Explain diff

Explain diff

Transfer ownership of a change. Manual mode is repository-read-only; --visual may write only to the system temp directory.

Establish the evidence

Parse --visual; the rest is a working tree, branch, range, PR, patch, or packet. Default to the current worktree. Use the available request, plan, chronicle, verification, and details about what was not checked. Do not require a standard packet.

In Full, require the request, plan or chronicle, diff, fresh Verify results, and details about what was not checked. Otherwise inspect read-only.

State verification status. With absent or stale evidence, label Unverified change and separate code facts from unproved behavior.

For --visual, read visual mode. At the automatic Full checkpoint, name the dynamic concept a visual would clarify and ask Continue in chat or Create visual; only the latter activates it.

Teach the change

Assume no project knowledge. Present only what the change needs:

1. the minimum background and vocabulary needed;
2. the intuition and functional result;
3. concrete examples or sanitized toy data;
4. a guided diff ordered by concept, not file order;
5. decisions, trade-offs, failure modes, and evidence limits;
6. the comprehension dialogue below.

Use a small diagram only when clearer than prose.

Check understanding

Merge overlapping concepts and omit filler. Zero questions is valid. Cover relevant business rules, invariants, flows, states, edge cases, architecture, lifecycle, concurrency, trade-offs, failure modes, and evidence—not syntax.

Ask one applied free-response question at a time through AskUserQuestion. Show the text box with I don't know — explain and Proceed without answering, translated to the conversation language. Do not offer answer choices. In the question text, invite the user to answer in the free-text box; never name interface internals such as "Other".

If the interface cannot show selectable actions, list those two actions beside the free-response prompt.

• Correct: cite the evidence briefly and continue.
• Incorrect or explain: reteach from first principles, then ask a different applied question.
• Second unsuccessful attempt: expose the gap and offer more dialogue or conscious skip.
• Proceed without answering: record a conscious decision in the chronicle as unverified, without raw dialogue; never count it as success.