Jujutsu
Git-compatible version control system that treats the working copy as a commit.
HN commenters like Jujutsu for easy history editing with squash, split, rebase and undo,1234 for treating the working copy as a commit instead of a staging area,567 and for working inside existing Git repos without coworkers having to switch.891011 The most common caveat is friction with Git and GitHub, including team PR workflows, colocated-repo issues and missing submodule support.1213141516
Why people recommend it
Git compatibility · 3
Commenters use it on existing Git repos and with GitHub, even when the rest of the team uses Git.
“I freely use it with git repos without any of my coworkers needing to use it as well”
“jj can work with git as its storage, so all of its commits are git commits, so a jj-local and git-remote flow is fully supported. I use it”
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“It is so much better than git in every way.”
History editing · 3
Squash, split, rebase and editing past commits are described as easier and safer than Git's interactive rebase.
“shuffling commits around with squash, split, and rebase is much better than git’s interactive rebase”
“moving to jj, it has lots of amazing tools starting with `jj edit` to go change the past safely & conveniently”
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“My favorite feature is the built-in distinction between what's mutable and what's immutable in my history.”
Mental model · 3
Users say its model of version control is more flexible and fits how they work better than Git's.
“I love JJ’s mental model. Its so much less opionated and lets me do what I want.”
“I love JJ, and the mental model of source control it presents, and I will continue to use it.”
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“I've completely switched over to jujutsu. The whole experience is more ergonomic in my opinion”
Stacks and megamerges · 3
Several open changes, stacked work and merges of multiple branches are easy to keep up to date.
“It is so much better than git in every way.”
“JJ is much more than that. One of the other features I use quite heavily is that, in JJ, you can essentially check out multiple branches at the same time”
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“It is truly a beautiful model. Really a big mental health saver.”
No staging, snapshots · 3
The working copy is snapshotted as a commit, so intermediate states and undo are always available.
“I use it in all my Git-underneath repos with `jj git init --colocate`”
“jj makes doing this easier because you represent the index as an unnamed commit, and everything just works”
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“But with jj the filesystem tracking is built in, which is a huge advantage.”
AI agent workflows · 3
Auto-snapshots make it easy to compare and undo changes between coding-agent prompts.
“I recently switched to Jujutsu (jj) and it made me realize that “what comes after Git” might already exist.”
“I personally have a workflow when I use Jujutsu (jj) for git already”
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“I start by using jj new to create a new change where I want to start working.”
Caveats and dissent
GitHub team workflows · 3
Some found it hard to keep up with GitHub PRs and shared branches, and one user went back to Git.
“I really wanted to like JJ, it was handy for a few months when I used it. But for me in the end I reverted back to regular git.”
“I have been using jj (jujitsu-vcs) for a while now”
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“I love JJ and stacked diffs with Gerrit and Phabricator”
Git interop friction · 3
Users still sometimes need to drop down to Git, and colocated repos can go stale.
“If you can give `jj` a try on a greenfield, single-developer project, you probably should.”
“I love JJ, and the mental model of source control it presents, and I will continue to use it.”
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“I use it exclusively, but still in colocated mode”
Submodules and LFS · 3
Git submodules and LFS are not supported.
“But with jj, no stress: I can just check in the conflicts, and later, on the other laptop: check out the conflicts and continue resolving.”
“since you can use jj in a git repo you can commit git stuff via git like submodules and then enjoy the world of jj”
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“It's absolutely great for keeping a bunch of exploratory changes alive, quick prototyping, etc.”
Learning curve · 3
Some users needed an adjustment period, for example getting used to changes being picked up automatically.
“My favorite feature is the built-in distinction between what's mutable and what's immutable in my history.”
“It is truly a beautiful model. Really a big mental health saver.”
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“THEN, I move to jujutsu.”
Tool support · 2
Editor and agent tooling support lags behind Git's support.
“jj seems promising”
“I use a new VCS already (jj, highly recommended)”
Often compared with
26 moved from Git to JujutsuOn the home page's Debates
1 moved from Magit to Jujutsu
1 moved from lazygit to Jujutsu
1 moved from Graphite to Jujutsu
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- The creator of Jujutsu has joined ERSC 12 mentions
- What is jj and why should I care? 9 mentions
- Git is forever. I'm building Oak anyways 4 mentions
- Jujutsu Megamerges for Fun and Profit 4 mentions
- Stacked PRs are now live on GitHub 3 mentions
- The Git history command deserves more attention 3 mentions
Also written as jj, jujutsu. Data: jujutsu.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 44
“My favorite feature is the built-in distinction between what's mutable and what's immutable in my history.”
“I threw together my own jujutsu powered FUSE subtree project”
“Having switched to jj I don't really agree.”
“I'm currently very much on the jujutsu train as the author also mentioned, i do recommend y'all give it a try”
“jj is one of the few that convinced me. I started using it exclusively with existing git repos”
“But JJ is the most pain-free vcs evolution I've seen.”
“jj makes doing this easier because you represent the index as an unnamed commit, and everything just works”
“exact same as what I was saying about jj”
“I pretty much only use jj now, and it was really good even just with the CLI.”
“I love JJ’s mental model. Its so much less opionated and lets me do what I want.”
“shuffling commits around with squash, split, and rebase is much better than git’s interactive rebase”
“JJ is just so low friction.”
“since you can use jj in a git repo you can commit git stuff via git like submodules and then enjoy the world of jj”
“I freely use it with git repos without any of my coworkers needing to use it as well”
“But with jj, no stress: I can just check in the conflicts, and later, on the other laptop: check out the conflicts and continue resolving.”
“I also use jj as my daily driver now. I like it a lot.”
“I prefer the JJ model of version control much more than Git's.”
“my preferred version control system (jj)”
“jj can work with git as its storage, so all of its commits are git commits, so a jj-local and git-remote flow is fully supported. I use it”
“I love jj”
“which Jujutsu makes so damn easy via megamerges”
“add jj workspace support”
“I love JJ and stacked diffs with Gerrit and Phabricator”
“JJ is much more than that. One of the other features I use quite heavily is that, in JJ, you can essentially check out multiple branches at the same time”
“If your workflow is rebase heavy, I strongly recommend ignoring this github feature and using jj instead.”
“it looks ideal for my workflow, but I’d never heard of jj before right now”
“Whereas with jujutsu, after learning it once, I never looked up `split`.”
“moving to jj, it has lots of amazing tools starting with `jj edit` to go change the past safely & conveniently”
“I love JJ, and the mental model of source control it presents, and I will continue to use it.”
“If you can give `jj` a try on a greenfield, single-developer project, you probably should.”
“I use the `jj` equivalents all the time.”
“For Git I use Jujutsu (so I stopped using Magit long time ago)”
“I use jj vcs and now most of my time is spent reading the code”
“I use it exclusively, but still in colocated mode”
“Jj can do essentially anything git can.”
“Jujutsu’s features give us a compact solution based on filesets, revsets, and `git.private commits`.”
“I use a new VCS already (jj, highly recommended)”
“I like to clone my repos without colocation, but then sometimes find that I need to re-colocate in order to `git submodule update`.”
“I love jj! Martin is really awesome and love his work.”
“It's absolutely great for keeping a bunch of exploratory changes alive, quick prototyping, etc.”
“I have been using jj (jujitsu-vcs) for a while now”
“THEN, I move to jujutsu.”
“I use it in all my Git-underneath repos with `jj git init --colocate`”
“I really wanted to like JJ, it was handy for a few months when I used it. But for me in the end I reverted back to regular git.”