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Add VSCode-style scrollbar change indicators to diff viewer #2315

Closed as duplicate

Description

@jeremy-aminiti

Summary

Add a minimap/scrollbar gutter indicator (like VSCode) to the diff viewer so users can quickly see where changes are located within a file without scrolling through the entire diff.

Context

In VSCode, the right-side scrollbar shows colored markers (green for additions, red for deletions, blue for modifications) that give an at-a-glance overview of where changes exist in a file. This is especially useful for large files where changes are spread across different sections.

Our current diff viewer (LightDiffViewer using @pierre/diffs/react) shows the diff content itself well, but lacks this birds-eye-view navigation aid.

Proposed Behavior

  • Show a narrow gutter/track alongside the scrollbar (or overlaid on it) with colored indicators:
    • Green markers for added lines
    • Red markers for deleted lines
    • Yellow/Blue markers for modified lines
  • Markers should be proportionally positioned to reflect where changes sit in the file
  • Clicking a marker should scroll to that change
  • Should work in both split and unified diff views
  • Use existing theme color tokens (--diff-add-bg, --diff-remove-bg, etc.) for consistency

Relevant Files

  • apps/desktop/src/renderer/screens/main/components/WorkspaceView/ChangesContent/components/LightDiffViewer/LightDiffViewer.tsx
  • apps/desktop/src/renderer/screens/main/components/WorkspaceView/ChangesContent/components/FileDiffSection/FileDiffSection.tsx
  • apps/desktop/src/renderer/screens/main/components/WorkspaceView/utils/code-theme.ts

Reference

VSCode's scrollbar decorations: the colored tick marks in the scrollbar track that indicate additions, deletions, modifications, search matches, errors, etc.

Activity

  1. github-actions commented on Mar 10, 2026

    @github-actions
    Contributor

    Triage Notes

    This issue is a feature request (adding VSCode-style scrollbar change indicators to the diff viewer), not a bug report. There is no broken behavior to reproduce with a test.

    Since there's no bug to reproduce, a reproduction test PR is not applicable here. This issue should be triaged as a feature/enhancement request and prioritized accordingly.

  2. Kitenite commented on Jul 11, 2026

    @Kitenite
    Member

    Closing as a duplicate of #5594, the consolidated tracker for stale diff-changes issues from the July 2026 stale-issue sweep (no activity since 2026-06-01). If this still applies on a current build, comment on #5594 and we'll reopen.

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