrl+P |
Open file selector dropdown |
Option (hold) |
Fast scroll (10x) |
Esc |
Close dropdown |
Configure critique as your git difftool:
git config --global diff.tool critique
git config --global difftool.critique.cmd 'critique difftool "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE"'Then use:
git difftool HEAD~1Use critique as a custom pager in lazygit:
# ~/.config/lazygit/config.yml
git:
paging:
pager: critique --stdinFor more details, see lazygit's Custom Pagers documentation.
Generate AI-powered explanations of code changes using OpenCode or Claude Code as the backend agent.
What it does:
- Orders hunks in logical reading order (types before implementation, etc.)
- Splits large hunks into digestible chunks with focused explanations
- Explains each change with diagrams, tables, and markdown
- Groups related changes across files
Best for reviewing AI-generated changes: Pass --session to include the coding session context, so the AI understands why changes were made and can explain them better.
# Review unstaged changes (uses OpenCode by default)
critique review
# Use Claude Code instead
critique review --agent claude
# Review staged changes
critique review --staged
# Review the last commit
critique review HEAD
# Review a specific commit
critique review --commit HEAD~1
critique review --commit abc1234
# Review commit range (like a PR): critique review <base> <head>
# Shows what <head> added since diverging from <base>
critique review main HEAD # what current branch added vs main
critique review main feature-branch
# Include session context (from opencode or claude sessions)
critique review --agent opencode --session <session-id>
critique review --agent claude --session <session-id>
# Generate web preview instead of TUI
critique review --web
critique review --web --openOptions:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--agent <name> |
AI agent to use: opencode (default) or claude |
--staged |
Review staged changes |
--commit <ref> |
Review changes from a specific commit |
--session <id> |
Include session(s) as context (can be repeated) |
--web |
Generate web preview instead of TUI |
--open |
Open web preview in browser (with --web) |
--filter <pattern> |
Filter files by glob pattern |
Selectively apply changes from another branch to your current HEAD:
critique pick feature-branchUse the interactive UI to select files. Selected files are immediately applied as patches, deselected files are restored.
Generate a shareable web preview of your diff that you can send to anyone - no installation required.
Example: critique.work/v/b8faf4362c247bfc46f5098a028e00f0
Great for background agents that can't render terminal UIs, like kimaki.xyz which runs OpenCode in Discord.
# Upload to critique.work and get a shareable URL
critique web
# View staged changes
critique web --staged
# View the last commit
critique web HEAD
# View a specific commit
critique web --commit HEAD~1
# Compare branches (PR-style diff)
critique web main feature-branch
# Filter specific files
critique web -- src/api.ts src/utils.ts
# Custom title for the HTML page
critique web --title "Fix authentication bug"
# Generate local HTML file instead of uploading
critique web --localFeatures:
- Mobile optimized - Automatically detects mobile devices and serves a unified diff view optimized for smaller screens. Add
?v=mobileto any URL to force mobile view. - Dark/Light mode - Automatically adapts to your system's color scheme preference using CSS
prefers-color-scheme. - Syntax highlighting - Full syntax highlighting for 18+ languages, same as the terminal UI.
- Split view - Side-by-side diff on desktop, unified view on mobile.
- Fast loading - HTML is streamed for quick initial render, cached for 24 hours.
Options:
| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--staged |
Show staged changes | - |
--commit <ref> |
Show changes from a specific commit | - |
--cols <n> |
Terminal width for rendering | 240 |
--mobile-cols <n> |
Terminal width for mobile version | 100 |
--local |
Save HTML locally instead of uploading | - |
--filter <pattern> |
Filter files by glob (can be used multiple times) | - |
--title <text> |
Custom HTML document title | Critique Diff |
--theme <name> |
Theme for rendering (disables auto dark/light mode) | - |
How it works:
- Captures the terminal UI output using a PTY (pseudo-terminal)
- Converts ANSI escape codes to styled HTML with syntax highlighting
- Generates both desktop (240 cols, split view) and mobile (100 cols, unified view) versions
- Uploads to critique.work (Cloudflare Worker + KV storage)
- Returns a shareable URL that expires after 7 days
Tips:
- The URL is based on a SHA-256 hash of the content, so identical diffs produce the same URL (deduplication)
- Use
?v=desktopor?v=mobilequery params to force a specific version - If upload fails, critique automatically saves the HTML locally as a fallback
- Syntax Highlighting - Powered by Shiki with support for 18+ languages
- Split View - Side-by-side comparison for wide terminals (auto-switches to unified view on narrow terminals)
- Word-Level Diff - Highlights specific word changes within modified lines
- File Navigation - Quick file switcher with fuzzy search
- Click to Open - Click line numbers to open in your editor (set
REACT_EDITORenv var) - Watch Mode - Live updates as you edit files
- Web Preview - Generate shareable HTML previews hosted on critique.work
- Cherry Pick - Interactive file picker to apply changes from other branches
TypeScript, JavaScript, TSX, JSX, JSON, Markdown, HTML, CSS, Python, Rust, Go, Java, C, C++, YAML, TOML, Bash, SQL
| Environment Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
REACT_EDITOR |
Editor command for click-to-open | zed |
CRITIQUE_WORKER_URL |
Custom worker URL for web preview | https://critique.work |
Lock files are automatically hidden from diffs:
pnpm-lock.yamlpackage-lock.jsonyarn.lockbun.lockbCargo.lockpoetry.lockGemfile.lockcomposer.lock
Files with more than 6000 lines of diff are also hidden for performance.
- opentui - React-based terminal UI framework
- Shiki - Syntax highlighting
- diff - Diff algorithm
- Hono - Web framework for the preview worker
MIT
