Ask Before Repairing JJ Aliases

VCS-ASK-BEFORE-REPAIRING-JJ-ALIASES

VCS JJ Tooling Local Conventions Review Handoff

Summary

Ask before changing jj aliases when they disagree with the observed repository topology. Aliases encode workflow policy, so silent repairs can alter future user commands.

Rule

Ask the user to repair jj aliases when topology and aliases disagree.

Why

Aliases such as trunk() or publish helpers encode assumptions about remotes and bookmarks. If the repo topology changes from origin to upstream, or from owned repo to fork workflow, silently repairing aliases can change future commands for the user.

Helps

Keeps user-level jj configuration deliberate and prevents agents from rewriting source-control policy unexpectedly.

Limits

Repo-local aliases can be updated as part of an explicit repo setup task. Ask first for user or global aliases, or when the intended topology is still ambiguous.

Agent Instruction

Ask before repairing jj aliases that encode remote or bookmark assumptions, especially `trunk()` and
publish helpers.

Mechanisms

Supported by jj config list, repo versus user config inspection, topology notes, and explicit user approval before alias repair.