def format_takes_diff(takes: dict[str, list[dict]]) -> str:
 if not takes:
  return ""
 
 histories = list(takes.values())
 if not histories:
  return ""

 min_len = min(len(h) for h in histories)
 common_prefix_len = 0
 for i in range(min_len):
  first_msg = histories[0][i]
  if all(h[i] == first_msg for h in histories):
   common_prefix_len += 1
  else:
   break

 shared_lines = []
 for i in range(common_prefix_len):
  msg = histories[0][i]
  shared_lines.append(f"{msg.get('role', 'unknown')}: {msg.get('content', '')}")
 
 shared_text = "=== Shared History ==="
 if shared_lines:
  shared_text += "\n" + "\n".join(shared_lines)

 variation_lines = []
 if len(takes) > 1:
  for take_name, history in takes.items():
   if len(history) > common_prefix_len:
    variation_lines.append(f"[{take_name}]")
    for i in range(common_prefix_len, len(history)):
     msg = history[i]
     variation_lines.append(f"{msg.get('role', 'unknown')}: {msg.get('content', '')}")
    variation_lines.append("")
 else:
  # Single take case
  pass

 variations_text = "=== Variations ===\n" + "\n".join(variation_lines)

 return shared_text + "\n\n" + variations_text