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vcs-detect

maintained by dmmulroy

star 384 account_tree 28 verified_user MIT License
bolt View GitHub

name: vcs-detect description: Detect whether the current project uses jj (Jujutsu) or git for version control. Run this BEFORE any VCS command to use the correct tool.

VCS Detection Skill

Detect the version control system in use before running any VCS commands.

Why This Matters

  • jj (Jujutsu) and git have different CLIs and workflows
  • Running git commands in a jj repo (or vice versa) causes errors
  • Some repos use jj with git colocated (both .jj/ and .git/ exist)

Detection Logic

Both jj root and git rev-parse --show-toplevel walk up the filesystem to find repo root.

Priority order:

  1. jj root succeeds → jj (handles colocated too)
  2. git rev-parse succeeds → git
  3. Both fail → no VCS

Detection Command

if jj root &>/dev/null; then echo "jj"
elif git rev-parse --show-toplevel &>/dev/null; then echo "git"
else echo "none"
fi

Command Mappings

Operation git jj
Status git status jj status
Log git log jj log
Diff git diff jj diff
Commit git commit jj commit / jj describe
Branch list git branch jj branch list
New branch git checkout -b <name> jj branch create <name>
Push git push jj git push
Pull/Fetch git pull / git fetch jj git fetch
Rebase git rebase jj rebase

Usage

Before any VCS operation:

  1. Run detection command
  2. Use appropriate CLI based on result
  3. If none, warn user directory is not version controlled

Example Integration

User: Show me the git log
Agent: [Runs detection] -> Result: jj
Agent: [Runs `jj log` instead of `git log`]

Colocated Repos

When both .jj/ and .git/ exist, the repo is "colocated":

  • jj manages the working copy
  • git is available for compatibility (GitHub, etc.)
  • Always prefer jj commands in colocated repos

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Skill Details

GitHub Stars 384
GitHub Forks 28
Created Jan 2026
Last Updated 6 months ago
tools tools git workflows

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