Jujutsu (jj) Version Control

Agent Usage

When reading data from jj, always use --ignore-working-copy to avoid snapshotting the working copy (which is slow and unnecessary for read operations).

Non-interactive Commands (Critical)

Many jj commands spawn $EDITOR or interactive diff tools by default. These will hang indefinitely when run by agents. Always use the non-interactive alternatives:

Command	Problem	Solution
jj describe	Opens editor	Always use -m "message"
jj commit	Opens editor	Always use -m "message"
jj split	Opens diff editor + may open editor for description	Provide filesets to select files; use -m for description
jj squash	May open editor for combined description	Use -m "message" or -u (use destination message)

Commands to avoid entirely (no non-interactive mode):

• jj diffedit — use jj restore or edit files directly instead
• jj config edit — use jj config set <key> <value> instead
• jj sparse edit — use jj sparse set --add <path> or --remove <path> instead
• jj resolve — edit conflict markers directly in files, or use --tool :ours / --tool :theirs

Agent-Friendly Output Formats

jj's default diff and conflict formats differ from Git's. For easier parsing, use Git-compatible formats:

Diffs: Use the --git flag for unified diff output:

jj diff --git
jj log -p --git
jj show --git

Conflicts: jj uses diff-based conflict markers by default (%%%%%%%, +++++++). For standard Git-style markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>), pass --config when running commands that may create conflicts:

jj --config ui.conflict-marker-style=git rebase ...
jj --config ui.conflict-marker-style=git new --insert-before ...

The conflict style is applied when conflicts are materialized to the working copy, so the config must be set before the conflict occurs.

JSON: For structured/programmatic output, use the json(self) template:

jj log --ignore-working-copy --no-graph -T 'json(self) ++ "\n"'

Outputs one JSON object per line with commit_id, change_id, description, author, etc. Works with jj log, jj show, and other commands that support -T.

Common Commands

Command	Description
jj status	Show working copy status
jj log	Show commit history
jj new	Create a new change
jj describe -m "msg"	Set commit message
jj squash	Squash into parent
jj diff	Show changes
jj git push	Push to remote
jj git fetch	Fetch from remote
jj bookmark create name	Create a bookmark

Topics

In-depth guides on jj concepts and syntax.

• Bookmarks
• Config
• Filesets
• Glossary
• Revsets
• Templates
• Tutorial

Command Reference

Documentation generated from jj manpages. For details on any command, read the corresponding reference file.

Bisect

• jj-bisect-run

Bookmark

• jj-bookmark-create
• jj-bookmark-delete
• jj-bookmark-forget
• jj-bookmark-list
• jj-bookmark-move
• jj-bookmark-rename
• jj-bookmark-set
• jj-bookmark-track
• jj-bookmark-untrack

Config

• jj-config-edit
• jj-config-get
• jj-config-list
• jj-config-path
• jj-config-set
• jj-config-unset

File

• jj-file-annotate
• jj-file-chmod
• jj-file-list
• jj-file-search
• jj-file-show
• jj-file-track
• jj-file-untrack

General

• jj
• jj-abandon
• jj-absorb
• jj-bisect
• jj-bookmark
• jj-commit
• jj-config
• jj-describe
• jj-diff
• jj-diffedit
• jj-duplicate
• jj-edit
• jj-evolog
• jj-file
• jj-fix
• jj-gerrit
• jj-git
• jj-help
• jj-interdiff
• jj-log
• jj-metaedit
• jj-new
• jj-next
• jj-operation
• jj-parallelize
• jj-prev
• jj-rebase
• jj-redo
• jj-resolve
• jj-restore
• jj-revert
• jj-root
• jj-show
• jj-sign
• jj-sparse
• jj-split
• jj-squash
• jj-status
• jj-tag
• jj-undo
• jj-unsign
• jj-util
• jj-version
• jj-workspace

Gerrit

• jj-gerrit-upload

Git

• jj-git-clone
• jj-git-colocation
• jj-git-colocation-disable
• jj-git-colocation-enable
• jj-git-colocation-status
• jj-git-export
• jj-git-fetch
• jj-git-import
• jj-git-init
• jj-git-push
• jj-git-remote
• jj-git-remote-add
• jj-git-remote-list
• jj-git-remote-remove
• jj-git-remote-rename
• jj-git-remote-set-url
• jj-git-root

Operation

• jj-operation-abandon
• jj-operation-diff
• jj-operation-log
• jj-operation-restore
• jj-operation-revert
• jj-operation-show

Simplify

• jj-simplify-parents

Sparse

• jj-sparse-edit
• jj-sparse-list
• jj-sparse-reset
• jj-sparse-set

Tag

• jj-tag-delete
• jj-tag-list
• jj-tag-set

Util

• jj-util-completion
• jj-util-config-schema
• jj-util-exec
• jj-util-gc
• jj-util-install-man-pages
• jj-util-markdown-help

Workspace

• jj-workspace-add
• jj-workspace-forget
• jj-workspace-list
• jj-workspace-rename
• jj-workspace-root
• jj-workspace-update-stale

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Generated from jj manpages (jj 0.37.0)

License

The content in the references/ directory is derived from the jj (Jujutsu) project and is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.