Version: 0.7.5 (Forester, diffmachine_gui, Blender Addon).

About

Difference Machine is a local, Git-like version control system for Blender projects. It tracks file history, supports branches and merges, and adds object-level versioning inside .blend files so you can resolve conflicts by choosing which objects to keep, delete, rename, or merge from either branch.

Comparison of .blend versions in the Difference Machine: two Blender windows (parent and commit) and a diff in the GUI.

Components

• Forester — Go-based CLI and core engine. Manages repositories under a .DFM directory: SQLite for metadata, content-addressed storage (blobs/trees/commits), branches, stash, and index (staging). Single binary, no external runtime.

• Blender Addon — Panel in the 3D View sidebar. Marks objects with workflow tags (MERGE, DELETE, RENAME), syncs them to the Forester DB, and integrates with init/commit/branch/history. Uses only Blender’s built-in Python.

• diffmachine_gui — Desktop app (PyQt6) to open repos, inspect changed files, view text/image diffs, switch branches, and run merges. For .blend files with synced object tags, it drives object-level merge via a background Blender script (delete/rename/merge chosen objects).

Main features

• Repository lifecycle: forester init, status, add, commit, branch, switch, merge, stash, log, diff.
• Object-level merge: Tag Blender objects as MERGE/DELETE/RENAME, sync to DB, then merge in the GUI; a Blender script applies those decisions in the merged .blend.
• Conflict handling: Review changes in the GUI or open Blender to resolve; optional automatic resolve when the merge script is configured.
• Config: Global config in ~/.dfm/setup.cfg (Forester binary, Blender path, merge script). Repo-level .dfmignore for exclude patterns.

After installation via the unified installer, you can start the GUI:

• from the OS shortcut (applications menu on Linux, .command launcher on macOS, Start Menu/Desktop on Windows), or
• from the command line as dfm-gui / dfm-gui.cmd if the installer bin directory is in your PATH.

Dependencies

System dependencies

• SQLite3 >= 3.45.1 (e.g. libsqlite3-dev on Debian/Ubuntu)
• Go >= 1.21
• GCC/C compiler (for CGO)
• genisoimage >= 1.1.11 (or mkisofs/xorriso) — only for building installer ISO images
• Blender >= 4.5.0 (for the addon)
• Python >= 3.10 (for diffmachine_gui; Blender ships its own Python)

Python dependencies (diffmachine_gui)

• PyQt6 >= 6.6.0
• PyQt6-Qt6 >= 6.6.0
• PyQt6-sip >= 13.6.0
• PyQt6-WebEngine
• Pygments >= 2.15.0
• diff-match-patch >= 20230430

Build dependencies (installer / PyInstaller)

To build a standalone GUI bundle (no system Python required on the target machine), use the installer build environment:

pip install -r installer/requirements-build.txt

This installs:

• PyInstaller >= 6.0.0
• All of diffmachine_gui/requirements.txt (needed for PyInstaller to analyze and bundle the app)

Then run, on the target OS:

• Linux/macOS: installer/scripts/build_gui_pyinstaller.sh
• Windows: installer/scripts/build_gui_pyinstaller.bat

See installer/README.md for the full installer build and packaging flow.

Go dependencies (forester)

• github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.17