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diff --git a/Documentation/technical/bundle-format.txt b/Documentation/technical/bundle-format.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..bac558d049 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/technical/bundle-format.txt @@ -0,0 +1,76 @@ += Git bundle v2 format + +The Git bundle format is a format that represents both refs and Git objects. + +== Format + +We will use ABNF notation to define the Git bundle format. See +protocol-common.txt for the details. + +A v2 bundle looks like this: + +---- +bundle = signature *prerequisite *reference LF pack +signature = "# v2 git bundle" LF + +prerequisite = "-" obj-id SP comment LF +comment = *CHAR +reference = obj-id SP refname LF + +pack = ... ; packfile +---- + +A v3 bundle looks like this: + +---- +bundle = signature *capability *prerequisite *reference LF pack +signature = "# v3 git bundle" LF + +capability = "@" key ["=" value] LF +prerequisite = "-" obj-id SP comment LF +comment = *CHAR +reference = obj-id SP refname LF +key = 1*(ALPHA / DIGIT / "-") +value = *(%01-09 / %0b-FF) + +pack = ... ; packfile +---- + +== Semantics + +A Git bundle consists of several parts. + +* "Capabilities", which are only in the v3 format, indicate functionality that + the bundle requires to be read properly. + +* "Prerequisites" lists the objects that are NOT included in the bundle and the + reader of the bundle MUST already have, in order to use the data in the + bundle. The objects stored in the bundle may refer to prerequisite objects and + anything reachable from them (e.g. a tree object in the bundle can reference + a blob that is reachable from a prerequisite) and/or expressed as a delta + against prerequisite objects. + +* "References" record the tips of the history graph, iow, what the reader of the + bundle CAN "git fetch" from it. + +* "Pack" is the pack data stream "git fetch" would send, if you fetch from a + repository that has the references recorded in the "References" above into a + repository that has references pointing at the objects listed in + "Prerequisites" above. + +In the bundle format, there can be a comment following a prerequisite obj-id. +This is a comment and it has no specific meaning. The writer of the bundle MAY +put any string here. The reader of the bundle MUST ignore the comment. + +=== Note on the shallow clone and a Git bundle + +Note that the prerequisites does not represent a shallow-clone boundary. The +semantics of the prerequisites and the shallow-clone boundaries are different, +and the Git bundle v2 format cannot represent a shallow clone repository. + +== Capabilities + +Because there is no opportunity for negotiation, unknown capabilities cause 'git +bundle' to abort. The only known capability is `object-format`, which specifies +the hash algorithm in use, and can take the same values as the +`extensions.objectFormat` configuration value. |