Overview
Diff answers one question: what’s actually different between these two pipelines right now? Both Diff entry points are completely read-only. Nothing is written, nothing is published, and the dialog says so:“Compares this entity’s mappings against the target pipeline — nothing is changed.”
Diff uses the same comparison engine and the same walkthrough as the Merge wizard — just with no decisions and no commit. What you see in a Diff is what a sync would act on.
Comparing a Single Entity
1
Open the Entity Actions Menu
Open a pipeline, open a layer (for example Silver), and click the three-dot menu (⋮) on an entity row.
2
Select Diff
Click Diff to open the comparison dialog for that entity.
3
Pick the Target and Compare
Choose the target pipeline and click View diff.
Comparing Two Pipelines
1
Open the Actions Menu
From the pipelines list, click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the pipeline you want to compare from and hover Manage.
2
Select Diff
Click Diff to open the comparison dialog.
3
Pick the Target
Choose the pipeline to compare against.
4
View the Diff
Click View Diff. You step through every differing entity, exactly like the Merge wizard, but with no toggles and no commit button.Entities that are identical on both sides are skipped, so everything you see is a real difference.
When to Use Diff
- Before deciding whether to sync at all. If nothing differs, there’s nothing to sync.
- Before an Overwrite into production. Overwrite deletes target-only mappings; a Diff shows you exactly what that means before you commit to it.
- To hand a colleague a review. Walk the Diff together before a large sync.
- To confirm a sync landed. Diff the two pipelines afterward — a clean comparison means the target matches the source.
- To measure drift. Diff a long-lived test pipeline against main to see how far it has diverged before starting new work.
Reading a Diff
Each differing entity shows a one-line summary of what differs — a count such as3 traits, 1 join, or only in source / only in target for an entity that exists on just one side. Entities that depend on other entities list those as depends on chips.
Differences are grouped by the part of the entity they belong to — the entity itself, or one of its maps — and tagged Add, Update, Remove, or Unchanged, from the perspective of applying the source to the target.
Troubleshooting
The Diff Shows More Differences Than Expected
Problem: You changed three fields but the Diff lists many more. Solution:- Check for renames — they appear as a removal plus an addition.
- Check whether the target has changed independently since you last looked. A Diff compares both sides as they are right now, not just your work.
- Confirm you’re comparing against the pipeline you intended.
Related Topics
Syncing a Single Entity
Apply what the Diff showed you, one entity at a time
Syncing Pipelines
Apply it across the whole pipeline
Reviewing Changes with Merge
The same walkthrough, with decisions
Sync Strategies
How each strategy handles each difference
