ec (easy-conflict)

Terminal Git conflict resolver and diff viewer

ec (easy-conflict) helps you resolve Git merge conflicts and review changes without leaving the terminal. 3-way conflict resolver with diff3 base comparison, or browse working tree and commit changes in the diff viewer.

Features

1. 3 pane TUI with ours, result, and theirs
2. Diff3 base view when available via git merge-file
3. Diff viewer with a file explorer and split or unified layouts
4. Non interactive modes for CI or scripts
5. Optional backup of the merged file

Installation

Homebrew

brew install ec

Npm

npm install -g @chojs23/ec

Or run without installing:

npx @chojs23/ec

The npm package is a thin installer that downloads the matching prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases at install time. Set EC_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=1 to skip the postinstall download in restricted environments.

Nix

Install the packaged release from nixpkgs:

nix profile add nixpkgs#ec

Run the latest repo state without installing:

nix run github:chojs23/ec

Install the latest repo state into your profile:

nix profile add github:chojs23/ec

The nixpkgs package can lag behind the latest upstream release. Use the direct repo commands above if you want the newest branch or tag immediately.

Install script

You can run the installer through Make:

make install

• On Windows, this runs scripts/install.ps1.
• On Linux/macOS, this runs scripts/install.sh.

Go install

go install github.com/chojs23/ec/cmd/ec@latest

Via curl

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chojs23/ec/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Arch Linux (AUR)

build from source:

pikaur -S easy-conflict

binary:

pikaur -S easy-conflict-bin

Windows

Download a Windows binary from GitHub Releases and add it to your PATH.

PowerShell installer (default: latest release, install to $HOME\\.local\\bin):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chojs23/ec/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Available release artifacts:

• ec-windows-amd64.exe
• ec-windows-arm64.exe

Build from source

make build

Quick start

Run with no args inside a Git repo

ec

The selector shows conflicted files first, followed by a View Diff section. Choose working tree to inspect staged, unstaged, and untracked changes, or choose one of the latest 100 commits. Each commit row shows its total deletions in red and additions in green. The diff viewer lists changed files in the left pane and shows the selected file patch in an old/new split layout by default. Press s to toggle between split and unified diff layouts.

Diff viewer keys:

• h / l: focus the file explorer or diff view
• j / k: move or scroll in the focused pane
• H / L, left / right, or horizontal mouse wheel: scroll the focused pane horizontally
• ctrl+u / ctrl+d: scroll half a page
• gg / G: go to the top or bottom
• e: open or close the file explorer
• s: toggle unified or split diff
• option+h / option+l or option+left / option+right: resize the file explorer
• q: return to the selector

Notes

ec does not run git add after you write

Git will still decide whether the merge is resolved based on the file contents

Git mergetool configuration

You can set ec as your git mergetool by adding this to your git config

git config --global merge.tool ec
git config --global mergetool.ec.cmd 'ec "$BASE" "$LOCAL" "$REMOTE" "$MERGED"'
git config --global mergetool.ec.trustExitCode true

Jujutsu merge-editor configuration

You can set ec as your jujutsu merge-editor by adding this to your jujutsu config

jj config set --user ui.merge-editor 'ec'
jj config set --user merge-tools.ec.merge-args '["$base", "$left", "$right", "$output"]'

Usage

Interactive

ec <BASE> <LOCAL> <REMOTE> <MERGED>
ec --base <path> --local <path> --remote <path> --merged <path>

No args mode

ec

Non interactive

ec --check --merged <path>
ec --apply-all ours --base <path> --local <path> --remote <path> --merged <path>

Neovim plugin (terminal buffer)

This repo includes a minimal Neovim plugin that opens ec in a terminal buffer.

Install with your plugin manager and ensure ec is on your PATH.

Minimal config

require("ec").setup()

Using lazy.nvim

{
  "chojs23/ec",
  keys = {
    { "<leader>gr", ":Ec<CR>", desc = "Open ec" },
  },
}

{
  cmd = "ec",
  open_cmd = "tabnew",
  cwd = nil,
  float = true,
  close_on_exit = true,
}

Option notes:

• cmd: executable name or list with default args; :Ec args are appended.
• open_cmd: Vim command used when float is disabled or unavailable.
• cwd: working directory for ec; string path or function; defaults to getcwd().
• float: enable floating window; table merges with float defaults.
• close_on_exit: close terminal on successful exit code 0.

Float defaults when float = true:

{
  width = 0.92,
  height = 0.86,
  border = "rounded",
  title = "ec",
  title_pos = "center",
  zindex = 50,
}

Float option notes:

• width and height: fractions of editor when <= 1, otherwise absolute size.
• border: floating window border style.
• title: title text for the float.
• title_pos: title alignment.
• zindex: float stacking order.

Commands

:Ec
:Ec --base <path> --local <path> --remote <path> --merged <path>

Resolver screen

The resolver shows three panes in one view.

The header shows the current conflict and how many remain unresolved. A fixed state strip separates selection from the applied result, even when pane titles are narrow:

The center pane shows the result, with an explicit state for the current block:

Applied does not mean saved. Press w or ctrl+s to write the result.

Use e to open $EDITOR with the current result. When you exit the editor, the resolver reloads the merged file and keeps manual edits.

Key bindings

Keybindings are vim-like by default.

Navigation

• n / p: next and previous conflict
• gg / G: jump to top / bottom
• zz: recenter on selected hunk start
• j / k / up / down: vertical scroll
• ctrl+u / ctrl+d: half-page up / down
• H / L / left / right: horizontal scroll

Selection and apply

• h / l: select ours or theirs
• a / space: accept selection
• o / t / b / x: apply ours, theirs, both, or none
• d: discard selection
• O / T: apply ours or theirs to all

Other

• u: undo
• ctrl+r: redo
• e: open $EDITOR with current result
• w / ctrl+s: write file without quitting
• q: back to selector or quit

Theme configuration

The TUI can load colors from a theme config file.

Config path:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ec/themes.json (when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set)

If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set, ec uses os.UserConfigDir()/ec/themes.json. Typical defaults are ~/.config/ec/themes.json on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/ec/themes.json on macOS, and %AppData%\ec\themes.json on Windows.

Example:

{
  "default": "warm",
  "themes": {
    "warm": {
      "header_bg": "94",
      "header_fg": "230",
      "added_bg": "58",
      "removed_bg": "88",
      "result_fg": "#f1f1f1",
      "selected_side_border": "#79c0ff"
    }
  }
}

Missing keys fall back to the built-in defaults. The diff viewer uses selected_side_border for its focused pane so selection matches the conflict resolver. Both screens use added_bg and removed_bg behind syntax-colored code. The resolver uses selected_hunk_marker_fg and selected_hunk_marker_bg for the current block labels and pane_border for the result border. Unresolved block labels use selector_unresolved_fg, sharing the selector's red unresolved color. Pending preview text keeps status_unresolved_fg.

Legacy line-highlight, per-line conflict, dimming, result-border, and connector keys remain accepted for old theme files, but no longer control resolver code rows or its result border. Use the keys above for the current resolver layout.

Hex colors require a TrueColor-capable terminal to avoid 256-color downsampling.

Supported keys: title_fg, pane_border, selected_pane_border, side_pane_border, selected_side_border, header_bg, header_fg, footer_bg, footer_fg, line_number, ours_highlight_bg, ours_highlight_fg, theirs_highlight_bg, theirs_highlight_fg, result_fg, result_highlight_bg, result_highlight_fg, modified_bg, modified_fg, added_bg, added_fg, removed_bg, removed_fg, diff_hunk_bg, diff_hunk_fg, conflicted_bg, conflicted_fg, insert_marker_fg, selected_hunk_marker_fg, selected_hunk_marker_bg, selected_hunk_bg, status_resolved_fg, status_unresolved_fg, result_resolved_marker_fg, result_resolved_border, result_unresolved_border, toast_bg, toast_fg, selector_resolved_fg, selector_unresolved_fg, dim_foreground_light, file_status_modified_fg, file_status_untracked_fg, file_status_added_fg, file_status_deleted_fg, file_status_renamed_fg, file_status_conflicted_fg, dim_foreground_dark, dim_foreground_muted.

Key	Default
title_fg	#c9d1d9
pane_border	245
selected_pane_border	117
side_pane_border	245
selected_side_border	117
header_bg	#161b22
header_fg	#f0f6fc
footer_bg	#161b22
footer_fg	#8b949e
line_number	#6e7681
ours_highlight_bg	24
ours_highlight_fg	230
theirs_highlight_bg	52
theirs_highlight_fg	230
result_fg	231
result_highlight_bg	60
result_highlight_fg	230
modified_bg	24
modified_fg	231
added_bg	#0d4429
added_fg	#7ee787
removed_bg	#4c1c1c
removed_fg	#ff7b72
diff_hunk_bg	#162a46
diff_hunk_fg	#79c0ff
conflicted_bg	131
conflicted_fg	231
insert_marker_fg	196
selected_hunk_marker_fg	117
selected_hunk_marker_bg	#161b22
selected_hunk_bg	236
status_resolved_fg	42
status_unresolved_fg	#d29922
result_resolved_marker_fg	42
result_resolved_border	245
result_unresolved_border	245
toast_bg	22
toast_fg	230
selector_resolved_fg	42
selector_unresolved_fg	196
file_status_modified_fg	#d29922
file_status_untracked_fg	#a371f7
file_status_added_fg	#3fb950
file_status_deleted_fg	#f85149
file_status_renamed_fg	#58a6ff
file_status_conflicted_fg	#ff7b72
dim_foreground_light	231
dim_foreground_dark	16
dim_foreground_muted	244

Backup behavior

Backups are off by default. Use --backup to write a sibling file named .ec.bak before writing the result.

Base view behavior

Base chunks come from git merge-file --diff3 output. If the base stage is missing for a file, the tool continues without a base view and prints a warning.

Contributing

New features and bug reports are welcome.

Feel free to open an issue or a pull request.

License

MIT