DirDelta

dirdelta is a small Bash utility that compares two directory trees and reports regular files that are present in one tree but missing at the same relative path in the other. It does not copy, modify, or delete any files.

Usage

./dirdelta parentDir1 parentDir2

The script requires exactly two arguments.

What It Does

Given two parent directories, the script:

1. Lists files in parentDir1 that are missing from parentDir2.
2. Lists files in parentDir2 that are missing from parentDir1.
3. Reports when one directory contains every file found in the other.

Files are compared by relative path, not by content. A file present at the same relative path in both directories is treated as present even when its contents differ. Hidden files are included in the comparison.

Example

Before running the script:

dir_1/
├── file_1.txt
├── file_2.txt
└── notes/today.txt

dir_2/
├── file_2.txt
├── file_3.txt
└── drafts/idea.txt

Run:

./dirdelta dir_1 dir_2

Output:

Files not found in dir_2:
dir_1/file_1.txt
dir_1/notes/today.txt

-----------------

Files not found in dir_1:
dir_2/file_3.txt
dir_2/drafts/idea.txt

Notes

• The script does not compare file contents.