Re: [PATCH v3 0/6] odb: make packfile generation pluggable

On Thu, Aug 20, 2026 at 07:20:15AM -0400, Karthik Nayak wrote:

Patrick Steinhardt [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

Hi,

this patch series makes packfile generation pluggable.

Note that this series only makes those parts pluggable that are required
for the transport layer. The other parts that relate to packfile
generation as required by our repository maintenance is kept as-is, as
there is a bunch of options there that are way too specific to the
"files" backend to be portable. This should ultimately not be much of a
problem though, as maintenance itself is already pluggable in the first
place.

It's a bit of a shame though for git-pack-objects(1), which still isn't
usable with alternate backends. I tried several times to find good
solutions for making it fully pluggable, but due to the backend-specific
options it's an utter mess. I want to eventually address this though:
same as with git-refs(1), I want to introduce git-objects(1) to care
about all things ODB. And as part of that command we can also introduce
a command that generates packfiles in a generic fashion, without all the
cruft that git-pack-objects(1) has. This is part of a future patch
series though.

Changes in v3:
  - Fix a use-after-scope bug on abnormal exit when child processes are
    cleaned up via `mark_child_for_cleanup()`, as noticed by Elijah.
  - Link to v2: https://patch.msgid.link/20260817-b4-pks-odb-generate-pack-v2-0-4c8a96ccfdb3@pks.im

Dropping in to review the new version, the changes look good!

Thanks! I'll wait until tomorrow and then send another version with your
nits addressed.

Patrick