scm

name	scm
description	Source code management workflow - nothing is ever lost

Source Code Management

jj workflow for preserving all work. Nothing is ever lost.

Core Principle

Every change is automatically tracked. In jj, working copy (@) is always a commit. No staging area. Every save is part of the current commit.

Rules

1. Commit after every testable change - After each TDD cycle, run jj commit -m "msg". Don't batch. Worktree gets squash-merged anyway.

2. Finalize before destructive ops - Before jj restore, jj abandon, or ending session: commit first.

3. Experiments: commit, try, backout - Commit the experiment, evaluate, then jj backout -r @- if discarding. History preserved.

4. Unknown changes: preserve first - Never jj restore unknown changes. Commit checkpoint, then investigate with jj diff -r @-.

5. Deleting code: commit, then delete - Checkpoint before removing so you can recover from history.

Why This Matters

• Recovery: Any past state is one jj edit away
• Confidence: Experiment freely knowing nothing is lost
• Squash merge: All commits collapse to one clean commit at release

Anti-patterns

Don't	Do Instead
jj restore without thinking	Commit first
jj abandon without checking	Verify commit is unwanted
Batch changes in one commit	Commit after each testable change
Leave session without finalizing	Commit before stopping