Files
alkblobs/docs/architecture/store-api.md
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glm-5.3-flash 4b5009d85a docs(architecture): Phase 1 spec tree — 7 specs, ADRs 001-006, OQ tracker
- overview/hashing/store-api/backends/gc/ops specs + README index,
  all draft status with YAML frontmatter and cross-referenced ADR/OQ
- ADR-001: substrate posture (store layer alkcall-free = family
  conformance, not deviation) + ops placement decided (feature-gated
  module, no consumer-waited deferral)
- ADR-002: canonical git-blob-sha-256 + key encoding — the declared
  wire-format ADR (one-way door)
- ADR-003: backend contract, sqlite/fs/mem tiers, pure-function
  dispatch, no migration, unknown-length buffering semantics pinned
- ADR-004: exactly two production backends; manifest/path-tree layers
  are consumer-side (the corrected two-vs-three-backends framing)
- ADR-005: pooled CAS, three liveness sources, delete windows with
  pin-before-publish + delete-time arbitration (race closed), no
  ambient scheduling
- ADR-006: whole-blob verification; chunk-tree encodings excluded by
  scoping, not deferred on a paused consumer
- open-questions.md: OQ-BL-01..06 resolved with ADR cross-refs; OQ-07
  /08 externally-owned, OQ-09 deferred(scope) with SDD tracker task
- AGENTS.md: status updated to Phase 1, gix-odb path corrected

Verification: cargo test / clippy -D warnings / fmt --check clean
2026-10-01 14:45:32 +00:00

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---
status: draft
last_updated: 2026-10-01
---
# Store API
## What this is
The store core's public surface: the typed facade above the backends
that consumers (alkgit, alkfs, the ops module) program against. It owns
typed keys and hashing (ADR-002), size-threshold dispatch (ADR-003),
the put-pinning seam, and the liveness/sweep seam (ADR-005) — and
nothing else: no paths, no manifests, no wire (ADR-004, ADR-001).
## Public surface
### Write path
- **`put(len: Option<u64>, stream)` → `(Key, Pin)`** — the streaming
put seam (POC #3 finding A1). Two internal paths behind one signature:
- *Known length* (encouraged, documented as such on the API): the
preamble hashes before content flows; one pass, no staging needed
for hashing. Covers git objects, pre-staged files (`stat`-derived
length), network offers, `Content-Length`-bearing uploads.
- *Unknown length*: content buffers in memory up to the dispatch
threshold; on commit the buffer is the whole stored artifact
(kv tier) — or, on mid-stream threshold overflow, the buffer
flushes into a stage file and the stream continues into it
(fs tier — the streaming pass cannot include the preamble, so the
derivation pass restarts over preamble + staged bytes; forced by
the preamble being inside the hashed input, not a design choice).
Verification runs over the eventual stored artifact as a whole;
a stream error on either path leaves no entry and no stage file.
Eliminates the A6 dispatch asymmetry by construction: routing is
a pure function of content length (ADR-003).
- **Stage-file hygiene invariant** (POC #3 finding A5, codified): every
failure path converges on stage-discard; every success path converges
on commit-rename. No early returns that bypass cleanup; this is an
asserted invariant with dedicated exact-count tests, not review
hygiene.
- **`Pin` / `Batch`** — RAII guard on the put path (ADR-005): the
entry is liveness-protected until the guard drops or the caller
converts it into a consumer-side reference (registered liveness, a
root tag). **`Batch`** groups multi-put writes under one batch-scoped
pin (manifest writes are exactly this); a batch's pins drop together
on batch commit or drop (ADR-005 §Decision).
### Read path
- **`get(key) → Option<(len, stream)>`** — small tier returns a
bounded read; large tier streams a file handle. Dispatch
fall-through: a small-tier miss queries the large tier (POC #1
finding 6).
- **`stat(key) → Option<EntryMeta>`** — cheap length/type probe
(phase-0 OQ-BL-04 addendum; gix's header-only read is git's cheapest
primitive and the packfile-serving surface rides this). `EntryMeta`
carries `len: u64` and the key's algorithm (the "type" from the
store's perspective is the hash algorithm — there is no other type at
this layer).
- **`read_range(key, range) → (slice, slice_digest)`** — slice plus an
out-of-band slice digest: SHA-256 over the slice bytes, fixed by
convention so callers and ops handlers agree without negotiation
(per-range verification against the canonical digest is impossible —
ADR-006). Range reads fall through tiers exactly as `get` does
(small-tier miss slices the large tier's value). Local range serving
(packfiles) is the consumer of this.
- **`get_stream` / fanout** — the ops module's fetch handler is a
broadcast above the store: one reader, store arm + subscriber
arms (POC #3 finding A3); late joiners degrade to normal verified
`get` after commit. The store exposes the seam; the fanout policy
lives in the ops layer (ADR-001).
### Lifecycle
- **`has(key)`, `delete(key)`** — deletion participates in ADR-005's
delete windows; direct deletes are permitted but refuse protected
keys — pinned or re-observed live via registered sources (the same
per-key arbitration sweeps apply, typed error) — and are unusual by
posture; most deletion flows through sweeps.
- **`list() → stream of keys`** — whole-pool enumeration; complete by
contract (see backends doc for why list correctness is load-bearing).
- **`register_liveness_source(...)`** — the live-shared GC seam
(ADR-005, §Decision; the POC's "install implies copy" failure
(finding 7) is why the verb/name is pinned here).
- **`sweep() → SweepReport`** — explicit mark-and-sweep; embedders own
the cadence (ADR-005, no ambient timers). A sweep with no registered
liveness sources aborts without deleting — the safe default.
## Error model
`thiserror`; no panics in library code; no `unwrap`/`expect` outside
tests (AGENTS convention 2). Distinguished failure families:
- `Missing` — key absent (get/stat miss)
- `Verification` — put/get hash-check failure (content ≠ key)
- `Io(String)` — backend media failure (stringly because
`std::io::Error` is not stable across versions)
- `GcAborted` — a protection source failed; nothing deleted (ADR-005)
- `KeyInvalid` — malformed key bytes at the boundary (hashing doc)
Virgin-store semantics: read paths on a fresh store see absent/empty,
never "table does not exist" errors (POC #1 finding 2 — the redb
lesson generalizes to any kv engine).
## Concurrency posture
- Async I/O throughout; `tokio::sync` for lifecycle correlation;
`parking_lot` for short-held internal locks (AGENTS convention 3);
poisoned locks degrade via `unwrap_or_else(|e| e.into_inner())`.
- Blocking file work lives in `spawn_blocking` inside backend impls
(the alkgit trait-execution pattern); the store never blocks the
executor.
- The sweep-vs-put window is an architectural mechanism — delete
windows — specified in ADR-005, not an implementation note.
## Invariants (the test gate)
1. Whole-blob put/get round-trips byte-identical under the canonical
derivation, both tiers, both put paths (interop with real git
remains the source of truth, per POC #1's lesson about hardcoded
vectors).
2. Dedup: putting identical content twice (same or different path) is
one pool entry.
3. Stage hygiene: any failure mid-put leaves zero stage files; any
success leaves exactly one committed entry.
4. Sweep safety: with correct liveness registered, sweep counts are
exact; with aborting sources, sweep deletes nothing.
5. `list()` correctness is observable only through GC — list-related
tests assert through sweep outcomes (POC #1 finding 2's lesson
codified).
## Design Decisions
| ADR | Decision | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| [002](decisions/002-canonical-hash-and-key-encoding.md) | Hashing & keys | derivation + encoding this surface is built on |
| [003](decisions/003-backend-contract-and-dispatch.md) | Dispatch | routing is a pure function of length; pre-threshold buffering |
| [005](decisions/005-pooled-cas-and-gc-mechanism.md) | Pools & GC | pins, liveness seams, delete windows, sweep semantics |
| [006](decisions/006-verification-posture-and-transfer-encoding.md) | Verification | whole-blob checks; slice digests out-of-band |
## Open Questions
None owned by this document beyond the cross-references above.
## References
- `docs/research/poc-largeblob-findings.md` findings A1/A5/A6,
benchmark table
- `docs/research/poc-trait-dispatch-findings.md` findings 1–3, 7
- ADR-003 (put-path buffering), ADR-005 (pin/Batch/Pin lifecycle),
ADR-006 (range-read semantics), ADR-002 (keys)
- [ops-surface.md](ops-surface.md) — the fanout/fetch consumer of the
read path
- [gc-and-namespaces.md](gc-and-namespaces.md) — the lifecycle seam
details