Jot

A commit-message journal CLI. Jot short notes as you work; assemble them into a properly formatted commit message right before git commit.

Install

go build -o jot .

Put the binary on your PATH (e.g. copy it to ~/bin or /usr/local/bin).

Cross-compile without network access:

GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o jot .
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -o jot .
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o jot.exe .

Refined flow

# Start working in a repo
cd my-project

# Set up the post-commit hook (optional; first jot write installs it too)
jot init

# Log notes as you go
jot write "Added a new function to render circles"
jot write "typo note"
jot undo
jot write "Refactored main pipeline and packages"

# Review what's pending for the next commit
jot read

# Tweak notes before committing
jot edit 0 "Added circle rendering helper"
jot main 1
jot rm 0

# Stage, copy, and commit
jot update
jot copy
jot paste

# Push to remote (e.g. first push to a new branch)
jot push -u origin main

# After commit, pending notes are cleared automatically
jot read   # → No messages have been made for the next commit

# Browse past commits
jot log

# Drop pending notes without committing
jot clear

jot help
jot version

Commands

Command	Description
jot write "message"	Log a note (multi-line quoted text supported)
jot write --no-hyphen "message"	Log multi-line without auto-hyphens on sub-lines
jot read	List pending notes for the next commit (git-log-style dates)
jot log	Show past commit messages (git log passthrough)
jot main <n>	Set subject line (index from read)
jot copy / jot -c	Format and copy to clipboard
jot copy --preview	Print formatted message only
jot paste	Copy to clipboard and git commit
jot paste -p	Preview message, confirm [y/N], then copy and commit
jot update	Stage all changes (git add .)
jot push	Push to remote (git push passthrough)
jot rm <n>	Remove a note
jot edit <n> <text>	Edit a note in place
jot undo	Remove the last note
jot clear	Wipe all notes (-y to skip prompt)
jot init	Install/repair the post-commit hook

Storage

Notes live at <git-dir>/jot/log.json (inside .git/, never tracked). Each git worktree gets its own log. Legacy data at .git/gut/log.json is read automatically if present.

Clipboard

• macOS: pbcopy
• Windows: clip
• Linux: wl-copy, xclip, or xsel (first found on PATH)

If clipboard access fails, the formatted message is still printed to stdout.