jj – the CLI for Jujutsu

Post by steveklabnik » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:03 PM UTC

saghm wrote: post #297

steveklabnik wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't cover it for various reasons, but I think it's good to teach now that I've had more time to consider this sort of thing, so the next iteration will likely start by beginning with jj commit.

In a pure `jj` model, commit might not even be necessary as it's own subcommand (since you could easily define an alias for `desc` followed by `new`). We're still living in a world where most people who would consider adopting `jj` are git users currently, so I wonder if starting with `commit` and then following it up with an explanation of "here's how you can change the commit message without needing to make a new c…

Post by nightski » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:04 PM UTC

saghm wrote: post #294

webstrand wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't provide it a it reads from the index (staged files). So you're right its not really pointed anywhere, since the index isn't a ref.

That's my overall point: the argument itself (with respect to the current state of the repo) is what determines the behavior. I don't think this is anywhere close to as intuitive as commands that only ever accept one "type" of argument (and erroring if it's different).

Post by QuiDortDine » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:12 PM UTC

harg wrote: post #135

QuiDortDine wrote: post #133

> $ cargo install jj-cli@0.23.0 --locked I won't install Rust just to test your software. Make a debian package like everyone else.

I believe the full docs page does indicate that there are binaries to install via popular package managers [1] [1]: https://docs.jj-vcs.dev/latest/install-and-setup/

Post by steveklabnik » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

brendoncarroll wrote: post #285

steveklabnik wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add a new backend, there's a trait that you implement for your backend: https://github.com/jj-vcs/jj/blob/713a0d0898448392d38fdcbaba... I suspect if you came by the jj discord, folks could help you with more detail than that.

Thanks for the link. It looks like this treats files as blobs just like Git, and trees as single objects which fit in memory. Assuming that is a correct understanding, this core abstraction would need to change to handle large files and directories well. All the well known version control systems do this though, and it simplifies the system significantly. It's the right model for source code, but it doesn't translate…

Post by sswatson » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #144

saghm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idiom here is use `edit` if you want to edit a commit, and use `new` if you want to make a new commit. This works identically whether you specify the commit via branch name or commit id. I'm not sure why people are saying not to use `edit` ever. It's basically just a shorthand for staging and amending changes in an existing commit, and there's still a use case for that; it's just not "I want to see the changes on…

> Just don't ever use `edit`, > The idiom here is use `edit` if you want to edit a commit You know, you guys have fun with that, I'll continue using git which (probably) has the same amount of warts, but I already know them. I'll continue to refer new VCS users to jj, seems a lot easier to learn, but really don't have the interest to re-learn a bunch of ever-changing idioms.