skills/compare-xml

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compare-xml

Use npx @compare-xml/cli to compare two XML values and identify their differences.

Online Playground

Try it out at https://comparexml.com

Usage

npx @compare-xml/cli <base> <contrast> [options]

Each positional argument can be either an inline XML string or a path to an XML file. The CLI resolves the value at runtime: if it matches an existing file, the file is read and parsed; otherwise the argument itself is parsed as XML.

Arguments

  • <base> — Base XML string or file path
  • <contrast> — Contrast XML string or file path

Options

  • -a, --array-compare-method <method> — Array compare method, one of byIndex (default), lcs, unordered
    • byIndex — Compare arrays by index position
    • lcs — Minimal diff for ordered arrays via Longest Common Subsequence
    • unordered — Treat arrays as multisets
  • -k, --key-case-insensitive — Case-insensitive key comparison
  • -v, --value-case-insensitive — Case-insensitive value comparison
  • -j, --json-export — Output as JSON instead of the default table
  • -o, --output <file> — Write the output to a file instead of stdout

Examples

Compare two XML strings:

npx @compare-xml/cli '<root><name>Alice</name></root>' '<root><name>Bob</name></root>'

Compare two XML files:

npx @compare-xml/cli base.xml contrast.xml

Case-insensitive keys:

npx @compare-xml/cli '<root><Name>Alice</Name></root>' '<root><name>Alice</name></root>' -k

LCS array comparison — minimal diff for ordered arrays:

npx @compare-xml/cli '<root><items><item>1</item><item>2</item><item>3</item></items></root>' '<root><items><item>2</item><item>3</item><item>4</item></items></root>' -a lcs

JSON output:

npx @compare-xml/cli base.xml contrast.xml -j

Save output to a file:

npx @compare-xml/cli base.xml contrast.xml -o diff.txt

Combine tolerance options:

npx @compare-xml/cli '<root><Name>Alice</Name></root>' '<root><name>ALICE</name></root>' -k -v

Output Format

By default, results are printed as a Unicode box-drawn table. Each row is labeled with the side that owns the path: (Base) for value changes and deletions, (Contrast) for additions, and (Root) when the top-level value itself differs.

┌──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ Key          │ Change Type  │
├──────────────┼──────────────┤
│ (Base) a     │ valueChanged │
│ (Base) b     │ deleted      │
│ (Contrast) c │ added        │
└──────────────┴──────────────┘

When the two inputs match exactly, the output is simply No differences found.

With --json-export (-j), the same data is emitted as JSON:

[
  {
    "pathSegments": ["root", "name"],
    "pathString": "root.name",
    "pathBelongsTo": "both",
    "diffType": "valueChanged"
  }
]

Difference Types

  • added — Value exists in contrast but not in base
  • deleted — Value exists in base but not in contrast
  • valueChanged — Value changed between base and contrast
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