Files
alkgit/docs/architecture/overview.md
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glm-5.3-flash 82653c31b6 docs(architecture): ADR-017 — consumer half, GitSession as typed client (review 001 A-5)
- new ADR-017: GitSession is a real typed client in v1 (ls_refs/fetch/
  push), grounded in the two deployment use cases — the p2p replicator
  is the named downstream and needs the client protocol layer; the
  thin-wrapper reading is superseded
- fetch client reuses gix-protocol (async-client) over a custom
  alkcall gix_transport::client::Transport impl (handshake writes the
  ADR-016 request line on the direct path; the channels open-op params
  carry it otherwise); push hand-rolled to ADR-013's shapes (gitoxide
  has no send-pack client)
- storage-agnostic: packs stream both ways to caller-owned consumers;
  no in-session credentials (alkcall transport authenticates); client
  sessions carry ADR-009 Limits (client is also internet-facing)
- manifest: gix-protocol/gix-transport gain async-client features
  (verified against published tree, MSRV 1.88)
- amend ADR-010 (consumer-half bullet) and ADR-012 §4 (the deferred
  gix-protocol call — resolved; rider superseded); backend/transport/
  overview/doors wording; review 001 A-5 marked resolved

verification: cargo check (default, --all-features, --no-default-features,
--features sha256), cargo +1.88 check, cargo test, clippy
-D warnings, fmt --check — clean across the matrix
2026-09-29 09:24:47 +00:00

7.3 KiB

status, last_updated
status last_updated
draft 2026-09-25

Overview: alkgit

Purpose

alkgit is the git payload service of the alk family: a pure protocol crate (per ADR-010, following the alktty/alktunnels template) implementing the git smart protocol over alkcall channels — the alk/git ALPN. It provides repository storage as backend traits (with a feature-gated gitoxide implementation), the git smart protocol as producer/consumer halves, and nothing else: no binary, no front doors. The original framing of this repo (a monorepo with an alkgitd binary and its own http/ssh crates) was an init-agent artifact corrected by OQ-09/ADR-010; docs/research/vision.md is amended accordingly.

The one-line architecture

One protocol crate: producer + consumer + backend traits, gix behind a feature. Doors (alkhttp, alkssh, alknet) expose it; assembly belongs to downstream consumers.

Crate map

Single crate alkgit:

Half Contents POC evidence
Producer GitAdapter (alk/git ALPN via alkcall ProtocolHandler; parses the ADR-016 request-line preamble), channels register_openable (channels/git/sub — open-op params {repo, service}, the negotiation + service selector + ACL point; ADR-016) POC-1 verbatim
Consumer GitSession typed client (connect_direct, open_via_channels) — ADR-017: ls_refs/fetch/push; fetch via gitoxide client machinery over a custom alkcall Transport, push hand-rolled to ADR-013's shapes; the replication/mirroring primitive for alknet new, specified (grammar capture-grounded: ADR-013/014 + captures)
Substrate duplex session + stateless request/response layer (ADR-005); wire framing, V2 state machines (ADR-003) POC-1, POC-3
Backends GitRegistry (+ write supertrait), GitRefs, GitPackGen, GitPackIngest traits; impls behind the default-on gix (engine) and registry-file (records) features POC-2 (gix impl)
Management ops git/repo/* call ops over GitRegistryStore (ADR-012 §3) — the JSON half alongside the alk/git open op (first dual-kind payload; ADR-012 §5) thin over the store trait

Feature model: gix (engine impls) and registry-file (record store + ops) are independent default-on seams (ADR-012 §4); default-features = false gives the wire/protocol layer without either (wasm-clean as a side effect, not a goal); the sha256 passthrough and (eventually, in alkhttp) the git door feature ride the same pattern. Doors live in the door crates — see doors.md.

Security invariants (spec-level, carried from vision/principles)

  1. Authenticated by default — anonymous fetch only on explicitly- public repos; push always authenticated.
  2. Visible-surface = authorized-surface — alkcall ACL end-to-end; internal ops never wire-callable.
  3. ACL before advertisement — nothing is emitted before the check (ADR-007); the channels open-op carrying the repo id is the natural enforcement point on the native path.
  4. Registry-resolved repo identity — wire names are ids, never paths (ADR-008).
  5. No secret material on the wire or at rest outside alkvault — metadata holds vault references; no env-var credential reads. (In v1 alkgit's metadata holds no credential-shaped material at all, so nothing is vault-placed — ADR-011 §5.)
  6. No shelling out to git — pure Rust on gix primitives.
  7. Bounded resources — every session carries Limits (ADR-009).
  8. Honest capability advertisement — advertise exactly what we serve (ADR-003).

What is already validated (POC-backed)

  • pkt-line over alkcall BiStream end-to-end (POC-1 → producer half).
  • Pack generation pipeline streaming with O(counts) memory (POC-2 → gix backend impl).
  • Smart-http streaming both ways (POC-3 → the stateless substrate that alkhttp's future git feature maps onto; docs/research/poc3-findings.md §alkhttp fit is the mounting reference). The full V2 fetch path against real git 2.43 is proven; receive-pack and multi-round negotiation are design-complete against real-client captures (ADR-013, ADR-014 — push-captures.md, negotiation-captures.md).

Design Decisions

ADR Decision Summary
001 Crate decomposition superseded by ADR-010
002 Session boundary (identity, repo, service, stream, limits) — unchanged, load-bearing; service per ADR-016
003 V2-first protocol V2-only fetch both doors; push is V0-framed by upstream design (ADR-013); honest advertisement
004 Pack pipeline data::output gen / data::input ingestion
005 Substrate types duplex + stateless APIs over one state machine
006 HTTP adapter composition superseded by ADR-010 (mounting → alkhttp feature)
007 ACL first no ref/capability line before ACL passes
008 Repo identity wire names are registry IDs
009 Budgets every session carries limits
010 Pure protocol crate single crate, producer/consumer halves, no doors/binary
011 Per-repo authorization grants in repo records, policy in core, vault-nil (amended: ADR-015)
012 Registry + ops read/write split, file default, CRUD ops, feature split
013 receive-pack V0-framed push machine, thin-pack acceptance, unpack-first CAS
014 Negotiation ack loop, common_haves seam, no ready
015 Manage grant + op gate manage tier, admin-OR-manage gate, create seeds manage
016 Native session preamble {repo, service} open-op params, request-line preamble, service in the tuple
017 Consumer half GitSession typed client, custom alkcall Transport + gix-protocol fetch, hand-rolled push

Open Questions

Key questions tracked in open-questions.md:

  • OQ-03: publish-time API freeze inventory (the git/repo/* op set and the trait family enter it; ADR-012, ADR-013/014's trait additions; the ADR-015 three-action grant shape must land in it; the ADR-016 native preamble wire shapes — {repo, service} params schema and the request-line grammar — entered it; ADR-017's GitSession public API enters it).
  • OQ-05: sha256 policy (deferred(scope), low).
  • OQ-16: grant-key identity namespace (deferred(scope); blocks nothing in v1 — ADR-015 §7).

Resolved this cycle: OQ-04 (ADR-013 — receive-pack state machine, capture-grounded), OQ-02 (ADR-014 — negotiation ack loop). Earlier: OQ-08 (ADR-011 — per-repo authorization, grants in records, vault-nil), OQ-06 (ADR-012 — registry-file default, persistence adapters additive), OQ-07 (ADR-012 — CRUD ops shipped External with scope+grant ACL, gate amended by ADR-015), OQ-09/OQ-01 (ADR-010 — pure protocol crate).