Use IntelliJ or WebStorm as git mergetool with SourceTree

gitconfig.md

Use IntelliJ or WebStorm as git mergetool

Configure Sourcetree

The merge tool that ships with JetBrain's IntelliJ IDEA or WebStorm is really awesome and way better than FileMerge. It is quite simple to configure SourceTree to use it as the default mergetool:

1. Open the SourceTree preferences and select the Diff tab

2. Choose Custom both as Visual Diff Tool and as Merge Tool

3. Paste the following commands into the textfields:

   • Diff Command: /Applications/IntelliJ\ IDEA.app/Contents/MacOS/idea diff

     • Arguments: $(cd $(dirname "$LOCAL") && pwd)/$(basename "$LOCAL") $(cd $(dirname "$REMOTE") && pwd)/$(basename "$REMOTE")

   • Merge Command: /Applications/IntelliJ\ IDEA.app/Contents/MacOS/idea merge

     • Arguments: $(cd $(dirname "$LOCAL") && pwd)/$(basename "$LOCAL") $(cd $(dirname "$REMOTE") && pwd)/$(basename "$REMOTE") $(cd $(dirname "$BASE") && pwd)/$(basename "$BASE") $(cd $(dirname "$MERGED") && pwd)/$(basename "$MERGED")

4. Close the settings. Happy merging!

Git in general

To manually change the mergetool for git in general follow these steps:

1. Open the ~/.gitconfig file with your favorite editor

2. Add these lines somewhere in the config:

   [merge]
           tool = intellij
   [difftool "intellij"]
           cmd = /Applications/IntelliJ\\ IDEA.app/Contents/MacOS/idea diff $(cd $(dirname \"$LOCAL\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$LOCAL\") $(cd $(dirname \"$REMOTE\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$REMOTE\")
   [mergetool "intellij"]
           cmd = /Applications/IntelliJ\\ IDEA.app/Contents/MacOS/idea merge $(cd $(dirname \"$LOCAL\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$LOCAL\") $(cd $(dirname \"$REMOTE\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$REMOTE\") $(cd $(dirname \"$BASE\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$BASE\") $(cd $(dirname \"$MERGED\") && pwd)/$(basename \"$MERGED\")
           trustExitCode = true
   

Downsides

It takes a few more seconds to launch the IntelliJ merge tool than to launch FileMerge, but it is definitely worth waiting.

Credits

Based on this article on coderwall: https://coderwall.com/p/gc_hqw/use-intellij-or-webstorm-as-your-git-diff-tool-even-on-windows

I found the .gitconfig and git difftool --dir-diff solution at https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-284927#focus=Comments-27-5653070.0-0 was effective for me on Big Sur with a JetBrains Toolbox installation of IntelliJ Idea. This doesn't rely on the command line aliases for IntelliJ Idea being installed or working properly.

.gitconfig

[diff]
   tool = intellij
[difftool "intellij"]
   cmd = open -nWa 'IntelliJ IDEA.app' --args diff $(realpath "$LOCAL") $(realpath "$REMOTE")

Example invocation

git difftool --dir-diff -y -t intellij 59af7299a HEAD

I recently updated from RubyMine some 2020 version to 2021.3.2. It started running into an error, saying it couldn't find the file. I tried the wait option, which didn't work. I also tried manually adding a sleep statement, like cmd = sleep 5 && mine merge .... but that didn't work either.

Ultimately I had to change trustExitCode = true to trustExitCode = false, and that causes Rubymine to successfully open the merge window. This requires typing "y" after each file though.

Before I was using this long command:

cmd = mine merge $(cd $(dirname "$LOCAL") && pwd)/$(basename "$LOCAL") $(cd $(dirname "$REMOTE") && pwd)/$(basename "$REMOTE") $(cd $(dirname "$BASE") && pwd)/$(basename "$BASE") $(cd $(dirname "$MERGED") && pwd)/$(basename "$MERGED")

but now it's working with just

cmd = mine merge $LOCAL $REMOTE $BASE $MERGED

Who has IDEA installed with Jetbrains Toolbox and using idea command like me, will occur problem when tmp files are removed before idea diff/merge window opens.
In this case --wait or -W flag will be handy, but it will not work util small fix in idea script file:

//script file: /Users/<USER>/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/Toolbox/scripts/idea

for o in "$@"; do
  if [[ "$o" = "--wait" || "$o" = "-w" ]]; then
    wait="-W"
    o="" # "--wait:" >>> CHANGED TO EMPTY ""
  fi
  if [[ "$o" =~ " " ]]; then
    ideargs+=("\"$o\"")
  else
    ideargs+=("$o")
  fi
done

Finally my .gitconfig file looks like:

[difftool]
	prompt=false
[merge]
        tool = intellij
[difftool "intellij"]
        cmd = idea diff $LOCAL $REMOTE --wait
[mergetool "intellij"]
        cmd = idea merge $LOCAL $REMOTE $BASE $MERGED --wait
        trustExitCode = true

And all works as expected 🙂

Credit: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-264471/idea-diff-command-does-not-recognize-wait-argument#focus=Comments-27-4944776.0-0