fork of radicle with Git LFS support, backed by IPFS
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Maciek "mab122" Bator 1c65ee6230 Fix: git fetch rad can never fetch refs/notes/rad-lfs
Found in a real deployment (mbator.pl blog pipeline): rad lfs init
configures a client-side fetch refspec for refs/notes/rad-lfs, but
git-remote-rad's for_fetch() never advertised any such ref -- notes only
exist per-peer, under refs/namespaces/<peer>/refs/notes/rad-lfs, with no
canonicalization step the way refs/heads/refs/tags get one. Requesting an
unadvertised refspec fails the *entire* git fetch, not just that one ref,
so any repo with `rad lfs init` run could no longer git fetch/pull at
all, LFS or not.

Fix: expose each peer's refs/notes/rad-lfs individually, as
refs/notes/rad-lfs/<peer-id> (list.rs's for_fetch), matching how patch
refs already work rather than trying to canonicalize -- notes are
per-peer contributions (any peer can commit an LFS-tracked file, not
just delegates), so unlike heads there's no single "correct" value to
resolve to; canonicalizing would silently drop non-delegate contributors'
objects. rad lfs init's fetch refspec becomes a wildcard
(+refs/notes/rad-lfs/*:refs/notes/rad-lfs/*); push is unchanged (already
worked -- for_push() turns out to be purely informational for git's
list-for-push handshake, not an enforcement gate, so the actual send-pack
call was never restricted to heads/tags despite what for_push() lists).

rad lfs store/fetch/rekey and seed/unseed's pinning (ipfs.rs::lfs_cids)
now read across every notes ref instead of assuming one canonical ref,
merging recipient lists for notes that share a CID (e.g. after a rekey
performed by a different peer than the original committer) while keeping
genuinely different ciphertexts (from two peers independently encrypting
byte-identical content) as separate candidates to try in turn.

Also added a migration step so re-running `rad lfs init` on an
already-configured repo actually fixes it, by removing the old
non-wildcard fetch refspec rather than just adding the wildcard
alongside a still-broken entry.

Verified through the real git-remote-rad transport (not the storage-copy
shortcut used for earlier testing, since this bug lives specifically in
that transport): fresh identities, a real rad:// remote matching exactly
what `rad init` configures, a genuine `git fetch rad` that used to fail
with "fatal: couldn't find remote ref refs/notes/rad-lfs" now succeeds
and pulls the notes ref, and `git lfs pull` afterward correctly decrypts
private content end-to-end (SHA-256 verified). Re-verified the rekey
flow through the same real path too.
2026-07-14 17:47:15 +02:00
.cargo fetch: upgrade gix crates 2024-05-17 13:27:18 +02:00
.config nix: switch to use nix flakes 2023-12-13 12:25:12 +01:00
.github treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
.radicle .radicle/ambient: Add pre-plan action for rustup 2026-05-19 10:46:50 +01:00
build build: Update apline version to 3.22 2026-05-11 12:36:48 +01:00
crates Fix: git fetch rad can never fetch refs/notes/rad-lfs 2026-07-14 17:47:15 +02:00
debian treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
radicle-lfs-transfer@d67ac79f40 Add client-side encryption for private-repo LFS objects 2026-07-14 16:01:49 +02:00
scripts scripts/changelog: Generate links to commits on seed.radicle.dev 2026-05-30 09:12:25 +01:00
simulation just: checking for ellipses 2026-05-28 16:52:02 +01:00
systemd systemd: remove redundant lines from system unit 2026-02-10 11:06:05 +00:00
windows treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
.codespellrc Revert "codespell: Rule for ... -> …" 2026-05-28 16:50:46 +01:00
.dockerignore build: Add "upload" build step 2024-04-29 10:47:03 +02:00
.env.seed treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
.envrc.sample .envrc: Replace .envrc with .envrc.sample 2026-04-23 08:56:48 +01:00
.git-blame-ignore-revs git: Ignore parent from blame 2025-10-17 13:00:20 +02:00
.gitignore .envrc: Replace .envrc with .envrc.sample 2026-04-23 08:56:48 +01:00
.gitmodules Add rad lfs init and IPFS-backed pinning for seed/unseed 2026-07-14 12:32:12 +02:00
.gitsigners Add Lorenz Leutgeb to `.gitsigners` 2025-04-17 14:33:36 +02:00
.rustfmt.toml rust/edition/fmt: 2021 → 2024 2026-03-30 16:57:51 +02:00
.typos.toml Revert "typos: Rule for ... -> …" 2026-05-28 16:50:46 +01:00
ARCHITECTURE.md treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
CHANGELOG.md CHANGELOG: Describe the changes to repository identity evaluation 2026-07-09 11:35:07 +02:00
CONTRIBUTING.md CONTRIBUTING: Add section on issue labels 2026-06-01 11:28:30 +01:00
Cargo.lock Add client-side encryption for private-repo LFS objects 2026-07-14 16:01:49 +02:00
Cargo.toml Exclude radicle-lfs-transfer submodule from the outer cargo workspace 2026-07-14 16:18:55 +02:00
DCO Add licenses and contributor information 2022-11-16 12:26:12 +01:00
HACKING.md CONTRIBUTING/HACKING: Add note on direnv 2026-04-23 08:56:48 +01:00
LFS-IPFS.md Fix: git fetch rad can never fetch refs/notes/rad-lfs 2026-07-14 17:47:15 +02:00
LICENSE-APACHE Add licenses and contributor information 2022-11-16 12:26:12 +01:00
LICENSE-MIT Add licenses and contributor information 2022-11-16 12:26:12 +01:00
NOTES-lfs-notes-fetch-bug.md Fix: git fetch rad can never fetch refs/notes/rad-lfs 2026-07-14 17:47:15 +02:00
README.md Add client-side encryption for private-repo LFS objects 2026-07-14 16:01:49 +02:00
RELEASE.md treewide: Spelling 2026-04-30 15:50:29 -04:00
VERSIONING.md build: Add "upload" build step 2024-04-29 10:47:03 +02:00
build.rs hooks: Enable typos, fix reported errors 2026-02-17 11:35:28 +00:00
clippy.toml clippy: Configure lint `unwrap_used` 2026-04-15 10:06:05 +02:00
deny.toml cargo(deny): allow Zlib 2025-12-08 16:43:50 +00:00
flake.lock flake: Fix nixpkgs inputs 2026-05-13 17:23:49 +01:00
flake.nix flake: Add NixOS tests to checks 2026-05-13 17:23:54 +01:00
git-remote-rad.1.adoc treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
justfile just: checking for ellipses 2026-05-28 16:52:02 +01:00
rad-id.1.adoc treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
rad-patch.1.adoc rad-patch.1.doc: Fix typos and markup errors 2026-05-28 16:28:16 +01:00
rad.1.adoc treewide: radicle.{xyz → dev,network} 2026-04-27 18:34:30 +02:00
radicle-node.1.adoc radicle-node.1.adoc: Fix markup error 2026-05-28 16:28:52 +01:00
rust-toolchain.toml workspace/rust: 1.90 → 1.95 2026-05-11 12:09:04 +01:00

README.md

❤️🪵

Fork: Git LFS support, backed by IPFS

This is a fork of upstream radicle-dev/heartwood adding Git LFS (large file) support, with large file content stored on each contributor's own local IPFS node rather than a central server. Everything below the horizontal rule is upstream's own README, unchanged. See LFS-IPFS.md for the full design, troubleshooting, and background — this section is just the quick start.

The LFS byte-transfer logic lives in a separate, small companion repository: radicle-lfs-transfer, included here as a git submodule.

Dependencies (Arch Linux)

# To build and install rad/radicle-node/radicle-lfs-transfer
sudo pacman -S --needed rust git openssh base-devel

# To actually use Git LFS (not needed to build/install anything)
sudo pacman -S --needed git-lfs kubo

On other distributions: a Rust toolchain (e.g. via rustup), Git, OpenSSH, a C toolchain — and, only for using rad lfs, Git LFS and Kubo.

Zero to usable

# Clone with the submodule
git clone --branch rad-lfs-ipfs --recurse-submodules \
  ssh://git@git.hswro.org:9022/mab122/radicle-heartwood-lfs.git
cd radicle-heartwood-lfs

# Build & install rad, radicle-node, git-remote-rad, and rad-lfs-transfer to one place
cargo install --path crates/radicle-cli --force --locked --root ~/.radicle
cargo install --path crates/radicle-node --force --locked --root ~/.radicle
cargo install --path crates/radicle-remote-helper --force --locked --root ~/.radicle
cargo install --path radicle-lfs-transfer --force --locked --root ~/.radicle

# Add the install root to your PATH (e.g. in ~/.bashrc / ~/.zshrc)
export PATH="$HOME/.radicle/bin:$PATH"

# Verify
rad --version

From here, use rad exactly as upstream describes below (rad auth, rad init, etc). The only new commands are rad lfs init (run once per repository you want large-file support in) and rad lfs rekey (run after granting a new collaborator access to a private repository, so they can decrypt previously-committed LFS objects too) — see LFS-IPFS.md for that workflow and how private-repo content gets encrypted before it reaches IPFS. Nothing above requires IPFS; Git LFS support specifically needs a running ipfs daemon, and rad lfs init will tell you plainly if one isn't reachable rather than failing confusingly later.


Radicle Heartwood Protocol & Stack

Heartwood is the third iteration of the Radicle Protocol, a powerful peer-to-peer code collaboration and publishing stack. The repository contains a full implementation of Heartwood, complete with a user-friendly command-line interface (rad) and network daemon (radicle-node).

Radicle was designed to be a secure, decentralized and powerful alternative to code forges such as GitHub and GitLab that preserves user sovereignty and freedom.

See the Radicle home page for general information, and the Zulip chat to talk to the project.

See the Protocol Guide for an in-depth description of how Radicle works.

Installation

Requirements

  • Linux or Unix based operating system.
  • Git 2.34 or later
  • OpenSSH 9.1 or later with ssh-agent

📀 From binaries

Requires curl and tar.

Run the following command to install the latest binary release:

curl -sSf https://radicle.dev/install | sh

Or visit our download page.

📦 From source

Requires the Rust toolchain.

You can install the Radicle stack from source, by running the following commands from inside this repository:

cargo install --path crates/radicle-cli --force --locked --root ~/.radicle
cargo install --path crates/radicle-node --force --locked --root ~/.radicle
cargo install --path crates/radicle-remote-helper --force --locked --root ~/.radicle

Or directly from our seed node:

cargo install --force --locked --root ~/.radicle \
    --git https://seed.radicle.dev/z3gqcJUoA1n9HaHKufZs5FCSGazv5.git \
    crates/radicle-cli crates/radicle-node crates/radicle-remote-helper

Running

Systemd unit files are provided for the node under the /systemd folder. They can be used as a starting point for further customization.

For running in debug mode, see HACKING.md.

Feedback

If you have feedback, feel free to create issues using rad issue, join our Zulip, or email feedback@radicle.dev. Emails sent to this address are automatically posted to our public #feedback channel on Zulip, revealing the From header (which usually contains your name and email address). This allows us to discuss your feedback on Zulip, and, if necessary, respond to you via email.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md and HACKING.md for an introduction to contributing to Radicle.

License

Radicle is distributed under the terms of both the MIT license and the Apache License (Version 2.0).

See LICENSE-APACHE and LICENSE-MIT for details.