Delta

Decode and display the contents of a Kodexa delta binary file. Deltas are the binary change format used by the platform to represent modifications between document revisions. This command lets you inspect what operations a delta contains without applying it.

Usage

kdx document delta <file> [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`--data`	Show operation data payloads (JSON)	false
`--json`	Output as structured JSON	false
`--max-ops N`	Limit number of operations displayed (0 = all)	0

Examples

Inspect a Delta File

kdx document delta changes.bin

Delta Binary — v1
  Source Hash:    a1b2c3d4e5f6...
  Revisions:     5 → 12
  Checksum:      0x1A2B3C4D
  Operations:    47

  Summary:       +20 ADD  ~15 MOD  -12 DEL
  By Entity:
    DataObject                9
    DataAttribute             22
    ContentNode               10
    Tag                       6

  Operations:
  #     OP     ENTITY                  ID        REV       TIMESTAMP
  ────  ─────  ──────────────────────  ────────  ────────  ───────────────────
  0     ADD    DataObject              305       6         2026-03-19 14:30:22
  1     ADD    DataAttribute           1015      6         2026-03-19 14:30:22
  2     MOD    ContentNode             42        7         2026-03-19 14:30:23
  ...

Show Data Payloads

kdx document delta changes.bin --data --max-ops 3

Each operation’s JSON data and previous data (for MOD operations) is displayed inline beneath the operation row.

JSON Output

kdx document delta changes.bin --json | jq '.summary'

{
  "add": 20,
  "modify": 15,
  "delete": 12,
  "byEntityType": {
    "DataObject": 9,
    "DataAttribute": 22,
    "ContentNode": 10,
    "Tag": 6
  }
}

Filter with jq

# Show only DataObject operations
kdx document delta changes.bin --json --data | \
  jq '.operations[] | select(.entityType == "DataObject")'

# Count operations by type
kdx document delta changes.bin --json | jq '.summary.byEntityType'

Entity Types

Entity Type	Description
`ContentNode`	Document structure nodes (pages, lines, words)
`ContentFeature`	Features attached to content nodes
`ContentFeatureLink`	Links between features and nodes
`Tag`	Extraction tags on content nodes
`ContentTagLink`	Links between tags and nodes
`DataObject`	Structured data objects (e.g., invoice line items)
`DataAttribute`	Attributes on data objects (e.g., amount, description)
`DataException`	Validation exceptions on data objects
`Metadata`	Document-level metadata changes

Operation Types

Operation	Description
`ADD`	New entity created
`MOD`	Existing entity modified (includes previous data)
`DEL`	Entity deleted

Use --json --data with jq to build custom reports. For example, to see all modified data attributes with their before/after values:

kdx document delta changes.bin --json --data | \
  jq '.operations[] | select(.operation == "MOD" and .entityType == "DataAttribute")'

Getting Started

Core Operations

Sync & GitOps

Operational Commands

Document Commands

Usage

Flags

Examples

Inspect a Delta File

Show Data Payloads

JSON Output

Filter with jq

Entity Types

Operation Types

​Usage

​Flags

​Examples

​Inspect a Delta File

​Show Data Payloads

​JSON Output

​Filter with jq

​Entity Types

​Operation Types

Usage

Flags

Examples

Inspect a Delta File

Show Data Payloads

JSON Output

Filter with jq

Entity Types

Operation Types