Installation & Setup
Get jj running on your system and initialize your first repository.
Installing jj
brew install jj
Or download a binary from github.com/jj-vcs/jj/releases.
Verify Installation
jj --version
You should see version output like jj 0.20.1.
Colocated Repositories
jj can work alongside git in the same repository. This is called a "colocated" repository.
In an existing git repo:
cd my-project
jj git init --colocate
This creates .jj/ directory alongside .git/. Your git history is preserved and can still be used with git commands.
Start fresh (new repo):
mkdir new-project
cd new-project
jj git init
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NOTE:
jj stores all its data in the .jj/ directory. You can always delete it to remove jj without affecting your git repository.
Verify Setup
jj status
If successful, you'll see "No working copy changes" or similar status output.
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Next Steps
With jj installed, let's explore the fundamental mental model difference between git and jj.