Why does SourceTree automatically update my ~/.gitconfig file

[Ankush Agarwal]

Whenever I open SourceTree, it adds the following lines to my ~/.gitconfig file :

[difftool "sourcetree"]

cmd = opendiff \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"

path =

[mergetool "sourcetree"]

cmd = /Applications/SourceTree.app/Contents/Resources/opendiff-w.sh \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\" -ancestor \"$BASE\" -merge \"$MERGED\"

trustExitCode = true

I don't want it to do that

[Balazs Szakmary · Accepted solution]

In Tools/Options ("General" tab), on the top left, there is a checkbox: "Allow SourceTree to modify my global Git and Mercurial config files". If you uncheck this, it will stop doing it.

[Ankush Agarwal]

Got it. Thanks!

[Mateusz Loskot]

@Ankush Agarwalasked Why SourceTree modifies the file?

It would be good to understand why too, not just how to prevent it.