Configuration

Environment variables

Prefer the DIFFLE_* form. The legacy LOUPE_* form is honored during the compatibility window.

variable	effect
DIFFLE_DATA_DIR	override the data directory that holds Review Records + session state
DIFFLE_INSTALL_DIR	installer only — where the binary is placed (default ~/.diffle/bin)
DIFFLE_ROOT	MCP: the approved root the server may review under
DIFFLE_SESSION_HOST	internal: which integration launched a session (cli / hook)
DIFFLE_NO_OPEN	set to 1 to suppress auto-opening the browser
DIFFLE_HOOK_NO_SPAWN	set to 1 so the completion hook doesn’t spawn a review
DIFFLE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK	set to 1 to silence the new-release notice at launch (and doctor’s release check)

Data directory

New installs use ~/.diffle. If ~/.loupe exists and ~/.diffle does not, diffle keeps using ~/.loupe — nothing is copied or deleted.

Review Records live at <data dir>/reviews/<review-id>/review.json and keep the git comparison, comments, replies, addressed/resolved state, summary, and outcome. Approved and cancelled reviews stay local until deleted.

User-level state — such as the dismissed What’s-New version — lives in <data dir>/state.json.

Legacy .review files in a repo are treated as legacy data: diffle leaves them untouched and offers to import, remove (with confirmation), or ignore.

Update behavior

diffle update checks the GitHub Releases channel against the installed version, downloads the matching asset, verifies its SHA-256 against the published checksums.txt, and swaps the binary. On Windows the running exe is renamed aside (.diffle.exe.old, removed by the next update) so the swap works even while MCP servers are running. Afterwards it stops MCP servers still on the old binary, unless a review session is live; agents relaunch them on reconnect.

It refuses to self-update when a package manager owns the install, and prints that manager’s command instead.

Update checks are best-effort and fail quietly offline.