Install git-delta with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• delta

Project history

The upstream repository began in June 2019 as a Rust project that read unified diff input from standard input and wrote formatted output. Tags began the next month, and the project iterated through many 0.x releases as it added terminal rendering, syntax highlighting, layout controls, and Git-specific affordances.

The README positions delta as a customizable pager rather than a replacement for Git. It highlights syntax themes shared with bat, word-level diff highlighting, side-by-side views, line numbers, diff navigation, merge-conflict display, blame formatting, grep highlighting, hyperlink support, and emulation modes for diff-highlight and diff-so-fancy.

Adoption history

Delta's package-manager footprint is broad: the input metadata lists packages across Homebrew, Debian and Ubuntu, Fedora-family distributions, MacPorts, Nix, Arch-family repositories, Scoop, winget, Chocolatey, and Alpine under either `git-delta` or `delta` naming.

Its adoption followed a wider terminal tooling trend around Rust CLIs that improve classic Unix and Git output while keeping pipeline semantics. The package name split is part of its packaging identity: many package managers call it `git-delta`, while the command users run is `delta`.

How it is used

The documented Git setup adds `core.pager = delta`, `interactive.diffFilter = delta --color-only`, and delta-specific options such as `navigate`, dark or light theme selection, side-by-side view, and line numbers in `~/.gitconfig`.

Practitioners use it anywhere unified diff-like output appears: Git diffs and logs, merge conflicts, blame output, `git grep`, ripgrep, and plain `diff`. Its configuration style lets users keep close to Git's default output or build richer review-oriented layouts.

Why package nerds care

For package maintainers and terminal-tool collectors, delta is a representative high-adoption Rust CLI: a single binary, cross-platform packages, shell-friendly standard input and output behavior, and tight integration with existing Git configuration.

It also bridges several popular diff-enhancement lineages. Users who previously relied on `diff-highlight` or `diff-so-fancy` can use delta's emulation modes while gaining syntax themes and richer terminal layout.

Timeline

• 2019: The Rust repository begins and the first 0.0.x tags are released.
• 2020: Version 0.1.0 is tagged as the project moves beyond its first release series.
• 2021: The 0.8 through 0.11 series expands pager and display features.
• 2022: The 0.12 through 0.15 series continues Git integration and terminal rendering work.
• 2024: Version 0.18.x is released.
• 2026: Version 0.19.x is released.

Related projects

• bat is related through shared syntax-highlighting themes named by the README.
• diff-highlight and diff-so-fancy are related Git diff-enhancement tools that delta can emulate.
• ripgrep and Git grep are related producers of output that delta can syntax-highlight.

Sources

• https://dandavison.github.io/delta documents the user manual.
• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/git-delta documents Homebrew packaging.
• https://github.com/dandavison/delta documents project purpose, configuration, feature list, and maintainers.
• https://github.com/dandavison/delta/releases documents tagged release progression.