jj-describe

Update the description of the current change

$ jj [[desc|describe]]

$ jj [[desc|describe]] [revsets]

$ jj [[desc|describe]] [[-m|--message]] [message]

jj describe [OPTIONS] [<REVISION>]

-m, --message <TEXT>
    Set the new description message directly

--message-id <FILE>
    Read the new description from a file

-r, --revision <REVISION>
    Revision to describe (default: working copy)

--update
    Update without opening an editor (if message provided)

-h, --help
    Print help information

The jj describe command is part of Jujutsu (jj), a Git-compatible version control system designed for better usability and performance. It changes the human-readable description (commit message) of a specified revision.

By default, it targets the working-copy commit and opens an editor for the new message. Use -m or --message to set it directly from the command line, or --message-id to read from a file. The --update flag skips the editor if a message is provided via other options.

This command is useful for refining commit messages post-creation, similar to git commit --amend. Revisions in jj are immutable once change IDs are assigned, but describe creates a new successor with the updated message. It supports jj's advanced features like multiple working copies and operation-based history.

Requires jj installed (e.g., via cargo or packages). Changes are local until jj git push. Ideal for iterative development where messages evolve.

Not a core Linux utility; requires Jujutsu installation. Edits create new revisions, not modifying history in-place. Use jj git export for Git interop.

jj describe -m 'Fix typo in login'
jj describe --revision abc1234 -m 'Updated feature desc'

Uses $EDITOR or git config core.editor by default.

Jujutsu (jj) developed by Martin von Zweigbergk (Google) since 2021, first stable release 2023. jj describe introduced early for message editing, inspired by Git but with jj's operation log model.

jj log(1), jj edit(1), git commit(1)