diff --git a/lua/jj/cmd/init.lua b/lua/jj/cmd/init.lua
index 192fafc..79d01a5 100644
--- a/lua/jj/cmd/init.lua
+++ b/lua/jj/cmd/init.lua
@@ -833,22 +833,18 @@ function M.j(args)
 	local cmd = nil
 	if #args == 0 then
 		local default_cmd_str, success = runner.execute_command(
-			"jj config get ui.default-command",
+			"jj config list ui.default-command",
 			"Error getting user's default command",
 			nil,
 			true
 		)
-		if not success then
-			terminal.run("jj", M.terminal_keymaps())
-			return
+		if success then
+			cmd = parser.parse_default_cmd(default_cmd_str or "")
 		end
-
-		local default_cmd = parser.parse_default_cmd(default_cmd_str and default_cmd_str or "")
-		if default_cmd == nil then
-			terminal.run("jj", M.terminal_keymaps())
-			return
+		-- jj's built-in default command is "log"
+		if cmd == nil then
+			cmd = { "log" }
 		end
-		cmd = default_cmd
 	end
 
 	if type(args) == "string" then
diff --git a/lua/jj/core/parser.lua b/lua/jj/core/parser.lua
index 9cd85a5..d18954a 100644
--- a/lua/jj/core/parser.lua
+++ b/lua/jj/core/parser.lua
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ function M.parse_default_cmd(cmd_output)
 		return nil
 	end
 
-	-- Remove whitespace and parse TOML output
+	-- Remove whitespace and strip "key = " prefix from `jj config list` output
 	local trimmed_cmd = vim.trim(cmd_output)
+	trimmed_cmd = trimmed_cmd:gsub("^[%w._-]+ = ", "")
 
 	-- Try to parse as TOML array: ["item1", "item2", ...]
 	-- Pattern "%[(.*)%]" captures everything between square brackets
diff --git a/tests/run_tests.lua b/tests/run_tests.lua
index 0b1e5b9..19b9027 100755
--- a/tests/run_tests.lua
+++ b/tests/run_tests.lua
@@ -27,6 +27,20 @@ local function assert_is_nil(value, msg)
 	end
 end
 
+local function assert_table_equals(expected, actual, msg)
+	if type(expected) ~= "table" or type(actual) ~= "table" then
+		error(string.format("%s\nExpected table, got: %s and %s", msg or "Assertion failed", type(expected), type(actual)))
+	end
+	if #expected ~= #actual then
+		error(string.format("%s\nLength mismatch: expected %d, got %d", msg or "Assertion failed", #expected, #actual))
+	end
+	for i, v in ipairs(expected) do
+		if v ~= actual[i] then
+			error(string.format("%s\nAt index %d: expected %s, got %s", msg or "Assertion failed", i, tostring(v), tostring(actual[i])))
+		end
+	end
+end
+
 local function run_test(name, test_fn)
 	local status, err = pcall(test_fn)
 	if status then
@@ -344,6 +358,41 @@ run_test("parses divergent change at end of line", function()
 	assert_equals("bcd890/1", parser.get_revset(line))
 end)
 
+print("\n=== Running parse_default_cmd tests ===\n")
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: parses config list array output", function()
+	local output = 'ui.default-command = ["log", "--no-pager", "--limit", "18"]'
+	assert_table_equals({ "log", "--no-pager", "--limit", "18" }, parser.parse_default_cmd(output))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: parses config list single string output", function()
+	local output = 'ui.default-command = "log"'
+	assert_table_equals({ "log" }, parser.parse_default_cmd(output))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: parses bare array (config get format)", function()
+	local output = '["log", "--limit", "10"]'
+	assert_table_equals({ "log", "--limit", "10" }, parser.parse_default_cmd(output))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: parses bare string (config get format)", function()
+	local output = '"log"'
+	assert_table_equals({ "log" }, parser.parse_default_cmd(output))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: parses unquoted string", function()
+	local output = "log"
+	assert_table_equals({ "log" }, parser.parse_default_cmd(output))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: returns nil for empty string", function()
+	assert_is_nil(parser.parse_default_cmd(""))
+end)
+
+run_test("parse_default_cmd: returns nil for nil", function()
+	assert_is_nil(parser.parse_default_cmd(nil))
+end)
+
 -- Print summary
 print(string.format("\n=== Test Summary ==="))
 print(string.format("Passed: %d", tests_passed))