Advanced Workflows

Patterns and workflows that leverage jj's unique capabilities.

Parallel Work Without Branches

In git, you'd use branches or stashes for parallel work. In jj, use the natural commit graph:

# Start working on feature A
jj describe -m "Feature A part 1"
jj new

# Remember this commit's change ID: abc123

# Start working on feature B
jj describe -m "Feature B part 1"
jj new

# Continue on A by checking out its change ID
jj checkout abc123
jj describe -m "Feature A part 2"
jj new

# Switch back to B
jj checkout def456
jj describe -m "Feature B part 2"
jj new

NOTE:

Use change IDs as bookmarks for parallel work—no branch management needed.

Stash-Like Workflow

jj doesn't have jj stash. Instead:

# Working on something, need to switch context
# Current @ has uncommitted work

# Option 1: Just commit it
jj describe -m "WIP - feature X"
jj new

# Do other work
jj describe -m "Quick fix"
jj new

# Come back to WIP
jj edit --change <feature-x-change-id>

# Clean up WIP message
jj describe -m "Feature X ready"
jj new

Or use jj new to create a snapshot:

# Work in progress
echo "partial" > file.js

# Snapshot current state
jj describe -m "Snapshot"
jj new

# Make temporary fix
jj describe -m "Hotfix"
jj new

# Return to snapshot
jj edit @-

# Continue work
jj describe -m "Complete feature"
jj new

# Abandon the hotfix branch
jj abandon <hotfix-commit>

Bisecting for Bugs

jj makes git bisect easier with jj op log:

# Bug found at @
# Find when it was introduced

jj op log  # Find operation before bug
jj op restore <good-operation-id>

# Verify bug isn't there
# Test the code...

# Binary search through history
jj op restore <midpoint-operation-id>
# Test...

# Continue until found
jj log -r 'roots()..<bad-commit>'

Code Review Workflow

For solo developers or small teams:

# Create feature work
jj describe -m "Feature: user auth"
jj new

# Immature code, want to test
jj branch create wip-auth

# Continue working
jj describe -m "Add login form"
jj new

# Ready to review
jj branch set auth-ready

# Share the change ID with team
# Team member:
jj checkout abc123
jj log
jj show

Integration with CI/CD

Since jj uses git storage:

# Normal git workflow for CI
jj git fetch
jj rebase -d main@origin
jj git push

# CI/CD sees normal git commits
# Uses normal git branches

Or use jj directly in CI:

# CI can use jj
jj git clone $REPO
cd repo

# Run tests against specific commit
jj checkout $COMMIT_ID
npm test

Working with Large Repos

jj scales well:

# Clone only part of history
jj git clone --sparse $REPO

# Narrow working copy
jj sparse include /src

# Exclude large directories
jj sparse exclude /node_modules

Scripting with jj

jj is scriptable:

# Find all commits by me in last day
jj log -r 'author("me") & after("yesterday()")' --template '{commit} {description}\n'

# Abandon all "WIP" commits
jj abandon 'description("WIP")'

# Show all merge conflicts
jj log -r 'conflict()'

# Rebase all commits from a user
jj rebase -s 'author("former-employee")' -d archived

Detached Working Copy

In jj, you're always "detached" in git terms—@ is your working copy:

# No need to worry about "detached HEAD" warnings
# Just work and commit

jj describe -m "Whatever"
jj new

# Create a branch if you want a name
jj branch create my-work

Interop with Git Tools

Use jj alongside git GUI tools:

# Use GitHub Desktop for visualization
# Use jj for command-line work

# jj and git share the same .git directory
jj status
git status  # Shows same state

# Use GitHub CLI
gh pr create
# Uses git branches that jj created

Colocated Development

# Team uses git, you use jj
cd shared-repo

# Initialize jj for yourself
jj git init --colocate

# Work with jj
jj describe -m "My changes"
jj new

# Push with git (or jj git push)
git push

# Team sees normal git commits
# No one knows you used jj

Custom Templates

Format jj output:

# Custom log format
jj log --template '
  id: {commit}
  author: {author}
  message: {description}
  files: {files}
'

# JSON output for scripts
jj log --template json | jq '.[] | .description'

Performance Tips

# Limit log for large repos
jj log -l 50

# Use revsets for efficiency
jj log -r '::@'  # Faster than 'all()'

# Parallel operations (experimental)
jj --parallel 4 operation

Try It Yourself

# Practice parallel work
jj describe -m "Task A"
jj new
# Note change ID

jj describe -m "Task B"
jj new
# Note change ID

# Switch between them
jj checkout <task-a-id>
jj describe -m "Continue A"
jj new

jj checkout <task-b-id>
jj describe -m "Continue B"
jj new

Key Takeaways

Use change IDs for parallel work tracking
No need for branches or stashes
jj op log for time-travel debugging
Works seamlessly with git tools and CI/CD
Scriptable with templates and revsets
Colocated mode for gradual adoption

Next Steps

You've completed the jj tutorial! Let's review what you've learned and where to go from here.