Setting Up Jujutsu Repositories and Tool Integration

Overview

**Key decisions:**

Understanding these choices helps you set up repositories correctly and avoid common integration issues.

Repository Setup

Colocation Decision

**What is colocation?**

Using jj and git in the same working directory:

```

my-repo/

├── .git/ # Git repository

├── .jj/ # Jujutsu repository

└── src/ # Shared working directory

```

**Creating colocated repository:**

```bash

Initialize jj in existing git repo

cd my-git-repo

jj git init --colocate

Or create new colocated repo

jj git init --colocate my-repo

cd my-repo

```

**Creating jj-only repository:**

```bash

Pure jj repository (no colocation)

jj git init my-repo

cd my-repo

```

Should You Colocate?

**Advantages:**

**Drawbacks:**

**Recommendation:**

| Scenario | Recommendation |

|----------|----------------|

| Learning jj | Colocate (easier transition) |

| Team migration | Colocate (gradual adoption) |

| New personal project | jj-only (cleaner) |

| Legacy git project | Colocate (tool compatibility) |

| CI/CD requirements | Colocate (git tooling) |

Tool Integration

Vite/Vitest Issues

**Problem:** `jj` commands slow or hang in Vite/Vitest projects.

**Cause:** Vite's file watcher monitors `.jj` directory, causing conflicts and slowdowns.

**Solution:** Configure Vite to ignore `.jj`:

```javascript

// vite.config.js or vite.config.ts

export default {

server: {

watch: {

ignored: ['**/.jj/**']

}

}

}

```

**For Vitest:**

```javascript

// vitest.config.js or vitest.config.ts

export default {

test: {

// ... other config

watch: {

ignored: ['**/.jj/**']

}

}

}

```

**Complete example:**

```javascript

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'

export default defineConfig({

server: {

watch: {

ignored: [

'**/.jj/**', // Ignore jj directory

'**/.git/**', // Good practice to ignore git too

'**/node_modules/**'

]

}

}

})

```

General Tool Integration

**Common issues and fixes:**

**File watchers:**

**IDEs (VS Code, IntelliJ, etc.):**

```json

// .vscode/settings.json

{

"files.watcherExclude": {

"**/.jj/**": true

},

"search.exclude": {

"**/.jj/**": true

}

}

```

**Build tools:**

**Linters/formatters:**

```yaml

.prettierignore or .eslintignore

.jj/

```

Programmatic Integration

Library vs CLI Trade-offs

**Question:** Should I use the jj library or parse CLI output?

**Answer:** Both have trade-offs. Library avoids parsing but isn't stable. CLI is also unstable but more flexible.

Using the Library

**Pros:**

**Cons:**

**When to use:**

Using the CLI

**Pros:**

**Cons:**

**When to use:**

Best Practices for CLI Integration

```bash

Use --no-pager for scripting

jj log --no-pager

Use templates for structured output

jj log --template 'commit_id ++ "\t" ++ description.first_line() ++ "\n"'

Use revsets for precise queries

jj log -r 'mine() & after("1 week ago")'

Check exit codes

if jj status &>/dev/null; then

echo "In jj repository"

fi

```

**Example Python integration:**

```python

import subprocess

import json

def jj_log(revset="@"):

result = subprocess.run(

["jj", "log", "-r", revset, "--no-pager",

"--template", "json"],

capture_output=True,

text=True

)

return json.loads(result.stdout)

```

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

Don't use this skill for:

Progressive Disclosure

For detailed setup guides, configuration examples, and integration patterns:

📚 **See detailed docs:** `faq-reference.md`

This includes:

Quick Reference

```bash

Repository initialization

jj git init --colocate # Colocated repo (jj + git)

jj git init # jj-only repo

jj git init --colocate existing-git-repo # Add jj to git repo

Configuration

~/.jjconfig.toml # Global config

.jj/repo/config.toml # Repository config

Tool integration

Vite: Add to vite.config.js

server.watch.ignored = ['**/.jj/**']

VS Code: Add to .vscode/settings.json

"files.watcherExclude": {"**/.jj/**": true}

```

Remember

**Colocation is a choice, not a requirement.** Use it when you need git compatibility, prefer pure jj otherwise. Always configure development tools to ignore `.jj/` directory to avoid conflicts and performance issues.