| == Git Repository Format Versions |
| |
| Every git repository is marked with a numeric version in the |
| `core.repositoryformatversion` key of its `config` file. This version |
| specifies the rules for operating on the on-disk repository data. An |
| implementation of git which does not understand a particular version |
| advertised by an on-disk repository MUST NOT operate on that repository; |
| doing so risks not only producing wrong results, but actually losing |
| data. |
| |
| Because of this rule, version bumps should be kept to an absolute |
| minimum. Instead, we generally prefer these strategies: |
| |
| - bumping format version numbers of individual data files (e.g., |
| index, packfiles, etc). This restricts the incompatibilities only to |
| those files. |
| |
| - introducing new data that gracefully degrades when used by older |
| clients (e.g., pack bitmap files are ignored by older clients, which |
| simply do not take advantage of the optimization they provide). |
| |
| A whole-repository format version bump should only be part of a change |
| that cannot be independently versioned. For instance, if one were to |
| change the reachability rules for objects, or the rules for locking |
| refs, that would require a bump of the repository format version. |
| |
| Note that this applies only to accessing the repository's disk contents |
| directly. An older client which understands only format `0` may still |
| connect via `git://` to a repository using format `1`, as long as the |
| server process understands format `1`. |
| |
| The preferred strategy for rolling out a version bump (whether whole |
| repository or for a single file) is to teach git to read the new format, |
| and allow writing the new format with a config switch or command line |
| option (for experimentation or for those who do not care about backwards |
| compatibility with older gits). Then after a long period to allow the |
| reading capability to become common, we may switch to writing the new |
| format by default. |
| |
| The currently defined format versions are: |
| |
| === Version `0` |
| |
| This is the format defined by the initial version of git, including but |
| not limited to the format of the repository directory, the repository |
| configuration file, and the object and ref storage. Specifying the |
| complete behavior of git is beyond the scope of this document. |
| |
| === Version `1` |
| |
| This format is identical to version `0`, with the following exceptions: |
| |
| 1. When reading the `core.repositoryformatversion` variable, a git |
| implementation which supports version 1 MUST also read any |
| configuration keys found in the `extensions` section of the |
| configuration file. |
| |
| 2. If a version-1 repository specifies any `extensions.*` keys that |
| the running git has not implemented, the operation MUST NOT |
| proceed. Similarly, if the value of any known key is not understood |
| by the implementation, the operation MUST NOT proceed. |
| |
| Note that if no extensions are specified in the config file, then |
| `core.repositoryformatversion` SHOULD be set to `0` (setting it to `1` |
| provides no benefit, and makes the repository incompatible with older |
| implementations of git). |
| |
| This document will serve as the master list for extensions. Any |
| implementation wishing to define a new extension should make a note of |
| it here, in order to claim the name. |
| |
| The defined extensions are: |
| |
| ==== `noop` |
| |
| This extension does not change git's behavior at all. It is useful only |
| for testing format-1 compatibility. |
| |
| ==== `preciousObjects` |
| |
| When the config key `extensions.preciousObjects` is set to `true`, |
| objects in the repository MUST NOT be deleted (e.g., by `git-prune` or |
| `git repack -d`). |
| |
| ==== `partialClone` |
| |
| When the config key `extensions.partialClone` is set, it indicates |
| that the repo was created with a partial clone (or later performed |
| a partial fetch) and that the remote may have omitted sending |
| certain unwanted objects. Such a remote is called a "promisor remote" |
| and it promises that all such omitted objects can be fetched from it |
| in the future. |
| |
| The value of this key is the name of the promisor remote. |
| |
| ==== `worktreeConfig` |
| |
| If set, by default "git config" reads from both "config" and |
| "config.worktree" files from GIT_DIR in that order. In |
| multiple working directory mode, "config" file is shared while |
| "config.worktree" is per-working directory (i.e., it's in |
| GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree) |
| |
| ==== `refStorage` |
| |
| Specifies the file format for the ref database. The only valid value |
| is `files` (loose references with a packed-refs file). |