gix-ref: ref-table backend (research)

[Sebastian Thiel (Byron)]

It's not in mainline yet, but definitely kind of on the way and available.

• an integration to mainline - superseded
• a standalone implementation
• the documentation in reftable.txt in the git repository

I thought I saw it show up once in the mainline git repository, but it's definitely not there anymore.

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Original issue: #109

[Ori Avtalion (salty-horse)]

The "official" Git-sanctioned port of reftable into Rust is on hold. In the meantime, the Grit project has a working (tests-passing) implementation (NB: Ported using AI agents).

[Sebastian Thiel (Byron)]

Crazy news - particularly the Git3-blocker part. On the other hand, I'd be inclined to not rely on it given that they can always just ship C, while the Rust crate would only really be an advantage for the Rust tools out there (gitoxide for sure). Then again, I always planned to do my own, so even more important to set it on top of the best baseline that's available.

I shall keep you posted.

[Ori Avtalion (salty-horse)]

From Phoronix, 12 October 2025:

Git developers are hoping by the Git 3.0 release that all other notable dependent projects will be ready with their SHA-256 support. Trying to work out those logistics and getting all projects onboard without indefinitely pushing out the 3.0 release seems to be their biggest obstacle.

I think Reftable is included in that concern.

[Sebastian Thiel (Byron)]

I would expect that as well!
Something tells me gitoxide still fails the classification of being notable, so I will just push for being ready by end of August 😅.

[Ori Avtalion (salty-horse)]

It's used by Jujutsu, which I think is very notable, and Git developers care about it, so YES :)

[Sebastian Thiel (Byron)]

Then it's probably good to know that I care about them, too, so I want to be ready in time no matter what :). That September date is based on an internet stranger posting this in a Cargo issue by the way. So maybe highly official insider info, or the opposite 😁.

[Sebastian Thiel (Byron)]

No, please don't.

And while this is an attempt to adhere to the contribution guidelines, posting something here doesn't automatically mean you can go ahead and post PRs.
Please, do call off your bot, and keep what you need in your fork, I will implement this myself soon enough.