delta

Delta makes your diffs actually readable. Instead of squinting at raw diff output trying to figure out what changed, you get syntax highlighting, line numbers, and side-by-side views that look like they belong in a real code editor.

It's a drop-in replacement for git's default pager. Install it, add three lines to your .gitconfig, and every git diff, git log, and git show instantly looks better. Works with bat themes if you already use bat for file viewing.

What sells it: the diff-so-fancy style output with proper language-aware syntax highlighting. It understands 200+ languages and the highlighting actually follows the grammar, not just keyword matching. Side-by-side mode is clean. Merge conflict display is useful.

The catch: it's a visual tool with zero cloud component, so there's nothing to pay for and nothing to manage. Pure upside. The only friction is initial config. You need to set it as your pager in .gitconfig and pick a theme. If you're happy with your current diff setup, this won't change your life. But if you've ever wished terminal diffs looked like GitHub diffs, this is it.