Branch Comparison

In one sentence

Branch comparison describes how two Git refs differ: which commits each has that the other lacks, and what file changes that implies.

Why it matters

Release branches, agent worktrees, and long-lived feature branches drift. Comparison answers “what is different?” before merge or cherry-pick decisions.

How it works

• Name both refs clearly (e.g., main and release/2.4).
• List commits on A not in B and on B not in A.
• Inspect git diff A...B for the merge-base-aware change set when preparing a merge.
• Call out renames, binary files, and dependency lock churn separately.

Example

git log --oneline main..feature/search
git log --oneline feature/search..main
git diff --stat main...feature/search

The two log ranges show unique commits each way; the three-dot diff shows changes since the merge base.