diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f3be1efd..237f85e6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2914,6 +2914,13 @@ dependencies = [
  "thiserror 1.0.69",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "radicle-git-metadata"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror 1.0.69",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "radicle-git-ref-format"
 version = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/Cargo.toml b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ab58b3f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+[package]
+name = "radicle-git-metadata"
+description = "Radicle structs that carry Git commit metadata"
+homepage.workspace = true
+repository.workspace = true
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition.workspace = true
+license.workspace = true
+keywords = ["radicle", "git", "metadata"]
+rust-version.workspace = true
+
+[dependencies]
+thiserror = { workspace = true }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/author.rs b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/author.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0c13365
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/author.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+use std::{
+    fmt,
+    num::ParseIntError,
+    str::{self, FromStr},
+};
+
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+/// The data for indicating authorship of an action within
+/// [`crate::commit::CommitData`].
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
+pub struct Author {
+    /// Name corresponding to `user.name` in the git config.
+    ///
+    /// Note: this must not contain `<` or `>`.
+    pub name: String,
+    /// Email corresponding to `user.email` in the git config.
+    ///
+    /// Note: this must not contain `<` or `>`.
+    pub email: String,
+    /// The time of this author's action.
+    pub time: Time,
+}
+
+/// The time of a [`Author`]'s action.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
+pub struct Time {
+    seconds: i64,
+    offset: i32,
+}
+
+impl Time {
+    pub fn new(seconds: i64, offset: i32) -> Self {
+        Self { seconds, offset }
+    }
+
+    /// Return the time, in seconds, since the epoch.
+    pub fn seconds(&self) -> i64 {
+        self.seconds
+    }
+
+    /// Return the timezone offset, in minutes.
+    pub fn offset(&self) -> i32 {
+        self.offset
+    }
+
+    fn from_components<'a>(cs: &mut impl Iterator<Item = &'a str>) -> Result<Self, ParseError> {
+        let offset = match cs.next() {
+            None => Err(ParseError::Missing("offset")),
+            Some(offset) => Self::parse_offset(offset).map_err(ParseError::Offset),
+        }?;
+        let time = match cs.next() {
+            None => return Err(ParseError::Missing("time")),
+            Some(time) => time.parse::<i64>().map_err(ParseError::Time)?,
+        };
+        Ok(Self::new(time, offset))
+    }
+
+    fn parse_offset(offset: &str) -> Result<i32, ParseIntError> {
+        // The offset is in the form of timezone offset,
+        // e.g. +0200, -0100.  This needs to be converted into
+        // minutes. The first two digits in the offset are the
+        // number of hours in the offset, while the latter two
+        // digits are the number of minutes in the offset.
+        let tz_offset = offset.parse::<i32>()?;
+        let hours = tz_offset / 100;
+        let minutes = tz_offset % 100;
+        Ok(hours * 60 + minutes)
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Time {
+    type Err = ParseError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        Self::from_components(&mut s.split(' ').rev())
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Time {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        let sign = if self.offset.is_negative() { '-' } else { '+' };
+        let hours = self.offset.abs() / 60;
+        let minutes = self.offset.abs() % 60;
+        write!(f, "{} {}{:0>2}{:0>2}", self.seconds, sign, hours, minutes)
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Author {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{} <{}> {}", self.name, self.email, self.time,)
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+pub enum ParseError {
+    #[error("missing '{0}' while parsing person signature")]
+    Missing(&'static str),
+    #[error("offset was incorrect format while parsing person signature")]
+    Offset(#[source] ParseIntError),
+    #[error("time was incorrect format while parsing person signature")]
+    Time(#[source] ParseIntError),
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Author {
+    type Err = ParseError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        // Splitting the string in 4 subcomponents is expected to give back the
+        // following iterator entries: timezone offset, time, email, and name
+        let mut components = s.rsplitn(4, ' ');
+        let time = Time::from_components(&mut components)?;
+        let email = components
+            .next()
+            .ok_or(ParseError::Missing("email"))?
+            .trim_matches(|c| c == '<' || c == '>')
+            .to_owned();
+        let name = components.next().ok_or(ParseError::Missing("name"))?;
+        Ok(Self {
+            name: name.to_owned(),
+            email: email.to_owned(),
+            time,
+        })
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit.rs b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..62872960
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+pub mod headers;
+pub mod trailers;
+
+use core::fmt;
+use std::str;
+
+use headers::{Headers, Signature};
+use trailers::{OwnedTrailer, Trailer};
+
+use crate::author::Author;
+
+/// A git commit in its object description form, i.e. the output of
+/// `git cat-file` for a commit object.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct CommitData<Tree, Parent> {
+    tree: Tree,
+    parents: Vec<Parent>,
+    author: Author,
+    committer: Author,
+    headers: Headers,
+    message: String,
+    trailers: Vec<OwnedTrailer>,
+}
+
+impl<Tree, Parent> CommitData<Tree, Parent> {
+    pub fn new<P, I, T>(
+        tree: Tree,
+        parents: P,
+        author: Author,
+        committer: Author,
+        headers: Headers,
+        message: String,
+        trailers: I,
+    ) -> Self
+    where
+        P: IntoIterator<Item = Parent>,
+        I: IntoIterator<Item = T>,
+        OwnedTrailer: From<T>,
+    {
+        let trailers = trailers.into_iter().map(OwnedTrailer::from).collect();
+        let parents = parents.into_iter().collect();
+        Self {
+            tree,
+            parents,
+            author,
+            committer,
+            headers,
+            message,
+            trailers,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// The tree this commit points to.
+    pub fn tree(&self) -> &Tree {
+        &self.tree
+    }
+
+    /// The parents of this commit.
+    pub fn parents(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = Parent> + '_
+    where
+        Parent: Clone,
+    {
+        self.parents.iter().cloned()
+    }
+
+    /// The author of this commit, i.e. the header corresponding to `author`.
+    pub fn author(&self) -> &Author {
+        &self.author
+    }
+
+    /// The committer of this commit, i.e. the header corresponding to
+    /// `committer`.
+    pub fn committer(&self) -> &Author {
+        &self.committer
+    }
+
+    /// The message body of this commit.
+    pub fn message(&self) -> &str {
+        &self.message
+    }
+
+    /// The [`Signature`]s found in this commit, i.e. the headers corresponding
+    /// to `gpgsig`.
+    pub fn signatures(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = Signature> + '_ {
+        self.headers.signatures()
+    }
+
+    /// The [`Headers`] found in this commit.
+    ///
+    /// Note: these do not include `tree`, `parent`, `author`, and `committer`.
+    pub fn headers(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = (&str, &str)> {
+        self.headers.iter()
+    }
+
+    /// Iterate over the [`Headers`] values that match the provided `name`.
+    pub fn values<'a>(&'a self, name: &'a str) -> impl Iterator<Item = &'a str> + 'a {
+        self.headers.values(name)
+    }
+
+    /// Push a header to the end of the headers section.
+    pub fn push_header(&mut self, name: &str, value: &str) {
+        self.headers.push(name, value.trim());
+    }
+
+    pub fn trailers(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = &OwnedTrailer> {
+        self.trailers.iter()
+    }
+
+    /// Convert the `CommitData::tree` into a value of type `U`. The
+    /// conversion function `f` can be fallible.
+    ///
+    /// For example, `map_tree` can be used to turn raw tree data into
+    /// an `Oid` by writing it to a repository.
+    pub fn map_tree<U, E, F>(self, f: F) -> Result<CommitData<U, Parent>, E>
+    where
+        F: FnOnce(Tree) -> Result<U, E>,
+    {
+        Ok(CommitData {
+            tree: f(self.tree)?,
+            parents: self.parents,
+            author: self.author,
+            committer: self.committer,
+            headers: self.headers,
+            message: self.message,
+            trailers: self.trailers,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Convert the [`CommitData::parents`] into a vector containing
+    /// values of type `U`. The conversion function `f` can be
+    /// fallible.
+    ///
+    /// For example, this can be used to resolve the object identifiers
+    /// to their respective full commits.
+    pub fn map_parents<U, E, F>(self, f: F) -> Result<CommitData<Tree, U>, E>
+    where
+        F: FnMut(Parent) -> Result<U, E>,
+    {
+        Ok(CommitData {
+            tree: self.tree,
+            parents: self
+                .parents
+                .into_iter()
+                .map(f)
+                .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?,
+            author: self.author,
+            committer: self.committer,
+            headers: self.headers,
+            message: self.message,
+            trailers: self.trailers,
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl<Tree: fmt::Display, Parent: fmt::Display> fmt::Display for CommitData<Tree, Parent> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        writeln!(f, "tree {}", self.tree)?;
+        for parent in self.parents.iter() {
+            writeln!(f, "parent {parent}")?;
+        }
+        writeln!(f, "author {}", self.author)?;
+        writeln!(f, "committer {}", self.committer)?;
+
+        for (name, value) in self.headers.iter() {
+            writeln!(f, "{name} {}", value.replace('\n', "\n "))?;
+        }
+        writeln!(f)?;
+        write!(f, "{}", self.message.trim())?;
+        writeln!(f)?;
+
+        if !self.trailers.is_empty() {
+            writeln!(f)?;
+        }
+        for trailer in self.trailers.iter() {
+            writeln!(f, "{}", Trailer::from(trailer).display(": "))?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/headers.rs b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/headers.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..172a884d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/headers.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+use core::fmt;
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
+const BEGIN_SSH: &str = "-----BEGIN SSH SIGNATURE-----\n";
+const BEGIN_PGP: &str = "-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----\n";
+
+/// A collection of headers stored in [`super::CommitData`].
+///
+/// Note: these do not include `tree`, `parent`, `author`, and `committer`.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Default)]
+pub struct Headers(pub(super) Vec<(String, String)>);
+
+/// A `gpgsig` signature stored in [`super::CommitData`].
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum Signature<'a> {
+    /// A PGP signature, i.e. starts with `-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----`.
+    Pgp(Cow<'a, str>),
+    /// A SSH signature, i.e. starts with `-----BEGIN SSH SIGNATURE-----`.
+    Ssh(Cow<'a, str>),
+}
+
+impl<'a> Signature<'a> {
+    fn from_str(s: &'a str) -> Result<Self, UnknownScheme> {
+        if s.starts_with(BEGIN_SSH) {
+            Ok(Signature::Ssh(Cow::Borrowed(s)))
+        } else if s.starts_with(BEGIN_PGP) {
+            Ok(Signature::Pgp(Cow::Borrowed(s)))
+        } else {
+            Err(UnknownScheme)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Signature<'_> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Signature::Pgp(pgp) => f.write_str(pgp.as_ref()),
+            Signature::Ssh(ssh) => f.write_str(ssh.as_ref()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct UnknownScheme;
+
+impl Headers {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Headers(Vec::new())
+    }
+
+    pub fn iter(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = (&str, &str)> {
+        self.0.iter().map(|(k, v)| (k.as_str(), v.as_str()))
+    }
+
+    pub fn values<'a>(&'a self, name: &'a str) -> impl Iterator<Item = &'a str> + 'a {
+        self.iter()
+            .filter_map(move |(k, v)| (k == name).then_some(v))
+    }
+
+    pub fn signatures(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item = Signature> + '_ {
+        self.0.iter().filter_map(|(k, v)| {
+            if k == "gpgsig" {
+                Signature::from_str(v).ok()
+            } else {
+                None
+            }
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Push a header to the end of the headers section.
+    pub fn push(&mut self, name: &str, value: &str) {
+        self.0.push((name.to_owned(), value.trim().to_owned()));
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+pub enum ParseError {
+    #[error("missing tree")]
+    MissingTree,
+    #[error("invalid tree")]
+    InvalidTree,
+    #[error("invalid format")]
+    InvalidFormat,
+    #[error("invalid parent")]
+    InvalidParent,
+    #[error("invalid header")]
+    InvalidHeader,
+    #[error("invalid author")]
+    InvalidAuthor,
+    #[error("missing author")]
+    MissingAuthor,
+    #[error("invalid committer")]
+    InvalidCommitter,
+    #[error("missing committer")]
+    MissingCommitter,
+}
+
+pub fn parse_commit_header<
+    Tree: std::str::FromStr,
+    Parent: std::str::FromStr,
+    Signature: std::str::FromStr,
+>(
+    header: &str,
+) -> Result<(Tree, Vec<Parent>, Signature, Signature, Headers), ParseError> {
+    let mut lines = header.lines();
+
+    let tree = match lines.next() {
+        Some(tree) => tree
+            .strip_prefix("tree ")
+            .map(Tree::from_str)
+            .transpose()
+            .map_err(|_| ParseError::InvalidTree)?
+            .ok_or(ParseError::MissingTree)?,
+        None => return Err(ParseError::MissingTree),
+    };
+
+    let mut parents = Vec::new();
+    let mut author: Option<Signature> = None;
+    let mut committer: Option<Signature> = None;
+    let mut headers = Headers::new();
+
+    for line in lines {
+        // Check if a signature is still being parsed
+        if let Some(rest) = line.strip_prefix(' ') {
+            let value: &mut String = headers
+                .0
+                .last_mut()
+                .map(|(_, v)| v)
+                .ok_or(ParseError::InvalidFormat)?;
+            value.push('\n');
+            value.push_str(rest);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        if let Some((name, value)) = line.split_once(' ') {
+            match name {
+                "parent" => parents.push(
+                    value
+                        .parse::<Parent>()
+                        .map_err(|_| ParseError::InvalidParent)?,
+                ),
+                "author" => {
+                    author = Some(
+                        value
+                            .parse::<Signature>()
+                            .map_err(|_| ParseError::InvalidAuthor)?,
+                    )
+                }
+                "committer" => {
+                    committer = Some(
+                        value
+                            .parse::<Signature>()
+                            .map_err(|_| ParseError::InvalidCommitter)?,
+                    )
+                }
+                _ => headers.push(name, value),
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok((
+        tree,
+        parents,
+        author.ok_or(ParseError::MissingAuthor)?,
+        committer.ok_or(ParseError::MissingCommitter)?,
+        headers,
+    ))
+}
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/trailers.rs b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/trailers.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..797d56dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/commit/trailers.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+use std::{borrow::Cow, fmt, ops::Deref};
+
+pub trait Separator<'a> {
+    fn sep_for(&self, token: &Token) -> &'a str;
+}
+
+impl<'a> Separator<'a> for &'a str {
+    fn sep_for(&self, _: &Token) -> &'a str {
+        self
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, F> Separator<'a> for F
+where
+    F: Fn(&Token) -> &'a str,
+{
+    fn sep_for(&self, token: &Token) -> &'a str {
+        self(token)
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Eq, PartialEq)]
+pub struct Token<'a>(&'a str);
+
+impl Deref for Token<'_> {
+    type Target = str;
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        self.0
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a str> for Token<'a> {
+    type Error = &'static str;
+
+    fn try_from(s: &'a str) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        let is_token = s.chars().all(|c| c.is_alphanumeric() || c == '-');
+        if is_token {
+            Ok(Token(s))
+        } else {
+            Err("token contains invalid characters")
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct Display<'a> {
+    trailer: &'a Trailer<'a>,
+    separator: &'a str,
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for Display<'_> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        write!(
+            f,
+            "{}{}{}",
+            self.trailer.token.deref(),
+            self.separator,
+            self.trailer.value,
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+/// A trailer is a key/value pair found in the last paragraph of a Git
+/// commit message, not including any patches or conflicts that may be
+/// present.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Eq, PartialEq)]
+pub struct Trailer<'a> {
+    pub token: Token<'a>,
+    pub value: Cow<'a, str>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> Trailer<'a> {
+    pub fn display(&'a self, separator: &'a str) -> Display<'a> {
+        Display {
+            trailer: self,
+            separator,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn to_owned(&self) -> OwnedTrailer {
+        OwnedTrailer::from(self)
+    }
+}
+
+/// A version of the [`Trailer`] which owns its token and
+/// value. Useful for when you need to carry trailers around in a long
+/// lived data structure.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct OwnedTrailer {
+    pub token: OwnedToken,
+    pub value: String,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct OwnedToken(String);
+
+impl Deref for OwnedToken {
+    type Target = str;
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        &self.0
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> From<&Trailer<'a>> for OwnedTrailer {
+    fn from(t: &Trailer<'a>) -> Self {
+        OwnedTrailer {
+            token: OwnedToken(t.token.0.to_string()),
+            value: t.value.to_string(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> From<Trailer<'a>> for OwnedTrailer {
+    fn from(t: Trailer<'a>) -> Self {
+        (&t).into()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> From<&'a OwnedTrailer> for Trailer<'a> {
+    fn from(t: &'a OwnedTrailer) -> Self {
+        Trailer {
+            token: Token(t.token.0.as_str()),
+            value: Cow::from(&t.value),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/lib.rs b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3e183770
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/radicle-git-metadata/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+pub mod author;
+pub mod commit;