A "diff" sounds technical. What it actually is: a before-and-after comparison, usually with removed lines marked one way and added lines marked another. Here's what to actually look for.
- <a href="/old-page">Contact</a>
+ <a href="/contact">Contact</a>Removed lines and added lines, side by side by convention. This example: a link's destination changed from a broken path to a working one. That's the whole diff — one small, specific, readable change.
Does this match what you asked for? That's the real question — not "do I understand every character," but "is this the change I actually wanted." For the example above: yes, the link now points somewhere real. Done.
Exact formatting, whitespace-only changes, and boilerplate that's clearly unrelated to your actual request. The goal isn't reading every character with equal intensity — it's noticing when something doesn't match what you expected.
Files you didn't expect to be touched, deletions larger than the task seemed to warrant, or anything involving credentials, API keys, or configuration you don't recognize. These deserve a slower look — everything else can move at a normal pace.
The free guide includes a concrete first workflow — a real diff to actually practice reading, not a hypothetical one.
Get the Free Guide →What changed (the plus/minus lines) and whether that matches what you actually asked for. You don't need to understand every syntax detail — you need to confirm the change does what you intended.
Ask it to explain the specific part you don't understand before approving, rather than approving on faith. That question costs nothing and is exactly what closes the understanding gap.
Changes to files you didn't expect to be touched, deletions larger than the task seemed to warrant, or anything involving credentials, API keys, or configuration you don't recognize.
For a well-scoped task, well under a minute — that's the point of keeping tasks small. If a diff takes real, sustained effort to review, that's usually a sign the task itself was scoped too broadly.