Reviewing Changes
The Changes panel is a built-in git diff reviewer. It shows exactly what an agent changed - file by file, line by line - without leaving Kangentic or switching to an external diff tool.
Opening the Changes Panel
Section titled “Opening the Changes Panel”Open it from any of these places:
- Task context menu - right-click a task card and choose Changes
- Task detail window - press Ctrl+Shift+G (Cmd+Shift+G on macOS), or open it from the kebab menu
- Command Terminal - review the diff against the base branch while you work an ad-hoc session
Layout
Section titled “Layout”The panel is a two-pane view: a file tree on the left and the diff viewer on the right. Drag the divider between them to widen the tree for long branch names or deep file paths. On open, the tree auto-fits to the branch name and last-commit line, and each task remembers the width you set.
Branch Header
Section titled “Branch Header”The top of the file tree shows live branch context, refreshed automatically as work lands:
- The current branch name (or Detached HEAD)
- Ahead / behind counts versus the base branch - how many commits this branch has that the base doesn’t, and vice versa
- The last commit on the branch: short hash, subject, and relative time
Diff Scope
Section titled “Diff Scope”A segmented control switches which set of changes the panel diffs:
| Scope | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Working | Uncommitted working-tree edits (git diff) - the active subset you are editing right now |
| Staged | Changes added to the index (git diff --staged) |
| Branch | Everything this branch has accumulated versus its base - the full pull request. Uses git merge-base, so upstream commits are excluded |
A freshly opened panel starts on the scope set by Default Diff Scope (Settings > Layout, default Working). Switching scope is per-task and re-reads the file list, since each scope surfaces a different set of files.
File Tree
Section titled “File Tree”The file list shows every changed file with a status icon and per-file insertion/deletion counts. The header reports the total file count and aggregate +/- lines.
Status icons: Added, Modified, Deleted, Renamed, Copied, and Untracked (new, uncommitted) files each get a distinct colored icon.
Controls above the list let you shape the view:
- Filter files - type to narrow the list to matching paths
- Sort - cycle the file order between name, status (additions first, deletions last), and size (most-changed first)
- Tree / flat toggle - switch between a nested directory tree (single-child folders are compacted, VS Code style) and a flat list of full repo-relative paths
- Collapse all / expand all - fold or unfold every directory at once (tree view only)
Viewed Marks
Section titled “Viewed Marks”Each file row has a viewed checkbox. Check it to mark a file as reviewed - its row dims, and a “N/M viewed” badge tracks your progress through the changeset. Stepping forward past a file’s last change with keyboard navigation marks it viewed automatically.
File Actions
Section titled “File Actions”Right-click any file for a context menu:
- Open in editor - open the file in your OS default application
- Reveal in file manager - show the file in your file browser
- Copy path - copy the repo-relative path to the clipboard
Diff Viewer
Section titled “Diff Viewer”Click a file to view its diff on the right. The first file is auto-selected when you open the panel, with the view centered on its first change.
Toggle between split (side by side) and inline (unified) layouts from the toolbar. This Git Diff View preference is saved globally and applies to every task and project - set it here or in Settings > Layout.
Keyboard Navigation
Section titled “Keyboard Navigation”When a task window is focused, review the diff from the keyboard. Every binding is rebindable in Settings > Hotkeys (the Git Changes group).
| Action | Default | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Next Change | Alt+Down (or F7) | Jump to the next change. Past a file’s last change, continue into the next file |
| Previous Change | Alt+Up (or Shift+F7) | Jump to the previous change. Before a file’s first change, continue into the previous file |
| Next Changed File | Alt+Shift+Down | Select the next file in the tree |
| Previous Changed File | Alt+Shift+Up | Select the previous file in the tree |
Live Updates
Section titled “Live Updates”The panel watches the working tree and git metadata, so it stays current on its own. As an agent edits files or you commit, stage, or switch branches, the file list, branch header, and the open diff refresh automatically - there is no manual refresh button. Updates are served from cache while a background re-read runs, so the view never flashes a loading spinner.
What Persists
Section titled “What Persists”| Remembered per task | Global preferences |
|---|---|
| Selected file, diff scroll position, file-tree width | Git Diff View (split/inline), Default Diff Scope, File Sort, Flat File List, Ignore Whitespace, Collapse Unchanged Regions |
Per-task state returns you to where you left off when you reopen a task. The global diff preferences live under Settings > Layout > Diff - see the Configuration Reference for keys and defaults.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”See also:
- Creating Tasks - the task detail window that hosts the Changes panel
- Git Worktrees - the isolated branches the panel diffs against the base
- Shortcuts - rebind the diff-review keys