Workspace Add for Second Checkouts

VCS-WORKSPACE-ADD-FOR-SECOND-CHECKOUTS

Summary

Use jj workspace add only when a task needs another filesystem checkout. Ordinary review separation should use jj new; workspaces fit clean validation or parallelism.

Rule

Use jj workspace add only when a second filesystem checkout is needed.

Why

jj new creates another change in the current checkout; jj workspace add creates another filesystem checkout. Use the heavier workspace tool only when the task needs separate files on disk, such as long-running tests, clean comparison, or different sparse state.

Helps

  • Avoids unnecessary checkout proliferation while preserving isolation when filesystem state matters.

Limits

Use a second workspace for parallel long-running work or clean validation. Use jj new for ordinary separate review lanes in the same checkout.

Agent Instruction

Use `jj workspace add` only for a second filesystem checkout; use `jj new` for another change in the
same checkout.

Mechanisms

Supported by jj new, jj workspace add, workspace cleanup notes, sparse pattern inspection, and task ownership documentation.

References