D 2026-07-23T17:45:04.436
L Home
N text/x-markdown
P 59fc0d71b8816fb7ad5914d12821b766919bf9ff41d62e7c67d24e68e164dd0c
U dmestas
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# zit
Fossil, reimplemented from its specifications, in Zig.
zit is a clean-room implementation of the Fossil version-control formats
and sync protocol. The deliverable is a reusable library — a Zig
counterpart to libfossil — with the `zit` command as a thin consumer.
Nothing is ported from C: every rule, byte layout, and rejection
condition is taken from four Internet-Drafts frozen in this repository,
and every test cites the clause it covers.
## Download
[Download Zit 0.1.2 for macOS ARM64 or Linux x86-64/ARM64, or get the source archive](uv/download.html?v=0.1.2).
## The specifications
The drafts under [docs/rfcs](dir?ci=trunk&name=docs/rfcs) are the sole
authority. Expected values in tests come from the spec text and its
worked examples, never from observing another implementation.
| Layer | Draft | Specifies |
|-------|-------|-----------|
| `delta` | [draft-fossil-delta-format-00](doc/trunk/docs/rfcs/draft-fossil-delta-format-00.txt) | byte-level delta encoding: copy/literal segments, base-64 integers, mod-2³² checksum |
| `artifact` | [draft-fossil-artifact-format-00](doc/trunk/docs/rfcs/draft-fossil-artifact-format-00.txt) | card-structured manifests and control artifacts, content addressing (SHA-1 / SHA3-256), checksums |
| `repostate` | [draft-fossil-repo-state-00](doc/trunk/docs/rfcs/draft-fossil-repo-state-00.txt) | branch, tag, and leaf state derived from the append-only artifact set |
| `sync` | [draft-fossil-sync-protocol-00](doc/trunk/docs/rfcs/draft-fossil-sync-protocol-00.txt) | HTTP replication of the artifact set between repositories |
Each layer depends only on the layers before it:
delta -> artifact -> repostate -> sync
That ordering is also the implementation order, and [src](dir?ci=trunk&name=src)
mirrors it module for module.
## Scope
zit implements the version-control substrate: check-in manifests,
clusters, and tag/control artifacts are parsed and interpreted. The
collaboration artifact types — wiki, ticket, forum, attachment,
technote — are carried opaquely: stored, named, and synchronized by
hash, never interpreted.
## Building
Requires Zig 0.16 or later.
zig build # produce zig-out/bin/zit
zig build run -- version
zig build test # unit tests, one cited test per RFC clause
## Finding your way
* [Timeline](timeline) — current activity and history
* [Source tree](dir?ci=trunk) — browse the code at trunk
* [README](doc/trunk/README.md) — checkout and build notes
* [docs/rfcs](dir?ci=trunk&name=docs/rfcs) — the four frozen drafts
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