Jj workflow

Jujutsu (jj) Workflow

Jujutsu is a modern version control system that provides a simpler mental model than Git while remaining Git-compatible. This skill covers the core concepts and workflow commands.

CRITICAL: Avoid Interactive Mode

Always use -m to prevent jj from opening an editor:

# WRONG — opens editor, blocks AI
jj new
jj describe
jj squash

# CORRECT — non-interactive
jj new -m "message"
jj describe -m "message"
jj squash -m "message"

jj split is inherently interactive — no non-interactive mode exists. Use jj restore --from @- <path> to remove a file from the current change instead.

Core Concepts

Changes vs Commits

• Change: A mutable revision identified by a change ID (e.g., kkmpptxz). Changes can be modified.
• Commit: An immutable snapshot identified by a commit ID (SHA). Once created, commits are permanent.
• The working copy (@) is always a change that can be modified freely.

Working Copy

• The working copy is denoted by @ and represents your current state.
• @- refers to the parent of the working copy.
• Unlike Git, there's no staging area—all changes are automatically tracked.

When to Use What

Situation	Do This
Starting new work	jj new -m "what I'm trying"
Forgot to start with jj new	jj describe -r @ -m "type: what I'm doing" (do this immediately)
Change has no description	Run the Description Check Protocol (see below)
jj git push rejected with "no description set"	jj describe -r <change> -m "type: message"
Work is done, move on	jj new -m "next task"
Annotate what you did	jj describe -m "feat: auth"
Broke something	jj op log → jj op restore <id>
Undo one file	jj restore --from @- <path>
Exclude file from current change	jj restore --from @- <path>
Stop tracking an ignored file	Add ignore rule first, then jj file untrack <path>
Stop tracking ignored directory contents	Add ignore rule first, then jj file untrack 'glob:dir/**'
Combine messy commits	jj squash -m "combined message"
Try something risky	jj new -m "experiment", then jj abandon @ if it fails

Sandbox

Jujutsu can be configured to sign commits (can be checked with jj config list --include-overridden | grep -i sign). In certain cases, this makes jj commands fail within the sandbox. If this is the case, re-run the command outside the sandbox. When signing is not configured, every jj command is supposed to work within the sandbox, there is no need to bypass it.

Essential Commands

Viewing State

jj status          # Show working copy status
jj log             # View commit history
jj diff            # Show uncommitted changes
jj show @          # Show current change details

Creating and Describing Changes

jj new                                # Create a new empty change on top of @
jj describe -r @ -m "feat: message"   # Set commit message for current change (always use -r to target explicitly)
jj new -m "feat: message"             # Create new change with message

Syncing with Remote

jj tug                         # Fetch updates and rebase current change onto latest remote
jj git fetch                   # Fetch from remote without rebasing
jj git push                    # Push current changes to remote (requires description on the change)
jj git push --bookmark <name>  # Push AND set up remote tracking (like git push -u origin <branch>)

jj git push will reject changes without descriptions ("no description set"). Always run the Description Check Protocol before pushing. jj git push --bookmark <name> is the unified push+track command — it creates the bookmark on the remote and sets up tracking in one step.

Modifying History

jj squash                        # Squash current change into parent
jj squash --into @-              # Explicitly squash into parent
jj restore --from @- <path>      # Remove a file from current change (non-interactive alternative to split)
jj file untrack <path>           # Stop tracking a path that is already ignored
jj edit <change-id>              # Edit an existing change

Untracking Ignored Files

Use jj file untrack when a file should stay on disk locally but stop being tracked by jj. This is an ignore-driven workflow: add the path to .gitignore first, then untrack it.

jj file untrack only works for paths that are already ignored, usually via .gitignore or .git/info/exclude in colocated workspaces.

# 1. Add an ignore rule first
echo "local-config.json" >> .gitignore

# 2. Stop tracking the ignored file
jj file untrack local-config.json

# Untrack ignored directory contents with a fileset glob
jj file untrack 'glob:.agents/**'

Use jj restore --from @- <path> when you only want to remove a path from the current change. Use jj file untrack <path> when you want jj to stop tracking an ignored path going forward.

Working with Bookmarks

jj bookmark create <name> -r @  # Create a bookmark at @
jj bookmark set <name> -r @     # Move bookmark to @
jj bookmark list                 # List all bookmarks

Working with Workspaces

Workspaces are jj's equivalent of git worktrees — multiple working directories backed by the same repository. Each workspace has its own @ (working copy), enabling true parallel development without branch locking.

jj workspace add <path>          # Create new workspace at path (e.g., ../myproject-fix)
jj workspace list                # List all workspaces with their @ revisions
jj workspace forget <name>       # Stop tracking a workspace (run from another workspace)
jj workspace root                # Print the root path of current workspace
jj workspace update-stale        # Fix a stale working copy after concurrent changes

Key differences from git worktrees:

• No branch locking — multiple workspaces can check out the same revision simultaneously
• Each workspace gets its own @ change automatically on creation
• Changes made in one workspace don't affect another's @

Commit Message Format

Use Conventional Commits format:

• feat: — New feature
• fix: — Bug fix
• refactor: — Code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature
• perf: — Performance improvement
• docs: — Documentation changes
• chore: — Maintenance tasks
• test: — Adding or updating tests

Examples:

jj describe -r @ -m "feat: add user authentication"
jj describe -r @ -m "fix: resolve null pointer in parser"
jj describe -r @ -m "refactor: extract validation logic"

Description Check Protocol

Always run this protocol before pushing or creating a PR. jj git push rejects changes without descriptions. This is a hard requirement, not a quality preference.

Step 1: Check if a description exists

# Check the first line (used as PR title)
jj log -r <change> -T description --no-graph | head -1

# If first line is blank, check for an existing body
jj log -r <change> -T description --no-graph | tail -n +2

Gate logic:

• First line is non-empty: The change has a meaningful description — stop here. Do not overwrite.
• First line is blank AND no body: Proceed to Step 2 to generate a full description.
• First line is blank BUT body exists: Generate a title only, then prepend it to the existing body using jj describe --stdin (see Step 5). Never use -m in this case — it would replace the body.

Step 2: Pick the right change

Default to @ (working copy), but verify with jj status first:

• If @ has modified files, use @.
• If @ has no modified files (fresh "next task" placeholder), check @- before using it:

# Check if @- has actual work
jj diff -r @-

# Check @- bookmarks for trunk markers
jj log -r @- -T 'bookmarks' --no-graph

Safety gate — stop and ask the user if ANY of these are true:

• @- has an empty diff (nothing to describe)
• @- carries a trunk bookmark (main, master, or any bookmark with @origin suffix like main@origin)
• @- has no bookmark AND no diff (ambiguous — could be a bare trunk ancestor)

Only proceed with @- when it has a non-empty diff AND no trunk/remote bookmarks. If @- carries main because work was rebased onto it during conflict resolution, it will have a non-empty diff — but still ask the user to confirm before mutating a revision that holds a trunk bookmark.

Step 3: Analyze the diff

jj diff -r <change>

Focus on the high-level nature of changes: file paths, new vs modified files, and the overall purpose. If the diff is empty, warn that there are no changes to describe — do not generate a description.

Step 4: Determine the conventional commit type

Map the diff content to a type:

Type	Signals in the diff
feat:	New files, new functions/exports, new API routes, new components, new public methods
fix:	Bug fixes, error handling additions, null/type guards, boundary condition checks
refactor:	Code moves/renames, extractions, restructuring with no new behavior
perf:	Caching, async/parallel, lazy loading, memoization, reduced allocations
docs:	Only documentation files changed (README, markdown, comments, JSDoc)
chore:	Dependencies, config files, CI/CD, build tooling, formatting, lint rules
test:	Only test files changed (*_test.*, *.spec.*, __tests__/, test fixtures)

Priority when multiple types apply: if only docs changed → docs:; if only tests changed → test:; otherwise use the first matching type from: feat > fix > perf > refactor > chore.

Step 5: Generate and apply the description

Case A: No existing description (most common)

jj describe -r <change> -m "type: concise imperative description"

Case B: Blank first line but existing body (from Step 1 gate)

Use --stdin to prepend the title while preserving the body:

printf 'type: concise title\n\n' | cat - <(jj log -r <change> -T description --no-graph | tail -n +2) | jj describe -r <change> --stdin

Never use -m for this case — it would replace the entire description and lose the body.

Rules for the description:

• Use present tense imperative mood ("add" not "adds" or "added")
• Keep it under 72 characters
• No trailing period
• Capitalize after the colon only for proper nouns

Edge Cases

• Empty diff: Warn the user — there's nothing to describe. Do not generate a placeholder.
• Existing description (non-empty first line): Never overwrite. The check in Step 1 gates on the first line being empty.
• Blank first line with body: Use Case B in Step 5 (--stdin) to prepend a title while preserving the existing body. Never use -m.
• Large diff: Focus on the most significant files and changes. Don't try to enumerate every line.
• @- with trunk bookmark: If @- carries main, master, or a remote-tracking bookmark (e.g., main@origin), stop and ask the user which change to target. See Step 2 safety gate.

Common Pattern: Ensuring a Change Has a Description

# 1. Check current description
jj log -r @ -T description --no-graph

# 2. If empty, check which change has the work
jj status

# 3. Analyze the diff (use @- if @ is a placeholder)
jj diff -r @

# 4. Determine type from the diff, then set the description
jj describe -r @ -m "type: concise description"

Common Patterns

Starting New Work

jj tug                              # Sync with remote
jj new -m "feat: new feature"       # Start new change
# ... make changes ...
# Before pushing: run the Description Check Protocol if @- has no description
jj describe -r @- -m "feat: new feature"  # Ensure description is set
jj new                              # Finalize and start next

Amending Current Change

Simply make changes—they're automatically included in @. Use jj describe -r @ -m "type: message" to update the message if needed. If the change has no description yet, run the Description Check Protocol.

Rebasing onto Latest

jj tug    # Fetches and rebases in one command

Viewing What Will Be Pushed

# Run the Description Check Protocol first — jj git push requires descriptions
jj log -r 'remote_bookmarks()..@'    # Changes not yet on remote

Recovery

The operation log records every operation. Nothing is lost.

jj op log              # See all operations
jj undo                # Undo last operation
jj op restore <id>     # Jump to any past state

Working with Multiple Workspaces

# Create a new workspace for parallel work
jj workspace add ../myproject-hotfix
cd ../myproject-hotfix
jj new -m "fix: critical hotfix"     # New @ in the new workspace
# ... make changes, push, etc. ...

# Back in original workspace — unaffected
cd ../myproject
jj log                               # Other workspace's changes appear in shared history

# Clean up when done
jj workspace forget hotfix           # Run from any other workspace
rm -rf ../myproject-hotfix           # Remove the directory

Use cases:

• Run long test suites in one workspace while coding in another
• Work on a hotfix without disturbing your in-progress feature
• Compare file states across different revisions simultaneously

Key Differences from Git

1. No staging area: All changes are tracked automatically
2. Mutable working copy: The current change can always be modified
3. Change IDs: Stable identifiers that persist through rebases
4. Anonymous branches: You can work without named branches
5. Automatic conflict handling: Conflicts are recorded and can be resolved later
6. Workspaces: Multiple working copies without branch locking (vs git worktrees which require a unique branch per worktree)