Compare requirement baselines between two git tags — no checkout needed.

How it works#

reqmd baseline diff <tag1> <tag2> extracts the repository at each tag via git archive | tar, parses both versions through the standard pipeline, and produces a semantic diff:

Requirements: added (+), removed (-), modified (~) with attribute-level detail
Schemas: new/removed properties, changed required fields
Submodules: added/removed/updated submodule pins

The command always exits 0 — the diff is informational, not validation.

Try it#

For a Git-backed spec repo:

# Compare two release tags
reqmd baseline diff v1.0.0 v1.1.0

Example output:

Requirements
  + IVI-FUN-004  added in v1.1.0
  - IVI-FUN-002  removed in v1.1.0
  ~ IVI-FUN-001
      priority: medium -> high
      trace: ["SYS-001"] -> ["SYS-001","SAFE-003"]

Schemas
  ~ ivi-requirements
      + property: owner
      - property: priority
      required: ["priority","maturity","status","verify"] -> ["priority","maturity","status","verify","owner"]

JSON output for CI#

reqmd baseline diff v1.0.0 v1.1.0 --json

Produces a structured report suitable for release-note generation or CI gating.

Submodule changes#

When the repo has git submodules, the diff also reports submodule pin changes:

--- Submodule Changes ---
  vendor/spec-a:  a1b2c3d  →  e4f5g6h  (updated)
  vendor/spec-b:  f7g8h9i  →  (removed)
  vendor/spec-c:  (added)   →  j0k1l2m

This section is hidden when no submodules exist.

What’s next#

Now define your own schema — go to Step 4.