GitLab Image Diff — Bookmarklet

Highlights pixel-level differences in GitLab MR image diffs. Works on any GitLab instance.

Installation

Create a new bookmark in your browser with the URL below (paste it into the URL field directly, dragging doesn't work from Markdown):

javascript:(function%20()%20%7B%20const%20PANEL_ATTR%20%3D%20%22data-gl-diff-panel%22%3B%20function%20processViewers()%20%7B%20document%20.querySelectorAll('button%5Baria-label%3D%22Show%20file%20contents%22%5D')%20.forEach((b)%20%3D%3E%20b.click())%3B%20document%20.querySelectorAll('%5Bdata-testid%3D%22expand-button%22%5D')%20.forEach((b)%20%3D%3E%20b.click())%3B%20document.querySelectorAll(%22.view-modes-menu%20li%22).forEach((li)%20%3D%3E%20%7B%20if%20(li.textContent.trim()%20%3D%3D%3D%20%222-up%22%20%26%26%20!li.classList.contains(%22active%22))%20li.click()%3B%20%7D)%3B%20document.querySelectorAll(%22.diff-viewer%20.image%22).forEach((viewer)%20%3D%3E%20%7B%20if%20(viewer.querySelector(%22%5B%22%20%2B%20PANEL_ATTR%20%2B%20%22%5D%22))%20return%3B%20const%20oldImg%20%3D%20viewer.querySelector(%22.frame.deleted%20img%22)%3B%20const%20newImg%20%3D%20viewer.querySelector(%22.frame.added%20img%22)%3B%20if%20(!oldImg%20%7C%7C%20!newImg)%20return%3B%20injectDiffPanel(viewer%2C%20oldImg.src%2C%20newImg.src)%3B%20%7D)%3B%20%7D%20let%20debTimer%3B%20const%20obs%20%3D%20new%20MutationObserver(()%20%3D%3E%20%7B%20clearTimeout(debTimer)%3B%20debTimer%20%3D%20setTimeout(processViewers%2C%20200)%3B%20%7D)%3B%20obs.observe(document.body%2C%20%7BchildList%3A%20true%2C%20subtree%3A%20true%7D)%3B%20processViewers()%3B%20function%20injectDiffPanel(viewer%2C%20oldSrc%2C%20newSrc)%20%7B%20const%20panel%20%3D%20document.createElement(%22div%22)%3B%20panel.setAttribute(PANEL_ATTR%2C%20%221%22)%3B%20panel.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22margin%3A0%3Bpadding%3A10px%2012px%2014px%3Bbackground%3A%230d0d0d%3Bborder-top%3A3px%20solid%20%23fc6d26%3B%22%3B%20const%20label%20%3D%20document.createElement(%22div%22)%3B%20label.textContent%20%3D%20%22%E2%96%B6%20Pixel%20diff%20%E2%80%94%20grey%20%3D%20unchanged%20%C2%B7%20colour%20%3D%20changed%22%3B%20label.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22color%3A%23fc6d26%3Bfont%3A700%2011px%2F2.2%20monospace%3Bletter-spacing%3A.05em%3Bmargin-bottom%3A4px%3B%22%3B%20const%20outerWrap%20%3D%20document.createElement(%22div%22)%3B%20outerWrap.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22position%3Arelative%3Bdisplay%3Ainline-block%3Bline-height%3A0%3Bmax-width%3A100%25%3B%22%3B%20const%20baseImg%20%3D%20new%20Image()%3B%20baseImg.src%20%3D%20newSrc%3B%20baseImg.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22display%3Ablock%3Bmax-width%3A100%25%3Bfilter%3Agrayscale(1)%20contrast(0.3)%20brightness(1.0)%3B%22%3B%20const%20diffGroup%20%3D%20document.createElement(%22div%22)%3B%20diffGroup.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22position%3Aabsolute%3Binset%3A0%3B%22%20%2B%20%22filter%3Abrightness(25)%20saturate(5)%3B%22%20%2B%20%22mix-blend-mode%3Acolor-dodge%3B%22%3B%20const%20img1%20%3D%20new%20Image()%3B%20img1.src%20%3D%20oldSrc%3B%20img1.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22display%3Ablock%3Bwidth%3A100%25%3Bheight%3A100%25%3B%22%3B%20const%20img2%20%3D%20new%20Image()%3B%20img2.src%20%3D%20newSrc%3B%20img2.style.cssText%20%3D%20%22position%3Aabsolute%3Binset%3A0%3Bwidth%3A100%25%3Bheight%3A100%25%3Bmix-blend-mode%3Adifference%3B%22%3B%20diffGroup.append(img1%2C%20img2)%3B%20outerWrap.append(baseImg%2C%20diffGroup)%3B%20panel.append(label%2C%20outerWrap)%3B%20viewer.appendChild(panel)%3B%20%7D%20%7D)()%3B

Usage

1. Open a GitLab MR and go to the Changes tab.
2. Click GL Image Diff in your bookmarks bar.
3. A pixel diff panel appears beneath each image diff as you scroll. The bookmarklet observes the DOM and injects panels the moment each file is rendered by GitLab's virtual scrolling.

Reading the diff: The panel shows the new screenshot in greyscale as context. Changed pixels glow in colour on top. Grey = unchanged, colour = changed.

Regenerating the URL from source

After editing gitlab-image-diff.js, run

node -e "
const src = require('fs').readFileSync('./gitlab-image-diff.js', 'utf8');
const min = src
  .replace(/\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\//g, '')
  .replace(/\/\/[^\n]*/g, '')
  .replace(/\s+/g, ' ')
  .trim();
process.stdout.write('javascript:' + encodeURIComponent(min) + '\n');
"

Paste the output into the Installation section above.

How the diff rendering works

Pure CSS compositing.

Layer 1 — base: new image with filter: grayscale(1) contrast(0.3) brightness(1.0)

Layer 2 — diff group, composited onto layer 1 with mix-blend-mode: color-dodge:

• Inside the group: old image (normal) + new image with mix-blend-mode: difference → |new − old| per pixel
• filter: brightness(25) saturate(5) amplifies the result
• color-dodge(base, 0) = base → unchanged pixels (diff = 0) leave the grey untouched
• color-dodge(base, diff) = base / (1 − diff) → non-linear: even a small diff value pushes the result sharply toward white, making changed pixels clearly visible as bright coloured spots