# Erratum — draft-fossil-submanifests-00 §8.1
| | |
|---|---|
| **Document** | `draft-fossil-submanifests-00` |
| **Section** | 8.1 — Emission Gate (a local request to enable while an out-of-range k is stored) |
| **Type** | Technical (the draft treats an invalid stored pin as absent; the implementation refuses to enable over it) |
| **Status** | Applied in `draft-fossil-submanifests-00` (2026-10-19) |
| **Reported** | 2026-10-18 |
| **Submitter** | Dan Mestas |
| **Found via** | Testing go-libfossil's writer, written from the draft, against zit's enable path |
## 1. Summary
§8.1 says "an existing pinned k from 1 to 12 inclusive takes precedence"
and "if no valid pin exists ... if no explicit value is supplied, the
writer performs the automatic selection". A stored submanifest-k outside
1 to 12 is therefore no valid pin, and enabling proceeds as if the
repository were unpinned. zit instead refuses the request and names the
stored value. A value outside the range can only be the result of a hand
edit or a defective writer; selecting a new value over it silently
discards evidence of that, and the operator should see it. The draft
should say what zit does.
## 2. The text in error
§8.1, second paragraph: "For a local request, an existing pinned k from 1
to 12 inclusive takes precedence. ... If no valid pin exists, an operator
MAY supply an explicit k from 1 to 12 inclusive; if no explicit value is
supplied, the writer performs the automatic selection of Section 6.3."
## 3. What the implementations do
zit (`submanifestEnable` in `src/cmd/checkout.zig`): a stored non-zero k
counts as pinned; the request without an explicit k takes the stored
value, finds it outside 1 to 12 and refuses with
`k must be 1..12 (got N)`. A request with an explicit k from 1 to 12
replaces the stored value. go-libfossil followed the draft and treated
the invalid value as absent; it will follow the corrected text.
## 4. Corrected text
Add to §8.1, after "For a local request, an existing pinned k from 1 to
12 inclusive takes precedence.":
> A stored submanifest-k outside that range is not a valid pin and is
> not treated as absent either: a request that supplies no explicit k
> MUST be refused with the stored value named, and automatic selection
> MUST NOT run over it. A request that supplies an explicit k from 1 to
> 12 inclusive replaces the stored value.
## 5. Observable consequence of the uncorrected text
A repository whose stored k was damaged enables under a freshly selected
value with no indication that anything was wrong, in one implementation,
and is refused in the other.
## 6. Implementations
zit already does this; no change. go-libfossil will follow the corrected
text.