diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers.go b/pkg/gui/controllers.go
index f21fb607f..dc5a77834 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers.go
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) resetHelpersAndControllers() {
 		searchHelper,
 	)
 	diffHelper := helpers.NewDiffHelper(helperCommon)
+	diffLineHelper := helpers.NewDiffLineHelper(helperCommon)
 	cherryPickHelper := helpers.NewCherryPickHelper(
 		helperCommon,
 		rebaseHelper,
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ func (gui *Gui) resetHelpersAndControllers() {
 		SuspendResume:   helpers.NewSuspendResumeHelper(helperCommon),
 		Snake:           helpers.NewSnakeHelper(helperCommon),
 		Diff:            diffHelper,
+		DiffLine:        diffLineHelper,
 		Repos:           reposHelper,
 		RecordDirectory: recordDirectoryHelper,
 		Update:          helpers.NewUpdateHelper(helperCommon, gui.Updater),
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_helper.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_helper.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de4a60960
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_helper.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package helpers
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gocui"
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/types"
+)
+
+type DiffLineHelper struct {
+	c *HelperCommon
+}
+
+func NewDiffLineHelper(c *HelperCommon) *DiffLineHelper {
+	return &DiffLineHelper{c: c}
+}
+
+// GetDiffLineInfo recovers the identity — file, kind, and old/new line number —
+// of the diff row at the given (wrapped) view line of the given view. It is the
+// seam every consumer of a diff row goes through, so that how we recover that
+// identity can change without them noticing: today the only way is to parse the
+// view's contents as a unified diff, which works for the renderings that keep a
+// diff's structure (no renderer, `git diff --color`, a renderer that only
+// colorizes) and fails for the ones that restructure it.
+//
+// ok is false when the row's identity can't be recovered, in which case the
+// caller must not act on the line at all.
+func (self *DiffLineHelper) GetDiffLineInfo(view *gocui.View, viewLineIdx int) (types.DiffLineInfo, bool) {
+	// The cursor and clicks land on a view line, which counts wrapped segments;
+	// the contents are indexed by unwrapped buffer line.
+	bufferLineIdx, ok := view.BufferLineForViewLine(viewLineIdx)
+	if !ok {
+		return types.DiffLineInfo{}, false
+	}
+
+	// The lines as written, not as shown: git ends the path field of a diff header
+	// with a tab when the path contains a space, and the view shows a tab as spaces.
+	parsed, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(view.LinesAsWritten(), bufferLineIdx)
+	if !ok {
+		return types.DiffLineInfo{}, false
+	}
+
+	return self.diffLineInfoFromParsed(parsed), true
+}
+
+// diffLineInfoFromParsed turns the parser's repo-relative result into the
+// absolute-path identity consumers work with.
+func (self *DiffLineHelper) diffLineInfoFromParsed(parsed parsedDiffLine) types.DiffLineInfo {
+	return types.DiffLineInfo{
+		Path:    filepath.Join(self.c.Git().RepoPaths.WorktreePath(), parsed.RelPath),
+		Type:    parsed.Type,
+		NewLine: parsed.NewLine,
+		OldLine: parsed.OldLine,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9abcf5c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser.go
@@ -0,0 +1,286 @@
+package helpers
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/commands/patch"
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/types"
+)
+
+// diffFilePrefix marks the start of a file's section in a (possibly multi-file)
+// unified diff.
+const diffFilePrefix = "diff --git "
+
+// submodulePrefix opens the line a submodule's section of a diff starts with, which
+// stands in for the "diff --git" header a file of the repo gets.
+const submodulePrefix = "Submodule "
+
+// submoduleSectionPattern matches that line and captures the submodule's path. git
+// writes one of two kinds: the commit the submodule is checked out at has moved
+// ("Submodule sub a32f27c..2d9f921:", with "..." in place of ".." where the move is
+// no fast-forward, " (rewind)" where it goes backwards, and a message in brackets in
+// place of the colon where the two commits can't both be read), or its working tree
+// is dirty ("Submodule sub contains untracked content").
+//
+// The path is captured greedily: git writes it unquoted, so a path that itself ends
+// in something reading like a range of commits is told apart by taking the last such
+// range on the line.
+var submoduleSectionPattern = regexp.MustCompile(
+	`^Submodule (.+) (?:contains (?:untracked|modified) content|[0-9a-f]+\.{2,3}[0-9a-f]+(?: \(.*\))?:?)$`)
+
+// parsedDiffLine is what the parser recovers about a row of a rendered diff.
+// RelPath is the path as the diff header spells it, i.e. relative to the repo
+// root; the caller turns it into the absolute path of types.DiffLineInfo.
+type parsedDiffLine struct {
+	RelPath string
+	Type    types.DiffLineType
+	NewLine int
+	OldLine int
+}
+
+// bufferLineParse is the parser's result for one buffer line: the recovered
+// identity, and whether the line could be resolved at all (false for a line in
+// an unparseable section, or outside any file section).
+type bufferLineParse struct {
+	parsed parsedDiffLine
+	ok     bool
+}
+
+// parseDiffLineFromBuffer recovers the identity of a row of a rendered diff by
+// parsing the view's decolorized contents.
+//
+// bufferLines is the full unwrapped view buffer; targetIdx is the buffer line to
+// resolve. A commit's diff spans several files, so we isolate the file section
+// containing targetIdx and parse just that one (see parseFileSection). Use this
+// for a single line, e.g. the one under the cursor; to resolve every line of a
+// buffer, use parseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer, which parses each section only once.
+//
+// ok is false when the buffer isn't a parseable unified diff at targetIdx,
+// because the diff renderer restructured it, so that the caller can fall back.
+func parseDiffLineFromBuffer(bufferLines []string, targetIdx int) (parsedDiffLine, bool) {
+	if targetIdx < 0 || targetIdx >= len(bufferLines) {
+		return parsedDiffLine{}, false
+	}
+	start, end := fileSectionBounds(bufferLines, targetIdx)
+	if start == -1 {
+		return parsedDiffLine{}, false
+	}
+	r := parseFileSection(bufferLines[start:end], end == len(bufferLines))[targetIdx-start]
+	return r.parsed, r.ok
+}
+
+// parseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer resolves every line of a (possibly multi-file)
+// diff buffer in one pass, parsing each file section exactly once. It is the
+// batch form of parseDiffLineFromBuffer, for callers that scan a whole buffer:
+// resolving line by line would re-parse a section once per line of it — O(n²) on
+// a large single-file diff — whereas this is O(n). The result is indexed 1:1
+// with bufferLines; a line in an unparseable section, or above the first one, is
+// left ok=false.
+func parseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer(bufferLines []string) []bufferLineParse {
+	result := make([]bufferLineParse, len(bufferLines))
+	for i := 0; i < len(bufferLines); {
+		if !startsFileSection(bufferLines[i]) {
+			i++ // in no file section; leave it unresolved
+			continue
+		}
+		end := fileSectionEnd(bufferLines, i)
+		copy(result[i:end], parseFileSection(bufferLines[i:end], end == len(bufferLines)))
+		i = end
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
+// fileSectionBounds returns the half-open range [start, end) of the file section
+// containing targetIdx: the nearest line starting a section at or above it, up to
+// where that section ends. start is -1 when targetIdx is above the first file
+// section, or below the end of the last one that begins above it.
+func fileSectionBounds(bufferLines []string, targetIdx int) (start, end int) {
+	for start = targetIdx; start >= 0; start-- {
+		if !startsFileSection(bufferLines[start]) {
+			continue
+		}
+		if end = fileSectionEnd(bufferLines, start); targetIdx < end {
+			return start, end
+		}
+		return -1, -1
+	}
+	return -1, -1
+}
+
+// fileSectionEnd returns the line the file section beginning at start ends before.
+//
+// A file's section runs to the next one, since every line between them is part of
+// its diff. A submodule's runs only as far as what git writes for it — the line
+// naming it, and the log of the commits it moved over — because the lines after
+// that need not belong to any section at all. A diff renderer's output has no
+// "diff --git" line to stop at, and the rows it puts between one file and the next
+// belong to neither.
+func fileSectionEnd(bufferLines []string, start int) int {
+	if submodulePath(bufferLines[start]) != "" {
+		end := start + 1
+		for end < len(bufferLines) && isSubmoduleLogLine(bufferLines[end]) {
+			end++
+		}
+		return end
+	}
+
+	for i := start + 1; i < len(bufferLines); i++ {
+		if startsFileSection(bufferLines[i]) {
+			return i
+		}
+	}
+	return len(bufferLines)
+}
+
+// startsFileSection reports whether the line opens a section of a diff: git's header
+// for a file of the repo, or the line a submodule's section begins with.
+func startsFileSection(line string) bool {
+	return strings.HasPrefix(line, diffFilePrefix) || submodulePath(line) != ""
+}
+
+// isSubmoduleLogLine reports whether the line is one of the commits git lists under
+// a submodule's header, which it writes as two spaces, the direction the commit was
+// moved in, and the commit's subject.
+func isSubmoduleLogLine(line string) bool {
+	return strings.HasPrefix(line, "  > ") || strings.HasPrefix(line, "  < ")
+}
+
+// submodulePath returns the submodule whose section the given line opens, and "" for
+// every other line.
+//
+// A submodule gets no "diff --git" header and no hunks: git states which commits it
+// moved between and lists them, so that one line is all there is to take the path
+// from. The prefix is tested first so that the pattern is run over next to no lines
+// of a diff.
+func submodulePath(line string) string {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(line, submodulePrefix) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if match := submoduleSectionPattern.FindStringSubmatch(line); match != nil {
+		return match[1]
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// parseFileSection parses one file's diff section (fileLines, starting at the line
+// that opens it) a single time and returns the identity of each of its
+// lines, indexed 1:1 with fileLines. patch.Parse's line indices line up with the
+// section's buffer lines, so the type and the old/new line numbers fall out of
+// the patch arithmetic. A submodule's section has no hunks at all, so every row of
+// it comes out as a header of the submodule, which is what they are: what git states
+// there is which commits it moved between, not lines of a file.
+//
+// Every line is left ok=false when the section has no
+// recoverable path or isn't a well-formed unified diff — the rendering
+// restructured it, and acting on a mis-parse would land us on the wrong line, so
+// the caller should fall back.
+//
+// endsTheBuffer says the section runs to the end of what we were given. That is
+// where a diff we have only part of breaks off. A long one is read a screenful
+// at a time and the rest as the user scrolls, so its last hunk holds fewer lines
+// than its header declares until the reading is done. Insisting on the whole
+// hunk there would leave every line of the file unresolved while the diff is the
+// one on screen, so a section in that position is held to what has arrived.
+func parseFileSection(fileLines []string, endsTheBuffer bool) []bufferLineParse {
+	result := make([]bufferLineParse, len(fileLines))
+
+	relPath := pathFromDiffHeader(fileLines)
+	if relPath == "" {
+		return result
+	}
+	p := patch.Parse(strings.Join(fileLines, "\n"))
+	isWellFormed := p.IsWellFormed
+	if endsTheBuffer {
+		isWellFormed = p.IsWellFormedSoFar
+	}
+	if !isWellFormed() {
+		return result
+	}
+	patchLines := p.Lines()
+	for i := range fileLines {
+		if i >= len(patchLines) {
+			break
+		}
+		parsed := parsedDiffLine{
+			RelPath: relPath,
+			Type:    diffLineTypeForKind(patchLines[i].Kind),
+			NewLine: p.LineNumberOfLine(i),
+		}
+		if parsed.Type == types.DiffLineDeleted {
+			parsed.OldLine = p.OldLineNumberOfLine(i)
+		}
+		result[i] = bufferLineParse{parsed, true}
+	}
+	return result
+}
+
+func diffLineTypeForKind(kind patch.PatchLineKind) types.DiffLineType {
+	switch kind {
+	case patch.PATCH_HEADER:
+		return types.DiffLineFileHeader
+	case patch.HUNK_HEADER:
+		return types.DiffLineHunkHeader
+	case patch.ADDITION:
+		return types.DiffLineAdded
+	case patch.DELETION:
+		return types.DiffLineDeleted
+	case patch.CONTEXT:
+		return types.DiffLineContext
+	default:
+		return types.DiffLineOther
+	}
+}
+
+// pathFromDiffHeader extracts the new-file path of a single diff section. A
+// submodule's section states its path in the line it opens with. For a file of the
+// repo the path comes from the "+++ b/<path>" line, falling back to "--- a/<path>"
+// when the new path is /dev/null (a deleted file), and to the "diff --git" line when
+// there are no such lines at all (a pure rename, which has no hunks).
+func pathFromDiffHeader(fileLines []string) string {
+	if path := submodulePath(fileLines[0]); path != "" {
+		return path
+	}
+
+	var oldPath, newPath string
+	for _, line := range fileLines {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(line, "@@") {
+			break // past the header
+		}
+		switch {
+		case strings.HasPrefix(line, "+++ "):
+			newPath = stripDiffPathPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(line, "+++ "))
+		case strings.HasPrefix(line, "--- "):
+			oldPath = stripDiffPathPrefix(strings.TrimPrefix(line, "--- "))
+		}
+	}
+
+	if newPath != "" && newPath != "/dev/null" {
+		return newPath
+	}
+	if oldPath != "" && oldPath != "/dev/null" {
+		return oldPath
+	}
+	return pathFromDiffGitLine(fileLines[0])
+}
+
+// stripDiffPathPrefix removes the a/ or b/ prefix git puts on the paths in a
+// diff header. We ask git for these prefixes explicitly (diff.noprefix=false),
+// so they are always there.
+func stripDiffPathPrefix(path string) string {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(path, "a/") || strings.HasPrefix(path, "b/") {
+		return path[2:]
+	}
+	return path
+}
+
+// pathFromDiffGitLine extracts the new-file path from a "diff --git a/X b/X"
+// line. A path containing " b/" would defeat this, but the +++/--- lines are
+// unambiguous and we only get here when they are absent.
+func pathFromDiffGitLine(line string) string {
+	rest := strings.TrimPrefix(line, diffFilePrefix)
+	if idx := strings.LastIndex(rest, " b/"); idx != -1 {
+		return rest[idx+len(" b/"):]
+	}
+	return ""
+}
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser_test.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e8bec91a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/diff_line_parser_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
+package helpers
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit/pkg/gui/types"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+// A two-file commit diff as it appears (decolorized) in the main view. file1 has
+// two consecutive deletions (grape, pear) that share a new-file line number;
+// file2 has two consecutive additions.
+const twoFileDiff = `diff --git a/file1.go b/file1.go
+index 1111111..2222222 100644
+--- a/file1.go
++++ b/file1.go
+@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
+ apple
+-grape
+-pear
+ lemon
+diff --git a/dir/file2.go b/dir/file2.go
+index 3333333..4444444 100644
+--- a/dir/file2.go
++++ b/dir/file2.go
+@@ -10,2 +9,4 @@ func foo() {
+ ctx
++added1
++added2
+ ctx2`
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBuffer(t *testing.T) {
+	bufferLines := strings.Split(twoFileDiff, "\n")
+
+	scenarios := []struct {
+		name      string
+		targetIdx int
+		expected  parsedDiffLine
+		expectOk  bool
+	}{
+		{"file header", 0, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file1.go", Type: types.DiffLineFileHeader, NewLine: 1}, true},
+		{"hunk header", 4, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file1.go", Type: types.DiffLineHunkHeader, NewLine: 1}, true},
+		{"context line", 5, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file1.go", Type: types.DiffLineContext, NewLine: 1}, true},
+		// The two deletions share new-file line 2 but have distinct old-file lines.
+		{"first deletion", 6, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file1.go", Type: types.DiffLineDeleted, NewLine: 2, OldLine: 2}, true},
+		{"second deletion", 7, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file1.go", Type: types.DiffLineDeleted, NewLine: 2, OldLine: 3}, true},
+		// The second file: its path comes from the second "diff --git" section,
+		// and its additions get distinct new-file line numbers.
+		{"first addition", 15, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "dir/file2.go", Type: types.DiffLineAdded, NewLine: 10}, true},
+		{"second addition", 16, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "dir/file2.go", Type: types.DiffLineAdded, NewLine: 11}, true},
+		{"out of range", 999, parsedDiffLine{}, false},
+	}
+
+	for _, s := range scenarios {
+		t.Run(s.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(bufferLines, s.targetIdx)
+			assert.Equal(t, s.expectOk, ok)
+			if s.expectOk {
+				assert.Equal(t, s.expected, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferRename(t *testing.T) {
+	// A rename with no content change has no hunks and no +++/--- lines, so the
+	// path has to come from the "diff --git" line; a rename with a content
+	// change has them, and they carry the new path.
+	pureRename := strings.Split(`diff --git a/old.go b/new.go
+similarity index 100%
+rename from old.go
+rename to new.go`, "\n")
+
+	result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(pureRename, 2)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "new.go", Type: types.DiffLineFileHeader, NewLine: 1}, result)
+
+	renameWithModification := strings.Split(`diff --git a/old.go b/new.go
+similarity index 62%
+rename from old.go
+rename to new.go
+index 1111111..2222222 100644
+--- a/old.go
++++ b/new.go
+@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
+ apple
+-grape
++kiwi`, "\n")
+
+	result, ok = parseDiffLineFromBuffer(renameWithModification, 10)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "new.go", Type: types.DiffLineAdded, NewLine: 2}, result)
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferDeletedFile(t *testing.T) {
+	// The new path is /dev/null, so the identity comes from the old path.
+	deletedFile := strings.Split(`diff --git a/gone.go b/gone.go
+deleted file mode 100644
+index 1111111..0000000
+--- a/gone.go
++++ /dev/null
+@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
+-apple
+-grape`, "\n")
+
+	result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(deletedFile, 7)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "gone.go", Type: types.DiffLineDeleted, NewLine: 0, OldLine: 2}, result)
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferSubmodule(t *testing.T) {
+	// A submodule has no "diff --git" header and no hunks: git opens its section with
+	// the commits it moved between and lists them below. So the section ends the one
+	// above it, and every row of it belongs to the submodule as a whole.
+	withSubmodule := strings.Split(`diff --git a/file.txt b/file.txt
+index 1111111..2222222 100644
+--- a/file.txt
++++ b/file.txt
+@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
+ hello
+ world
++world
+Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c..2d9f921:
+  > bump the thing`, "\n")
+
+	for _, targetIdx := range []int{8, 9} {
+		result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(withSubmodule, targetIdx)
+		assert.True(t, ok)
+		assert.Equal(t,
+			parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "modules/xyz", Type: types.DiffLineFileHeader, NewLine: 1},
+			result, "line %d", targetIdx)
+	}
+
+	result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(withSubmodule, 7)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "file.txt", Type: types.DiffLineAdded, NewLine: 3}, result)
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferSubmoduleInARendering(t *testing.T) {
+	// A diff renderer passes the lines git writes for a submodule through as they
+	// are, while printing nothing below them that a section could end at. The
+	// section has to end where what git writes for the submodule ends all the same:
+	// the rows below belong to the other files of the diff, and can only be placed
+	// by the records the renderer states for them.
+	rendered := strings.Split(`Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c..2d9f921:
+  > bump the thing
+
+products/a.txt
+
+ one
+ two`, "\n")
+
+	all := parseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer(rendered)
+	assert.Equal(t, "modules/xyz", all[0].parsed.RelPath)
+	assert.Equal(t, "modules/xyz", all[1].parsed.RelPath)
+	for i := 2; i < len(rendered); i++ {
+		assert.False(t, all[i].ok, "line %d: %q", i, rendered[i])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSubmodulePath(t *testing.T) {
+	scenarios := []struct {
+		name     string
+		line     string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{"moved on", "Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c..2d9f921:", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"moved back", "Submodule modules/xyz 2d9f921..a32f27c (rewind):", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"moved sideways", "Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c...2d9f921:", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"added", "Submodule modules/xyz 0000000...2d9f921 (new submodule)", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"removed", "Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c...0000000 (submodule deleted)", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"commits missing", "Submodule modules/xyz a32f27c...2d9f921 (commits not present)", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"dirty", "Submodule modules/xyz contains modified content", "modules/xyz"},
+		{"with something new in it", "Submodule modules/xyz contains untracked content", "modules/xyz"},
+		// git writes the path unquoted, so one with a space in it, or one ending in
+		// something that reads like a range of commits, is told apart by matching the
+		// last range on the line.
+		{"path with a space", "Submodule my modules/xyz a32f27c..2d9f921:", "my modules/xyz"},
+		{"path reading like a range", "Submodule a32f27c..2d9f921 deadbee..fa1afe1:", "a32f27c..2d9f921"},
+		// A line of a file that reads like one of these is indented by the column the
+		// diff states the line's side in, so it cannot be mistaken for one.
+		{"a line of a file", " Submodule modules/xyz contains modified content", ""},
+		{"something else entirely", "Submodule support was added", ""},
+	}
+
+	for _, s := range scenarios {
+		t.Run(s.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, s.expected, submodulePath(s.line))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferNotADiff(t *testing.T) {
+	// A rendering with no "diff --git" line can't be parsed, so the caller falls
+	// back rather than acting on the line.
+	bufferLines := []string{"some", "lines", "that", "are not a diff"}
+	_, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(bufferLines, 2)
+	assert.False(t, ok)
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferGutterMangled(t *testing.T) {
+	// A diff renderer that moves the line numbers into a gutter keeps the diff
+	// and hunk headers but pushes the +/- markers off the start of each body
+	// line, so every line reads as context. The body no longer matches the hunk
+	// header, so we refuse to parse rather than return a confident mis-parse.
+	mangled := strings.Split(`diff --git a/file1.txt b/file1.txt
+index 1111111..2222222 100644
+--- a/file1.txt
++++ b/file1.txt
+@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
+  1 ⋮  1 │ apple
+  2 ⋮    │-grape
+  3 ⋮    │-pear
+  4 ⋮  2 │ lemon
+  5 ⋮  3 │ mango`, "\n")
+
+	_, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(mangled, 6)
+	assert.False(t, ok)
+}
+
+func TestParseDiffLineFromBufferReadInPart(t *testing.T) {
+	lines := strings.Split(twoFileDiff, "\n")
+
+	// A long diff is read a screenful at a time, so the buffer breaks off part way
+	// through a hunk. The lines that did arrive are resolved all the same, since
+	// holding out for the whole hunk would leave the diff on screen with nothing to
+	// act on.
+	cutShort := lines[:len(lines)-1]
+	result, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(cutShort, 15)
+	assert.True(t, ok)
+	assert.Equal(t, parsedDiffLine{RelPath: "dir/file2.go", Type: types.DiffLineAdded, NewLine: 10}, result)
+
+	// Only the section the buffer breaks off in is read that way. One that another
+	// section follows is all there, so a hunk short of what its header declares means
+	// the rendering restructured the diff, and none of it is resolved.
+	shortFirstSection := append(slices.Clone(lines[:8]), lines[9:]...)
+	_, ok = parseDiffLineFromBuffer(shortFirstSection, 5)
+	assert.False(t, ok)
+}
+
+func TestParseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer(t *testing.T) {
+	// Some decoration above the diff, which belongs to no file section: a commit
+	// message and a diffstat, as `git show` renders them.
+	bufferLines := append(
+		[]string{"commit 1234567", "", "    do a thing", "", " file1.go | 2 --", ""},
+		strings.Split(twoFileDiff, "\n")...,
+	)
+
+	all := parseAllDiffLinesFromBuffer(bufferLines)
+
+	// The batch parse resolves each file section once, and has to agree with
+	// resolving the lines one at a time.
+	assert.Len(t, all, len(bufferLines))
+	for i := range bufferLines {
+		parsed, ok := parseDiffLineFromBuffer(bufferLines, i)
+		assert.Equal(t, bufferLineParse{parsed, ok}, all[i], "line %d: %q", i, bufferLines[i])
+	}
+
+	// The lines above the first file section are left unresolved.
+	for i := range 6 {
+		assert.False(t, all[i].ok)
+	}
+	assert.True(t, all[6].ok)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/helpers.go b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/helpers.go
index 4c9c79f3d..ea1214699 100644
--- a/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/gui/controllers/helpers/helpers.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type Helpers struct {
 	Snake          *SnakeHelper
 	// lives in context package because our contexts need it to render to main
 	Diff              *DiffHelper
+	DiffLine          *DiffLineHelper
 	Repos             *ReposHelper
 	RecordDirectory   *RecordDirectoryHelper
 	Update            *UpdateHelper
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ func NewStubHelpers() *Helpers {
 		Commits:           &CommitsHelper{},
 		Snake:             &SnakeHelper{},
 		Diff:              &DiffHelper{},
+		DiffLine:          &DiffLineHelper{},
 		Repos:             &ReposHelper{},
 		RecordDirectory:   &RecordDirectoryHelper{},
 		Update:            &UpdateHelper{},
diff --git a/pkg/gui/types/diff_line_info.go b/pkg/gui/types/diff_line_info.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ae3d8eee9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/gui/types/diff_line_info.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package types
+
+// DiffLineType classifies a row of a rendered diff.
+type DiffLineType int
+
+const (
+	DiffLineFileHeader DiffLineType = iota
+	DiffLineHunkHeader
+	DiffLineContext
+	DiffLineAdded
+	DiffLineDeleted
+	// DiffLineOther is anything that isn't one of the above, e.g. the
+	// "\ No newline at end of file" marker.
+	DiffLineOther
+)
+
+// DiffLineInfo is the identity of a row of a rendered diff in terms of the patch
+// it was rendered from: which file the row belongs to, what kind of row it is,
+// and where the line sits in the old and new versions of that file. This lets us
+// act on the line the user is pointing at in a diff view: stage it, open it in an
+// editor, keep the cursor on it across a re-render. The rendered text alone tells
+// us none of that.
+type DiffLineInfo struct {
+	// Path is the absolute path of the file the line belongs to.
+	Path string
+	Type DiffLineType
+	// NewLine is the line's position in the new version of the file. Set for all
+	// content lines (for a deletion it is the position the deletion sits at) and
+	// for hunk headers (the first line of the hunk they head).
+	NewLine int
+	// OldLine is the line's position in the old version of the file. Set only
+	// for deletions, which are the only rows that need it: two consecutive
+	// deletions share a new-file position and differ only here.
+	OldLine int
+}
+
+// IsChange reports whether the row is an added or deleted line, as opposed to a
+// context line or a header. It mirrors patch.PatchLine.IsChange: those are the
+// rows a patch is built from, and the rows navigation moves between.
+func (self DiffLineInfo) IsChange() bool {
+	return self.Type == DiffLineAdded || self.Type == DiffLineDeleted
+}