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[PATCH v3] git-jump: pick a mode automatically when invoked without arguments

From
Greg Hurrell via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
May 21, 2026, 13:45 UTC
Message-ID
<pull.2108.v3.git.1779371110195.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.2108.v2.git.1779280307112.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 two 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`.

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 v2; all of these in response to feedback from Junio:
    
     * Removed stray # from README.
     * Don't both teaching "auto" to select "ws" mode, because it is always
       subsumed by "diff".
     * Update usage string to make clear that git jump --stdout foo is not a
       synonym for git jump --stdout auto foo, because distinguishing
       between foo as <mode> and foo as <arg> is fraught with ambiguity.
    
    In answer to Junio's question:
    
    > If more than one interesting cases apply, what happens, and what
    > should happen?
    
    it's an ordered choice (merge > diff).
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-2108%2Fwincent%2Fauto-jump-v3
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-2108/wincent/auto-jump-v3
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/2108
Range-diff vs v2:
 1:  5fbc8480ef ! 1:  af758dcfd2 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 several situations where we can usefully infer the most
     +    But there are two situations where we can usefully infer the most
          valuable and likely mode that a user would want to use, and select it
          automatically:
      
     @@ Commit message
          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
     @@ contrib/git-jump/README: git jump grep foo_bar
       git jump grep -i foo_bar
       
      +# jump to places with conflict markers or whitespace errors
     -+# (as reported by # `git diff --check`)
     ++# (as reported by `git diff --check`)
      +git jump ws
      +
       # use the silver searcher for git jump grep
     @@ contrib/git-jump/README: git jump grep foo_bar
      +# whitespace problems; otherwise show usage
      +git jump auto
      +
     -+# with no explicit mode, same as "auto"
     ++# with no explicit mode and no args, same as "auto"
      +git jump
       --------------------------------------------------
       
     @@ contrib/git-jump/README: git jump grep foo_bar
      
       ## contrib/git-jump/git-jump ##
      @@
     - 
       usage() {
       	cat <<\EOF
     --usage: git jump [--stdout] <mode> [<args>]
     -+usage: git jump [--stdout] [<mode>] [<args>]
     + usage: git jump [--stdout] <mode> [<args>]
     ++   or: git jump [--stdout]
       
       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:
     ++The <mode> parameter is one of the following.
     ++With no <mode> and no <args>, it defaults to "auto".
       
       diff: elements are diff hunks. Arguments are given to diff.
       
     @@ contrib/git-jump/git-jump: mode_ws() {
      +		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
 contrib/git-jump/README   | 12 ++++++++++++
 contrib/git-jump/git-jump | 26 +++++++++++++++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/contrib/git-jump/README b/contrib/git-jump/README
index 3211841305..aabec4a756 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 and no args, 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..79286d8112 100755
--- a/contrib/git-jump/git-jump
+++ b/contrib/git-jump/git-jump
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
 usage() {
 	cat <<\EOF
 usage: git jump [--stdout] <mode> [<args>]
+   or: git jump [--stdout]
 
 Jump to interesting elements in an editor.
-The <mode> parameter is one of:
+The <mode> parameter is one of the following.
+With no <mode> and no <args>, it defaults to "auto".
 
 diff: elements are diff hunks. Arguments are given to diff.
 
@@ -16,6 +18,10 @@ 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 +88,21 @@ 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 "$@"; then
+		mode_diff "$@"
+	else
+		usage >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
 use_stdout=
 while test $# -gt 0; do
 	case "$1" in
@@ -99,8 +120,7 @@ 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: aec3f587505a472db67e9462d0702e7d463a449d
-- 
gitgitgadget
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 11 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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