feat(pr diff): add --exclude flag to filter files from diff output by yuvrajangadsingh · Pull Request #12655 · cli/cli

yuvrajangadsingh · 2026-02-10T10:18:17Z

Adds a --exclude (-e) flag to gh pr diff that lets you filter out files matching glob patterns from the diff output.

Example usage:

# Exclude all YAML files
gh pr diff --exclude '*.yml'

# Exclude multiple patterns
gh pr diff --exclude '*.yml' --exclude 'vendor/*'

# Works with --name-only too
gh pr diff --name-only --exclude '*.generated.*'

Patterns are matched against both the full file path and the basename, so --exclude '*.yml' will match dir/file.yml.

Uses Go's filepath.Match for glob support — no new dependencies.

Closes #8739

yuvrajangadsingh · 2026-02-20T09:41:39Z

@BagToad @babakks hey, just wanted to check if this is something the team would be interested in — adds an --exclude flag to gh pr diff so you can filter out noisy files (like lockfiles, snapshots, generated code). pretty common ask based on the issues i've seen. let me know if there's anything to adjust!

yuvrajangadsingh · 2026-02-25T10:02:54Z

gentle bump on this one — would love to get some eyes on it when someone has a chance. happy to make changes if anything needs adjusting.

BagToad

Nice implementation — the exclude logic is clean and well-tested.

One change needed: the diff header regex is duplicated. changedFilesNames (line ~310) already has an inline regex that's nearly identical to your new diffHeaderRegexp:

// existing (changedFilesNames):
pattern := regexp.MustCompile(`(?:^|\n)diff\s--git.*\s(["']?)b/(.*)`)

// new (extractFileName):
var diffHeaderRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`diff\s--git.*\s(["']?)b/(.*)`)

Could you share the compiled regex between both and ideally refactor changedFilesNames to use your splitDiffSections/extractFileName helpers? That would reduce duplication and make the code easier to maintain.

If this is too painful, let me know — it's kind of a nit so I'm happy to tackle it in a follow-up if needed instead.

BagToad · 2026-03-04T02:19:45Z

Also note, we need to fix the linter checks.

yuvrajangadsingh · 2026-03-04T21:49:21Z

@BagToad fixed both — shared the compiled diffHeaderRegexp between changedFilesNames and extractFileName (removed the inline duplicate), and fixed the gofmt spacing. rebased on trunk too.

babakks

Thanks for the PR, @yuvrajangadsingh! 🙏

Just commented some thoughts, but the main one is the last (about using path instead of filepath).

pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go

babakks · 2026-03-05T14:57:18Z

pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go

 	// This is kind of a gnarly regex. We're looking lines of the format:
 	// diff --git a/9114-triage b/9114-triage
 	// diff --git "a/hello-\360\237\230\200-world" "b/hello-\360\237\230\200-world"
 	//
 	// From these lines we would look to extract:
 	// 9114-triage
 	// "hello-\360\237\230\200-world"
 	//
 	// Note that the b/ is removed but in the second case the preceeding quote remains.
 	// This is important for how git handles filenames that would be quoted with core.quotePath.
 	// https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config#Documentation/git-config.txt-corequotePath
 	//
 	// Thus we capture the quote if it exists, and everything that follows the b/
 	// We then concatenate those two capture groups together which for the examples above would be:
 	// `` + 9114-triage
 	// `"`` + hello-\360\237\230\200-world"
 	//
 	// Where I'm using the `` to indicate a string to avoid confusion with the " character.
-	pattern := regexp.MustCompile(`(?:^|\n)diff\s--git.*\s(["]?)b/(.*)`)
-	matches := pattern.FindAllStringSubmatch(string(diff), -1)
+	matches := diffHeaderRegexp.FindAllStringSubmatch(string(diff), -1)


thought: we should really think about using a reliable third-party for this stuff. 🤷

💯 agree. Felt this pain with gh agent as well.

agreed, would be nice to have. out of scope for this PR though

pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go

BagToad

Please re-request review when @babakks comments addressed 🙏 thank you

yuvrajangadsingh · 2026-03-06T08:10:21Z

@babakks @BagToad addressed all feedback in 43c845e:

added usage examples to --help
switched filepath.Match to path.Match for OS-consistent behavior
renamed patterns to excludePatterns
simplified splitDiffSections with strings.Split

ready for another look when you get a chance.

Add a new --exclude (-e) flag to gh pr diff that allows users to exclude files matching glob patterns from the diff output. This is useful for filtering out auto-generated files, vendor directories, or other noise when reviewing pull requests. Supports standard glob patterns and can be specified multiple times. Patterns match against both the full path and basename. Closes cli#8739

…Name, fix gofmt

- add usage examples to --help output - use path.Match instead of filepath.Match for OS-consistent behavior - rename patterns to excludePatterns for clarity - simplify splitDiffSections using strings.Split

babakks

Just a nitpick, @yuvrajangadsingh.

pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go

babakks

LGTM! Thanks for your time and effort, @yuvrajangadsingh! 🙏 🚀

Tested on Linux and Windows, and works like a charm.

This MR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [cli/cli](https://github.com/cli/cli) | minor | `v2.87.3` → `v2.88.1` | MR created with the help of [el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot](https://gitlab.com/el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot). **Proposed changes to behavior should be submitted there as MRs.** --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>cli/cli (cli/cli)</summary> ### [`v2.88.1`](https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.88.1): GitHub CLI 2.88.1 [Compare Source](cli/cli@v2.88.0...v2.88.1) #### Fix `pr` commands failing with `read:project` scope error v2.88.0 introduced a regression where `pr` commands would fail with the error: ``` error: your authentication token is missing required scopes [read:project] To request it, run: gh auth refresh -s read:project ``` Previously, missing read:project scope was gracefully handled, and project data was silently skipped. A change inadvertently broke the error matching that enabled this graceful degradation. v2.88.1 reverts these changes so that `pr` commands work correctly without requiring the `read:project` scope. #### What's Changed - Migrate Windows code signing from client secret to OIDC by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12911](cli/cli#12911) - Revert "refactor: deduplicate scope error handling between api/client.go and project queries" by [@williammartin](https://github.com/williammartin) in [#12914](cli/cli#12914) - Revert "fix: clarify scope error while creating issues for projects" by [@williammartin](https://github.com/williammartin) in [#12915](cli/cli#12915) **Full Changelog**: <cli/cli@v2.88.0...v2.88.1> ### [`v2.88.0`](https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.88.0): GitHub CLI 2.88.0 [Compare Source](cli/cli@v2.87.3...v2.88.0) ####

Request Copilot Code Review from `gh` <img width="80%" height="80%" alt="image" src="proxy.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2F%3Ca+href%3D"https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c9b86700-5934-44b6-9210-227495a18d8e">https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c9b86700-5934-44b6-9210-227495a18d8e" /> `gh pr create` and `gh pr edit` now support [Copilot Code Review](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/using-github-copilot/code-review/using-copilot-code-review) as a reviewer. Request a review with `--add-reviewer @copilot`, or select Copilot interactively from the searchable reviewer prompt. Create a pull request and request review from Copilot: ``` gh pr create --reviewer @copilot ``` Edit a pull request and request review from Copilot: ``` gh pr edit --add-reviewer @copilot ``` #### Close issues as duplicates with `gh issue close --duplicate-of` You can now close issues as duplicates and link to a duplicate issue directly from the CLI. The new `--duplicate-of` flag accepts an issue number or URL and marks the closed issue as a duplicate of the referenced one. You can also use `--reason duplicate` to set the close reason without linking a specific issue. ``` # Close as duplicate, linking to the original issue gh issue close 123 --duplicate-of 456 # Close with duplicate reason only gh issue close 123 --reason duplicate ``` #### JSON support for `gh agent-task` `gh agent-task list` and `gh agent-task view` now support `--json`, `--jq`, and `--template` flags, consistent with other `gh` commands. ``` gh agent-task list --json id,name,state gh agent-task view <id> --json state --jq '.state' ``` #### What's Changed ##### ✨ Features - `gh pr create`: login-based reviewer requests and search-based interactive selection by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12627](cli/cli#12627) - `gh pr view` and `gh issue view`: show friendly display names for all actors by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12854](cli/cli#12854) - `gh issue close`: add `--duplicate-of` flag and duplicate reason by [@tksohishi](https://github.com/tksohishi) in [#12811](cli/cli#12811) - `gh pr diff`: add `--exclude` flag to filter files from diff output by [@yuvrajangadsingh](https://github.com/yuvrajangadsingh) in [#12655](cli/cli#12655) - `gh pr view/list`: add `changeType` field to files JSON output by [@yuvrajangadsingh](https://github.com/yuvrajangadsingh) in [#12657](cli/cli#12657) - `gh repo clone`: add `--no-upstream` flag by [@4RH1T3CT0R7](https://github.com/4RH1T3CT0R7) in [#12686](cli/cli#12686) - `gh repo edit`: add `--squash-merge-commit-message` flag by [@yuvrajangadsingh](https://github.com/yuvrajangadsingh) in [#12846](cli/cli#12846) - `gh browse`: add `--blame` flag by [@masonmcelvain](https://github.com/masonmcelvain) in [#11486](cli/cli#11486) - `gh agent-task list`: add `--json` support by [@maxbeizer](https://github.com/maxbeizer) in [#12806](cli/cli#12806) - `gh agent-task view`: add `--json` support by [@maxbeizer](https://github.com/maxbeizer) in [#12807](cli/cli#12807) - `gh copilot`: set `COPILOT_GH` env var when launching Copilot CLI by [@devm33](https://github.com/devm33) in [#12821](cli/cli#12821) ##### 🐛 Fixes - Fix `gh project item-edit` error when editing Draft Issue with only one (`--title`/`--body`) flag by [@ManManavadaria](https://github.com/ManManavadaria) in [#12787](cli/cli#12787) - Fix extension install error message showing raw struct instead of `owner/repo` by [@Copilot](https://github.com/Copilot) in [#12836](cli/cli#12836) - Fix incorrect integer conversion from int to uint16 in port forwarder by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12831](cli/cli#12831) - Fix invalid ANSI SGR escape code in JSON and diff colorization by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12720](cli/cli#12720) - Fix assignees `databaseId` always being `0` in `--json` output by [@srt32](https://github.com/srt32) in [#12783](cli/cli#12783) - Fix error when `--remote` flag used with repo argument by [@majiayu000](https://github.com/majiayu000) in [#12375](cli/cli#12375) - Fix redundant API call in `gh issue view --comments` by [@VishnuVV27](https://github.com/VishnuVV27) in [#12652](cli/cli#12652) - Clarify scope error while creating issues for projects by [@elijahthis](https://github.com/elijahthis) in [#12596](cli/cli#12596) - Reject pull request-only search qualifiers in `gh issue list` by [@LouisLau-art](https://github.com/LouisLau-art) in [#12623](cli/cli#12623) - Prevent `.git/config` corruption on repeated `issue develop --name` invocation by [@gunadhya](https://github.com/gunadhya) in [#12651](cli/cli#12651) - Use pre-compiled regexp for matching Content-Type by [@itchyny](https://github.com/itchyny) in [#12781](cli/cli#12781) - Isolate generated licenses per platform (os/arch) by [@babakks](https://github.com/babakks) in [#12774](cli/cli#12774) ##### 📚 Docs & Chores - Add examples to `gh issue close` help text by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12830](cli/cli#12830) - Customizable install `prefix` in Makefile by [@scarf005](https://github.com/scarf005) in [#11714](cli/cli#11714) - Deduplicate scope error handling between `api/client.go` and project queries by [@yuvrajangadsingh](https://github.com/yuvrajangadsingh) in [#12845](cli/cli#12845) - Remove unnecessary `StateReason` and `StateReasonDuplicate` feature detection by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12838](cli/cli#12838) - Update Go version requirement to 1.26+ by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12864](cli/cli#12864) - Add monthly pitch surfacing workflow by [@tidy-dev](https://github.com/tidy-dev) in [#12894](cli/cli#12894) #####

Dependencies - Bump Go from 1.25.7 to 1.26.1 by [@BagToad](https://github.com/BagToad) in [#12860](cli/cli#12860) - chore(deps): bump golang.org/x/sync from 0.19.0 to 0.20.0 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12886](cli/cli#12886) - chore(deps): bump google.golang.org/grpc from 1.79.1 to 1.79.2 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12851](cli/cli#12851) - chore(deps): bump github.com/docker/cli from 29.0.3+incompatible to 29.2.0+incompatible by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12842](cli/cli#12842) - chore(deps): bump google.golang.org/grpc from 1.78.0 to 1.79.1 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12759](cli/cli#12759) - chore(deps): bump goreleaser/goreleaser-action from 6.4.0 to 7.0.0 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12760](cli/cli#12760) - chore(deps): bump actions/upload-artifact from 6 to 7 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12797](cli/cli#12797) - chore(deps): bump actions/download-artifact from 7 to 8 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12796](cli/cli#12796) - chore(deps): bump actions/attest-build-provenance from 3.2.0 to 4.1.0 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12795](cli/cli#12795) - chore(deps): bump github.com/gabriel-vasile/mimetype from 1.4.11 to 1.4.13 by [@dependabot](https://github.com/dependabot)\[bot] in [#12615](cli/cli#12615) #### New Contributors - [@srt32](https://github.com/srt32) made their first contribution in [#12783](cli/cli#12783) - [@itchyny](https://github.com/itchyny) made their first contribution in [#12781](cli/cli#12781) - [@VishnuVV27](https://github.com/VishnuVV27) made their first contribution in [#12652](cli/cli#12652) - [@elijahthis](https://github.com/elijahthis) made their first contribution in [#12596](cli/cli#12596) - [@ManManavadaria](https://github.com/ManManavadaria) made their first contribution in [#12787](cli/cli#12787) - [@maxbeizer](https://github.com/maxbeizer) made their first contribution in [#12806](cli/cli#12806) - [@LouisLau-art](https://github.com/LouisLau-art) made their first contribution in [#12623](cli/cli#12623) - [@4RH1T3CT0R7](https://github.com/4RH1T3CT0R7) made their first contribution in [#12686](cli/cli#12686) - [@yuvrajangadsingh](https://github.com/yuvrajangadsingh) made their first contribution in [#12657](cli/cli#12657) - [@masonmcelvain](https://github.com/masonmcelvain) made their first contribution in [#11486](cli/cli#11486) - [@scarf005](https://github.com/scarf005) made their first contribution in [#11714](cli/cli#11714) - [@tksohishi](https://github.com/tksohishi) made their first contribution in [#12811](cli/cli#12811) - [@tidy-dev](https://github.com/tidy-dev) made their first contribution in [#12894](cli/cli#12894) **Full Changelog**: <cli/cli@v2.87.3...v2.88.0> </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined), Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined). 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever MR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this MR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] If you want to rebase/retry this MR, check this box --- This MR has been generated by [Renovate Bot](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate).

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yuvrajangadsingh force-pushed the feature/pr-diff-exclude branch 2 times, most recently from 186d5d5 to bc15e7d Compare February 20, 2026 08:13

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yuvrajangadsingh added 4 commits March 6, 2026 23:07

fix: share diffHeaderRegexp between changedFilesNames and extractFile…

8bd48af

…Name, fix gofmt

fix: address review feedback for --exclude flag

d7f1d8e

- add usage examples to --help output - use path.Match instead of filepath.Match for OS-consistent behavior - rename patterns to excludePatterns for clarity - simplify splitDiffSections using strings.Split

fix: align example indentation with codebase convention

a331ef7

yuvrajangadsingh force-pushed the feature/pr-diff-exclude branch from f2ac428 to a331ef7 Compare March 6, 2026 17:37

babakks mentioned this pull request Mar 9, 2026

Add --exclude flag to gh pr diff #12870

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pkg/cmd/pr/diff/diff.go Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

yuvrajangadsingh and others added 2 commits March 9, 2026 19:26

refactor: change extractFileName param from []byte to string

ea83ca0

Merge branch 'trunk' into feature/pr-diff-exclude

78891fc

yuvrajangadsingh requested a review from babakks March 9, 2026 14:06

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babakks merged commit 4ae2743 into cli:trunk Mar 9, 2026
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yuvrajangadsingh mentioned this pull request Mar 9, 2026

feat(repo): add --squash-merge-commit-message flag to gh repo edit #12846

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