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[PATCH v2] git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without arguments

From
Greg Hurrell via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
May 20, 2026, 12:31 UTC
Message-ID
<pull.2108.v2.git.1779280307112.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.2108.git.1778231254871.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Greg Hurrell <greg.hurrell@datadoghq.com>

When `git jump` is invoked with no positional arguments (and no arguments after `--stdout`) it currently prints usage and exits with status 1.

But there are several situations where we can usefully infer the most valuable and likely mode that a user would want to use, and select it automatically:

1. When there are unmerged paths in the index, the user likely
   wants `git jump merge`.
2. When the working tree has unstaged changes, the user likely
   wants `git jump diff`.
3. In the presence of conflict markers or whitespace errors (as reported
   by `git diff --check`), the user likely wants `git jump ws`.

In this commit we teach `git jump` a new "auto" mode which detects these cases and dispatches to the corresponding mode automatically. The user can either explicitly spell out `git jump auto`, or just leave it at `git jump` (because "auto" is the default).

If none of the interesting cases listed above applies, then auto mode falls back to the existing usage-and-exit behavior.

Signed-off-by: Greg Hurrell <greg.hurrell@datadoghq.com>
---
    git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without arguments
    
    Changes since v0:
    
     * Added explicit "auto" keyword/mode.
     * Updated additional detail to usage info and README.
     * (Bonus) Added ws usage example to README.
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-2108%2Fwincent%2Fauto-jump-v2
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-2108/wincent/auto-jump-v2
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/2108
Range-diff vs v1:
 1:  87fa66d233 ! 1:  5fbc8480ef git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without arguments
     @@ Commit message
          arguments after `--stdout`) it currently prints usage and exits with
          status 1.
      
     -    But there are two situations where we can usefully infer the most
     +    But there are several situations where we can usefully infer the most
          valuable and likely mode that a user would want to use, and select it
     -    automatically when they run `git jump` without arguments:
     +    automatically:
      
          1. When there are unmerged paths in the index, the user likely
             wants `git jump merge`.
     @@ Commit message
          2. When the working tree has unstaged changes, the user likely
             wants `git jump diff`.
      
     -    Detect these two cases and dispatch to the corresponding mode
     -    automatically, falling back to the existing usage-and-exit behavior
     -    when neither holds.
     +    3. In the presence of conflict markers or whitespace errors (as reported
     +       by `git diff --check`), the user likely wants `git jump ws`.
     +
     +    In this commit we teach `git jump` a new "auto" mode which detects these
     +    cases and dispatches to the corresponding mode automatically. The user
     +    can either explicitly spell out `git jump auto`, or just leave it at
     +    `git jump` (because "auto" is the default).
     +
     +    If none of the interesting cases listed above applies, then auto mode
     +    falls back to the existing usage-and-exit behavior.
      
          Signed-off-by: Greg Hurrell <greg.hurrell@datadoghq.com>
      
       ## contrib/git-jump/README ##
     -@@ contrib/git-jump/README: To use it, just drop git-jump in your PATH, and then invoke it like
     - this:
     +@@ contrib/git-jump/README: git jump grep foo_bar
     + # arbitrary grep options
     + git jump grep -i foo_bar
       
     - --------------------------------------------------
     ++# jump to places with conflict markers or whitespace errors
     ++# (as reported by # `git diff --check`)
     ++git jump ws
     ++
     + # use the silver searcher for git jump grep
     + git config jump.grepCmd "ag --column"
     ++
      +# pick a mode automatically: "merge" if there are unmerged paths,
     -+# "diff" if the worktree has unstaged changes, otherwise show usage
     -+git jump
     ++# "diff" if the worktree has unstaged changes, "ws" if there are
     ++# whitespace problems; otherwise show usage
     ++git jump auto
      +
     - # jump to changes not yet staged for commit
     - git jump diff
     ++# with no explicit mode, same as "auto"
     ++git jump
     + --------------------------------------------------
       
     + You can use the optional argument '--stdout' to print the listing to
      
       ## contrib/git-jump/git-jump ##
      @@
     @@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump
      +usage: git jump [--stdout] [<mode>] [<args>]
       
       Jump to interesting elements in an editor.
     - The <mode> parameter is one of:
     -@@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump: while test $# -gt 0; do
     - 	shift
     - done
     - if test $# -lt 1; then
     --	usage >&2
     --	exit 1
     +-The <mode> parameter is one of:
     ++The <mode> parameter is one of the following,
     ++defaulting to "auto" if omitted:
     + 
     + diff: elements are diff hunks. Arguments are given to diff.
     + 
     +@@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump: grep: elements are grep hits. Arguments are given to git grep or, if
     + 
     + ws: elements are whitespace errors. Arguments are given to diff --check.
     + 
     ++auto: select one of the other modes based on worktree state;
     ++      "merge" if there are unmerged paths, "diff" if there are
     ++      unstaged changes, "ws" if there are whitespace errors.
     ++
     + If the optional argument `--stdout` is given, print the quickfix
     + lines to standard output instead of feeding it to the editor.
     + EOF
     +@@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump: mode_ws() {
     + 	git diff --check "$@"
     + }
     + 
     ++mode_auto() {
      +	if test "$(git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>/dev/null)" != "true"; then
      +		usage >&2
      +		exit 1
      +	fi
     -+	if test -n "$(git ls-files -u)"; then
     -+		set -- merge
     -+	elif ! git diff --quiet; then
     -+		set -- diff
     ++	if test -n "$(git ls-files -u "$@")"; then
     ++		mode_merge "$@"
     ++	elif ! git diff --quiet "$@"; then
     ++		mode_diff "$@"
     ++	elif ! git diff --check >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     ++		mode_ws "$@"
      +	else
      +		usage >&2
      +		exit 1
      +	fi
     ++}
     ++
     + use_stdout=
     + while test $# -gt 0; do
     + 	case "$1" in
     +@@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump: while test $# -gt 0; do
     + 	shift
     + done
     + if test $# -lt 1; then
     +-	usage >&2
     +-	exit 1
     ++	set -- auto
       fi
       mode=$1; shift
       type "mode_$mode" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { usage >&2; exit 1; }
 contrib/git-jump/README   | 12 ++++++++++++
 contrib/git-jump/git-jump | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/contrib/git-jump/README b/contrib/git-jump/README
index 3211841305..ac35792e55 100644
--- a/contrib/git-jump/README
+++ b/contrib/git-jump/README
@@ -75,8 +75,20 @@ git jump grep foo_bar
 # arbitrary grep options
 git jump grep -i foo_bar
 
+# jump to places with conflict markers or whitespace errors
+# (as reported by # `git diff --check`)
+git jump ws
+
 # use the silver searcher for git jump grep
 git config jump.grepCmd "ag --column"
+
+# pick a mode automatically: "merge" if there are unmerged paths,
+# "diff" if the worktree has unstaged changes, "ws" if there are
+# whitespace problems; otherwise show usage
+git jump auto
+
+# with no explicit mode, same as "auto"
+git jump
 --------------------------------------------------
 
 You can use the optional argument '--stdout' to print the listing to
diff --git a/contrib/git-jump/git-jump b/contrib/git-jump/git-jump
index 8d1d5d79a6..43d3b42a41 100755
--- a/contrib/git-jump/git-jump
+++ b/contrib/git-jump/git-jump
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 
 usage() {
 	cat <<\EOF
-usage: git jump [--stdout] <mode> [<args>]
+usage: git jump [--stdout] [<mode>] [<args>]
 
 Jump to interesting elements in an editor.
-The <mode> parameter is one of:
+The <mode> parameter is one of the following,
+defaulting to "auto" if omitted:
 
 diff: elements are diff hunks. Arguments are given to diff.
 
@@ -16,6 +17,10 @@ grep: elements are grep hits. Arguments are given to git grep or, if
 
 ws: elements are whitespace errors. Arguments are given to diff --check.
 
+auto: select one of the other modes based on worktree state;
+      "merge" if there are unmerged paths, "diff" if there are
+      unstaged changes, "ws" if there are whitespace errors.
+
 If the optional argument `--stdout` is given, print the quickfix
 lines to standard output instead of feeding it to the editor.
 EOF
@@ -82,6 +87,23 @@ mode_ws() {
 	git diff --check "$@"
 }
 
+mode_auto() {
+	if test "$(git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>/dev/null)" != "true"; then
+		usage >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	if test -n "$(git ls-files -u "$@")"; then
+		mode_merge "$@"
+	elif ! git diff --quiet "$@"; then
+		mode_diff "$@"
+	elif ! git diff --check >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		mode_ws "$@"
+	else
+		usage >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
 use_stdout=
 while test $# -gt 0; do
 	case "$1" in
@@ -99,8 +121,7 @@ while test $# -gt 0; do
 	shift
 done
 if test $# -lt 1; then
-	usage >&2
-	exit 1
+	set -- auto
 fi
 mode=$1; shift
 type "mode_$mode" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { usage >&2; exit 1; }

base-commit: 1c00d2d8392f603a6263f11f1a50fde96ae5475e
-- 
gitgitgadget
Previous: Jeff KingNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 8 of 15 in “git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without arguments”
  1. git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without argumentsGreg Hurrell via GitGitGadget, May 8, 2026
  2. Jeff KingMay 8, 2026
  3. Greg HurrellMay 8, 2026
  4. Jeff KingMay 8, 2026
  5. Erik Cervin EdinMay 14, 2026
  6. Greg HurrellMay 19, 2026
  7. Jeff KingMay 19, 2026
  8. git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without argumentsGreg Hurrell via GitGitGadget, May 20, 2026
  9. Junio C HamanoMay 21, 2026
  10. Junio C HamanoMay 21, 2026
  11. git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without argumentsGreg Hurrell via GitGitGadget, May 21, 2026
  12. Junio C HamanoMay 21, 2026
  13. Jeff KingMay 22, 2026
  14. Greg HurrellMay 22, 2026
  15. Erik Cervin EdinMay 26, 2026

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