Diff¶

Summary¶

meridian diff compares two Collector configurations and classifies review-relevant changes. It is designed to highlight risk, not to replace a generic text diff.

Why it exists¶

Not every config edit deserves the same scrutiny. Reviewers care most about changes that affect routing, processors, connectors, extensions, auth, TLS, and telemetry service behavior.

How it works¶

Meridian can diff:

explicit old and new file paths
git base and head refs

When effective config from Collector print-config is available, Meridian prefers that evidence. Otherwise it falls back to source-level comparison.

Runtime commands can also incorporate diff-aware review hints and optionally restrict them with --changed-only.

What it proves¶

Diff output proves how Meridian classified the structural change between two configurations. It does not prove that the changed config is safe by itself; use it together with validation and runtime evidence.

Inputs and outputs¶

Important flags:

--old
--new
--base
--head
--severity-threshold
--changed-only in runtime flows

Artifacts:

diff section in report.json
highlights in summary.md
diff.md when diff data exists