Compare Folders¶

Compare two or more folders file by file: which files are the same in every folder, which differ, and which are missing from some. The folders can be on this computer, in a cloud bucket, or a mix of both, so a local export can be checked against what was uploaded.

Opening it¶

Analyse → Compare folders... opens an empty dialog.
Right-click a folder in the folder sidebar and choose Add to folder comparison....
Right-click a folder (or a connection's top row) in the cloud sidebar and choose Add to folder comparison....

Each "Add" puts that folder into the same dialog and opens it, so folders from both sidebars can be collected before comparing. Inside the dialog, Choose folder... adds a folder from this computer and Remove takes one out again.

There is no default keyboard shortcut; one can be assigned under Settings → Shortcuts (Compare folders...).

Options¶

Option	Default	What it does
Include subfolders	on	Compares the files in every folder below too. Off compares only the top level.

Compare stays disabled until the dialog holds at least two folders. While it runs, the footer shows which folder is being listed and how many files have been read; Cancel stops it, and so does closing the dialog.

How files are matched¶

Files are matched by their path inside each folder: 2024/sales.csv under one folder is compared with 2024/sales.csv under every other.

Contents are read only where they decide the answer:

Files of different sizes are different. Nothing is read.
Files of the same size are read in full and compared by their contents. Equal size alone never counts as the same.
A file that exists in one folder only is never read.

Reading the result¶

The comparison opens as a Folder comparison tab with one row per file, sorted by path, and the status bar sums it up.

Column	Meaning
`path`	The path inside the folders.
`status`	`same`, `different` or `missing` (see below).
`in`	The folders that have the file.
`missing from`	The folders that do not.
`size: FOLDER`	Size in bytes, one column per folder.
`modified: FOLDER`	Last-modified time, one column per folder.
`hash: FOLDER`	Contents hash, filled only where the contents were read.

`status`	Meaning
`same`	Every folder has the file and every copy is identical.
`different`	At least two copies differ. The file may also be missing from a folder.
`missing`	Some folders lack the file, and the copies that exist are identical.

Folder columns are named after the last part of each folder's path; when two folders end the same way, more of the path is added until the names differ. The tab is an ordinary table, so search, filter on status, sort and save work as on any other.

Compare these files¶

Right-click a row and choose Compare these files... to open both copies of that file in the row-by-row Compare view. With three or more folders holding the file, the entry opens a list of folder pairs to pick from. The entry is greyed out for a file that exists in one folder only, and Octa says so when the file is not a table or text file it can read. Cloud copies are downloaded first.

The file limit¶

Each folder is listed up to Settings → Performance → Compare folders: files per folder (100,000 by default). When a folder holds more, the listing stops there and the tab carries a banner naming the folder that was cut short, so an incomplete result never passes for a complete one. Tick Unlimited to list every file.

Cloud folders¶

Cloud folders use the saved connection they were added from, with its sign-in. Listing a bucket is cheap; reading is not: every file whose size matches a copy in another folder is downloaded to be compared, which can take a while on a big folder and may cost transfer fees with your storage provider. Files of different sizes and files in one folder only are never downloaded.

Command line and MCP¶

The same engine runs on the command line and over MCP:

octa --compare-folders exports/ s3://acme-data/exports/

The CLI form exits 1 when any file differs or is missing, so it can gate a CI step. See octa --compare-folders and the compare_folders MCP tool, which the in-app Assistant can also call.