diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9128643fd..8861c1a1d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * Revsets gained a new function `mine()` that aliases `author(exact:"your_email")`.
 
 * `jj log` timestamp format now accepts `.utc()` to convert a timestamp to UTC.
+ 
+* templates now support additional string methods `.starts_with(x)`, `.ends_with(x)`
+  `.remove_prefix(x)`, `.remove_suffix(x)`, and `.substr(start, end)`.
 
 ### Fixed bugs
 
diff --git a/cli/src/template_builder.rs b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
index 166827acf..bfa452cb7 100644
--- a/cli/src/template_builder.rs
+++ b/cli/src/template_builder.rs
@@ -329,6 +329,76 @@ fn build_string_method<'a, L: TemplateLanguage<'a>>(
                 |(haystack, needle)| haystack.contains(&needle),
             ))
         }
+        "starts_with" => {
+            let [needle_node] = template_parser::expect_exact_arguments(function)?;
+            let needle_property = expect_plain_text_expression(language, build_ctx, needle_node)?;
+            language.wrap_boolean(TemplateFunction::new(
+                (self_property, needle_property),
+                move |(haystack, needle)| haystack.starts_with(&needle),
+            ))
+        }
+        "ends_with" => {
+            let [needle_node] = template_parser::expect_exact_arguments(function)?;
+            let needle_property = expect_plain_text_expression(language, build_ctx, needle_node)?;
+            language.wrap_boolean(TemplateFunction::new(
+                (self_property, needle_property),
+                move |(haystack, needle)| haystack.ends_with(&needle),
+            ))
+        }
+        "remove_prefix" => {
+            let [needle_node] = template_parser::expect_exact_arguments(function)?;
+            let needle_property = expect_plain_text_expression(language, build_ctx, needle_node)?;
+            language.wrap_string(TemplateFunction::new(
+                (self_property, needle_property),
+                move |(haystack, needle)| {
+                    haystack
+                        .strip_prefix(&needle)
+                        .map(ToOwned::to_owned)
+                        .unwrap_or(haystack)
+                },
+            ))
+        }
+        "remove_suffix" => {
+            let [needle_node] = template_parser::expect_exact_arguments(function)?;
+            let needle_property = expect_plain_text_expression(language, build_ctx, needle_node)?;
+            language.wrap_string(TemplateFunction::new(
+                (self_property, needle_property),
+                move |(haystack, needle)| {
+                    haystack
+                        .strip_suffix(&needle)
+                        .map(ToOwned::to_owned)
+                        .unwrap_or(haystack)
+                },
+            ))
+        }
+        "substr" => {
+            let [start_idx, end_idx] = template_parser::expect_exact_arguments(function)?;
+            let start_idx_property = expect_integer_expression(language, build_ctx, start_idx)?;
+            let end_idx_property = expect_integer_expression(language, build_ctx, end_idx)?;
+            language.wrap_string(TemplateFunction::new(
+                (self_property, start_idx_property, end_idx_property),
+                |(s, start_idx, end_idx)| {
+                    let to_idx = |i: i64| -> usize {
+                        let magnitude = usize::try_from(i.unsigned_abs()).unwrap_or(usize::MAX);
+                        if i < 0 {
+                            s.len().saturating_sub(magnitude)
+                        } else {
+                            magnitude
+                        }
+                    };
+                    let start_idx = to_idx(start_idx);
+                    let end_idx = to_idx(end_idx);
+                    if start_idx >= end_idx {
+                        String::new()
+                    } else {
+                        s.chars()
+                            .skip(start_idx)
+                            .take(end_idx - start_idx)
+                            .collect()
+                    }
+                },
+            ))
+        }
         "first_line" => {
             template_parser::expect_no_arguments(function)?;
             language.wrap_string(TemplateFunction::new(self_property, |s| {
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_templater.rs b/cli/tests/test_templater.rs
index 401a5728b..eeb6e22d6 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_templater.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_templater.rs
@@ -289,6 +289,8 @@ fn test_templater_list_method() {
     insta::assert_snapshot!(
         render(r#""a\nb\nc".lines().map(|s| "x\ny".lines().map(|t| s ++ t).join(",")).join(";")"#),
         @"ax,ay;bx,by;cx,cy");
+    // Nested string operations
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""!a\n!b\nc\nend".remove_suffix("end").lines().map(|s| s.remove_prefix("!"))"#), @"a b c");
 
     // Lambda expression in alias
     insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""a\nb\nc".lines().map(identity)"#), @"a b c");
@@ -364,6 +366,36 @@ fn test_templater_string_method() {
 
     insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".lines()"#), @"");
     insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""a\nb\nc\n".lines()"#), @"a b c");
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".starts_with("")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""everything".starts_with("")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".starts_with("foo")"#), @"false");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foo".starts_with("foo")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foobar".starts_with("foo")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foobar".starts_with("bar")"#), @"false");
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".ends_with("")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""everything".ends_with("")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".ends_with("foo")"#), @"false");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foo".ends_with("foo")"#), @"true");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foobar".ends_with("foo")"#), @"false");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foobar".ends_with("bar")"#), @"true");
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""".remove_prefix("wip: ")"#), @"");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""wip: testing".remove_prefix("wip: ")"#), @"testing");
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""bar@my.example.com".remove_suffix("@other.example.com")"#), @"bar@my.example.com");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""bar@other.example.com".remove_suffix("@other.example.com")"#), @"bar");
+
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foo".substr(0, 0)"#), @"");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foo".substr(0, 1)"#), @"f");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""foo".substr(0, 99)"#), @"foo");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""abcdef".substr(2, -1)"#), @"cde");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""abcdef".substr(-3, 99)"#), @"def");
+
+    // ranges with end > start are empty
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""abcdef".substr(4, 2)"#), @"");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(render(r#""abcdef".substr(-2, -4)"#), @"");
 }
 
 #[test]
diff --git a/docs/templates.md b/docs/templates.md
index 4601a5716..2ce5d9a1f 100644
--- a/docs/templates.md
+++ b/docs/templates.md
@@ -142,6 +142,11 @@ defined.
 * `.lines() -> List<String>`: Split into lines excluding newline characters.
 * `.upper() -> String`
 * `.lower() -> String`
+* `.starts_with(needle: Template) -> Boolean`
+* `.ends_with(needle: Template) -> Boolean`
+* `.remove_prefix(needle: Template) -> String`: Removes the passed prefix, if present
+* `.remove_suffix(needle: Template) -> String`: Removes the passed suffix, if present
+* `.substr(start: Integer, end: Integer) -> String`: Extract substring. Negative values count from the end.
 
 ### Template type