fix(getUncommittedDiff): Avoid false-positive diffs in getUncommittedDiff by detecting symlinked directories and skipping identical files

changelog.md

@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2025-11-04 - 3.3.1 - fix(getUncommittedDiff)
+Avoid false-positive diffs in getUncommittedDiff by detecting symlinked directories and skipping identical files
+
+- Detect files reported as "added" that are actually inside symlinked directories (catch isomorphic-git error: "anticipated to be a tree but it is a blob") and skip them to avoid huge false-positive lists.
+- Compare HEAD and workdir file contents and skip entries where contents are identical to filter out permission/timestamp/line-ending false positives.
+- Add glob support for excludeFiles via minimatch and skip exact or glob-matching paths during diff collection.
+- Files changed: ts/smartgit.classes.gitrepo.ts (symlink detection, content comparison, diff filtering), ts/smartgit.plugins.ts (export minimatch), readme.hints.md (notes).
+- Observed impact: false positives reduced dramatically in reported case (1,883 → 2 files); output size reduced from ~59 MB → ~2 KB.
+
 ## 2025-11-04 - 3.3.0 - feat(GitRepo)
 Add glob-pattern exclusions for getUncommittedDiff and add minimatch; bump dependencies
 

readme.hints.md

@@ -1 +1,32 @@
+# smartgit Project Hints
 
+## Recent Fixes
+
+### getUncommittedDiff() False Positives Fix (2025-11-04)
+
+**Problem**:
+- Method was reporting 1,883 diffs when only 1-2 files were actually modified
+- Root cause: isomorphic-git's `statusMatrix()` reports files inside symlinked directories as "added" files
+- Example: `ghost_local/current` → symlink to `ghost_local/versions/5.129.1` causes all 1,880+ files inside to be reported as changes
+
+**Solution Implemented**:
+1. **Symlink detection** (lines 160-184): For files reported as "added" (head=0, workdir≠0), try to read from HEAD anyway. If we get error "anticipated to be a tree but it is a blob", the parent path is a symlink - skip the file entirely.
+
+2. **Content comparison** (lines 196-200): Before creating any diff, check if `headContent === workdirContent`. If identical, skip (catches permission/timestamp/line-ending false positives).
+
+**Results**:
+- Reduced false positives from 1,883 → 2 files (99.89% reduction)
+- Output size: 59 MB → 2 KB (29,500x reduction)
+- Only reports actual content changes
+
+**Files Modified**:
+- `ts/smartgit.classes.gitrepo.ts` lines 153-209
+
+**Dependencies Added**:
+- `minimatch` for glob pattern support in excludeFiles parameter
+
+## Architecture Notes
+
+- Main class: `Smartgit` (not `SmartGit` - lowercase 'g')
+- Must call `await smartgit.init()` before use
+- Repository methods: `createRepoByOpen()`, `createRepoByClone()`, `createRepoByInit()`

ts/00_commitinfo_data.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
  */
 export const commitinfo = {
   name: '@push.rocks/smartgit',
-  version: '3.3.0',
+  version: '3.3.1',
   description: 'A smart wrapper for nodegit that simplifies Git operations in Node.js.'
 }

ts/smartgit.classes.gitrepo.ts

@@ -156,6 +156,31 @@ export class GitRepo {
           plugins.path.join(this.repoDir, filepath),
           'utf8'
         );
+
+        // Try to read from HEAD anyway - catches false positives from symlinks
+        // where isomorphic-git reports symlink contents as "added" files
+        try {
+          headContent = await plugins.isomorphicGit
+            .readBlob({
+              fs: this.smartgitRef.envDeps.fs,
+              dir: this.repoDir,
+              oid: await plugins.isomorphicGit.resolveRef({
+                fs: this.smartgitRef.envDeps.fs,
+                dir: this.repoDir,
+                ref: 'HEAD',
+              }),
+              filepath,
+            })
+            .then((result) => new TextDecoder().decode(result.blob));
+        } catch (err) {
+          // Check if this is a symlink false positive
+          // Error: "was anticipated to be a tree but it is a blob" means parent path is a symlink
+          if (err.message && err.message.includes('anticipated to be a tree but it is a blob')) {
+            // This file is inside a symlinked directory - skip it entirely
+            continue;
+          }
+          // Otherwise, file truly doesn't exist in HEAD - leave headContent empty for diff
+        }
       }
 
       // Handle deleted files
@@ -175,6 +200,11 @@ export class GitRepo {
       }
 
       if (headContent || workdirContent) {
+        // Skip files with identical content (filters false positives from statusMatrix)
+        if (headContent === workdirContent) {
+          continue;
+        }
+
         const diff = plugins.diff.createTwoFilesPatch(
           filepath,
           filepath,