Architecture documentation structure per sdd_process phase 1: - README index (doc table, ADR table, lifecycle), overview with crate map, dependency rules, and security invariants - Component specs: storage, transport, http, ssh, alkgitd (all draft) - ADRs 001-009: crate decomposition, front-door-blind core, V2-first protocol, pack pipeline (data::output generation / data::input ingestion), session substrate types, http adapter composition (proposed, OQ-01), ACL-before-advertisement, registry-resolved repo identity, bounded-resources budgets - open-questions.md: OQ-01..08 with two deferred(scope), one deferred(unclear), door-type definitions, blocker tracker tasks in tasks/architecture/ - v1 ssh-door decision recorded: russh terminates wire SSH in alkgitd; alkcall channels stay the internal substrate (OQ-03 partially resolved) Two review rounds (fresh-context subagent): 4 critical + 17 warnings fixed in round one; zero critical + 4 warnings + 5 suggestions fixed in round two. All ADR/OQ cross-references verified resolving.
3.6 KiB
ADR-004: Pack pipeline — gitoxide data::output generation, data::input streaming ingestion
Status
Accepted
Context
Pack generation and ingestion are the two halves of fetch and receive-pack.
POC-2 resolved the generation question empirically; the ingestion tool
turned out to be mislabeled in the original research plan (the plan called
it bundle::write — the correct tool is data::input streaming) and was
corrected there.
Generation options were:
a. gix-pack::bundle::write into a temp dir, read back — wrong tool:
it is the index-from-stream machinery (consumes an existing pack
stream, mmaps to resolve deltas, always writes files). Not a generation
path.
b. gix-pack::data::output::bytes fed by an odb walk — validated live:
streams to any io::Write with O(counts) memory (60k-object pack →
5.3 MB out, ~11 MB extra RSS), real git 2.43 clones fsck-clean.
Ingestion (receive-pack): client sends a possibly-thin pack stream; server must index it, fsck it, and apply ref updates via CAS.
Decision
Fetch-side generation is gitoxide's own pipeline, composed exactly as
gitoxide-core/src/pack/create.rs does (POC-2's validated composition):
peel wants to commit tips
→ commit-ancestry walk (gix_traverse::commit::Simple, Parents::All)
[+ non-commit tips as-is]
→ count::objects(_unthreaded, TreeContents) [per-commit tree expansion]
→ entry::iter_from_counts [chunked deflate + pack-delta copy]
→ InOrderIter → bytes::FromEntriesIter (V2, sha1)
→ io::Write sink (sideband on the wire, or http response body)
Two-stage closure is mandatory: TreeContents does not follow commit
parents; feeding tip commits alone produces incomplete packs (POC-2's
course correction). The odb handle needs prevent_pack_unload() +
ignore_replacements = true. gix_odb::Cache is not Sync: share
Arc<Store>, build a handle per session, generate on blocking threads.
Missing objects mid-generation must abort the fetch (sideband error
band), never emit a broken pack — check entry statistics
(missing_objects > 0).
Receive-side ingestion parses the client pack stream
(gix-pack::data::input with streaming-input), fscks it
(gix-fsck connectivity), and applies ref updates via gix-ref
transaction CAS. The exact push state machine (capability advertisement
set, CAS timing, status report, http framing) is OQ-04's investigation
target; the ingestion-tool choice above is decided.
Delta synthesis for loose objects is an optimization backlog item, not
a v1 commitment: existing pack deltas copy through for free; loose objects
ship as compressed bases. No upstream delta-encode API exists
(gix-delta is apply-only).
Consequences
- Fresh clones of loose-ish repos ship uncompressed bases (fine for v1; clients re-pack at rest); repos kept packed get pack-copy efficiency.
- Memory stays O(counts); streaming under back pressure is proven on the http path (POC-3: flat RSS under a 650 KB/s reader).
- Determinism:
objects_unthreadedgives deterministic order; threaded count +InOrderIteris the scale path later. alkgit-coreexposes this as a type taking (odb handle, wants, haves) → streaming pack; negotiation-agnostic (POC-2 follow-up 1).
References
docs/research/poc2-findings.md(the whole basis),docs/research/poc3-findings.md(streaming proof)docs/research/gitoxide.md§"Storage" (generation-pipeline notes)docs/research/git-protocol.md§"Server-side pack generation"- ADR-005 (how the sink reaches the wire), ADR-009 (memory/time budgets)
- transport.md §fetch, storage.md §packs