Solution Commands

Solution Commands

Solutions are conjectures proposed to solve problems. They go through a lifecycle: proposed, submitted, approved, or withdrawn. Solutions can have jj changes attached, be critiqued, and have reviewers assigned whose sign-offs gate acceptance.

jjj solution new

Create a new solution.

jjj solution new <title> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Required	Description
--body	string		The approach: how the conjecture works. Use - to read stdin, so long text survives shell quoting
--problem	string	no	Problem this solution addresses (prompts interactively if not provided)
--supersedes	string	no	Solution this supersedes (title or UUID prefix)
--reviewer	string (repeatable)	no	Assign reviewers at creation (e.g., @alice)
--tags	string	no	Comma-separated tags (e.g., refactor,backend,size:L)
--force, -f	flag	no	Create even if a similar solution already exists

When --problem is not provided, lists open problems and prompts you to select one interactively. After creation, automatically creates a jj change and attaches it to the solution. The solution stays in proposed status until you explicitly run solution submit.

jjj init
jjj problem new "Login is too slow"
jjj solution new "Add connection pooling" --problem "Login is too slow"
jjj solution new "Use async auth" --problem "Login is too slow" --supersedes "Add connection"
jjj solution list

Assign reviewers at creation:

jjj solution new "Add caching" --problem "Login is too slow" --reviewer @alice --reviewer @bob

When reviewers are assigned, the solution requires all of them to sign off before it can be approved. Sign-offs are recorded via review-type critiques. Review is not required by default — it is enabled per-solution by assigning reviewers.

jjj solution list

List all solutions.

jjj solution list [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--problem	string	Filter by problem
--status	string	Filter by status (proposed, submitted, withdrawn, approved)
--search	string	Search solutions by title text
--tag	string	Filter by tag (case-insensitive exact match)
--json	bool	Output in JSON format

jjj solution list --problem "Login is too slow"
jjj solution list --status submitted
jjj solution list --json

jjj solution show

Show solution details.

jjj solution show <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--json	bool	Output in JSON format

jjj solution show "Add connection"
jjj solution show "Add connection" --json

jjj solution edit

Edit solution details.

jjj solution edit <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--title	string	New title
--status	string	New status
--add-tag	string	Add a tag
--remove-tag	string	Remove a tag

jjj solution edit "Add connection" --title "Add connection pooling with retry"

jjj solution attach

Attach the current jj change to a solution.

jjj solution attach <solution_id>

jjj solution attach "Add connection"

jjj solution detach

Detach a change from a solution.

jjj solution detach <solution_id> [change_id]

If no change ID is given, detaches the current change.

jjj solution detach "Add connection"
jjj solution detach "Add connection" abc123

jjj solution submit

Submit a solution for review — opens it for critique.

Submitting also publishes the attached change as a review-s-<solution_id> branch, so a reviewer in another clone can read the diff. Attaching records a change id; it does not share the code, and a reviewer who cannot see the diff can only guess. Publishing is best-effort: a solution with no attached change, or a repo with no remote, still submits.

jjj solution submit <solution_id>

jjj solution submit "Add connection"

# In another clone, to review the actual code:
git fetch origin review-s-<solution_id>
git diff main...FETCH_HEAD

jjj solution approve

Approve a solution. Requires no open critiques (including critique-based review). Auto-solves the problem if this is the only active solution.

jjj solution approve <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--force	bool	Force approve even with open critiques (sets force_approved flag)
--rationale	string	Reason for approving
--no-rationale	flag	Skip the rationale prompt

The approval gate checks that all critiques are resolved (addressed, dismissed, or validated). This includes:

1. Regular critiques — issues raised about the solution’s approach
2. Review critiques — review requests (critiques with --reviewer flag) that must be addressed by the assigned reviewer

Using --force bypasses the check and sets the force_approved flag on the solution.

jjj solution approve "Add connection"
jjj solution approve "Add connection" --force

jjj solution withdraw

Withdraw a solution (criticism showed it will not work).

jjj solution withdraw <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--rationale	string	Reason for withdrawing
--no-rationale	flag	Skip the rationale prompt

jjj solution withdraw "Add connection"

jjj solution assign

Assign a solution to a person.

jjj solution assign <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--to	string	Assignee name (defaults to self)

jjj solution assign "Add connection" --to bob

jjj solution resume

Resume working on an existing solution. Switches to the solution’s most recent jj change, or creates a new change if none exists.

jjj solution resume <solution_id>

jjj solution resume "Add connection"

jjj solution diff

Show the jj diff output for all change IDs attached to a solution.

jjj solution diff <solution_id>

Prints === Change: <id> === before each diff. If a change is not present in the local repo, a note is shown and the next change is tried. If no change IDs are attached, prints an informative message.

jjj solution diff "Add connection"

jjj solution lgtm

Sign off on a solution as a reviewer. This addresses your open review critique for the solution, recording your approval.

Signing off is not approving. By default lgtm records the review and then reports whether anything still blocks — leaving the solution in submitted until someone runs solution approve. That is right when several reviewers sign off in turn, and a trap in an automated loop: a fleet once produced eight reviewed solutions and merged none of them. Pass --approve to finish the job in one step; it still refuses while any critique is open.

jjj solution lgtm <solution_id> [OPTIONS]

Flag	Type	Description
--rationale	string	Record why you signed off — the evidence behind the approval
--approve	bool	Approve too, if nothing is left blocking
--json	bool	Print the updated solution as JSON (suppresses the prose)

jjj solution lgtm "Add connection"
jjj solution lgtm "Add connection" --approve --rationale "ran the benchmark: 2.8x -> 2.1x"

jjj solution comment

Leave a reply on a critique attached to a solution.

jjj solution comment <solution_id> --critique <critique_id> <body>

Flag	Type	Required	Description
--critique	string	yes	The critique to reply to (title or UUID prefix)

jjj solution comment "Add connection" --critique "Missing error" "Fixed in latest change"