The Jujutsu version control system is gaining momentum in the developer community, with a new Text User Interface (TUI) called Jujutsu UI (jjui) emerging as the preferred choice among users who have tested multiple interface options. This development highlights growing interest in alternatives to traditional Git workflows and reveals significant frustrations with existing code review platforms.
Community Consensus on TUI Quality
Developers who have extensively tested various Jujutsu TUI tools report that jjui stands out for its performance and usability. Users praise its responsive interface, intuitive keyboard shortcuts, and stable operation across different repositories. The tool offers essential features like revision rebasing, change squashing, and interactive file management through a clean, terminal-based interface.
Other TUI options like lazyjj have faced criticism for performance issues and stability problems, while command-line alternatives built with bash scripting have been dismissed as unreliable. This consensus suggests that jjui has successfully addressed the core needs of developers seeking a visual interface for Jujutsu operations.
Jujutsu UI Key Features:
- Change revset with auto-complete and signature help
- Interactive rebase operations in revision tree
- Revision squashing with automatic selection
- File-level operations (split, restore, diff viewing)
- Bookmark management and operation log access
- Preview window with scrolling controls
GitHub's Stacked PR Limitations Drive Tool Development
A major discussion point centers on GitHub's inability to handle stacked pull requests effectively, a feature that many developers consider essential for modern development workflows. Unlike code review systems like Gerrit, which allow reviewing individual commits, GitHub's model treats pull requests as single units of change.
GitHub doesn't understand that all commits can change for review purposes. This is what makes it a 'toy'.
This limitation has become a significant barrier for teams considering Jujutsu adoption in enterprise environments. The lack of proper stacking support means developers lose much of Jujutsu's advantage when working with GitHub-hosted repositories, forcing them to rely on workarounds or alternative platforms.
Workflow Transformation and User Adaptation
Long-time Git users report that switching to Jujutsu feels natural, comparing it to riding a bike after initial adjustment. The system's approach to change management eliminates many traditional Git pain points, particularly around stash management and rebase operations. Users describe adopting new workflows like Change-Driven Development, where empty commits serve as todo lists within branches.
However, the transition isn't without challenges. Developers frequently struggle with remembering to create new revisions before making changes, and some mature repositories have tooling that expects Git's directory structure. These compatibility issues can be resolved using colocated repositories, but they represent friction points for adoption.
Technical Backend and Future Development
Jujutsu operates as a new interface layer on top of Git's storage system, using the Gitoxide Rust library for Git object management. Recent versions have begun incorporating direct Git binary usage for network operations, improving compatibility with various authentication systems and protocols.
The system's backend-agnostic design opens possibilities for future storage improvements beyond Git's limitations, including better support for large repositories and native large file handling. Current development includes early steps toward native backend synchronization, which would allow seamless switching between different machines without losing Jujutsu-specific history.
System Requirements:
- Minimum Jujutsu version: v0.21+
- Compatible with terminal environments
- Works with colocated Git repositories
- Supports various authentication systems through Git binary
Conclusion
Jujutsu UI's emergence as the preferred TUI reflects broader developer interest in improving version control workflows. While GitHub's limitations around stacked PRs remain a significant adoption barrier, the tool's success demonstrates demand for better interfaces to modern version control concepts. As the ecosystem matures, these developments may influence how major platforms approach code review and change management.
Reference: Jujutsu UI