Initialize and import

Both write into an existing, pristine destination and copy every object into its own packs.

The caller pins a full commit OID, not a branch. Its tree is uploaded into the destination's wal/ before the manifest CAS publishes the new commit.

{
  "source": {"owner": "templates", "repo": "starter", "commit_oid": "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789"},
  "branch": "main",
  "operation_key": "project-creation-7",
  "message": "Initial project",
  "committer": {"name": "Project Builder", "email": "builder@example.test", "when": "2026-09-28T00:00:00Z"}
}

{"ref":"refs/heads/main","commit_oid":"<new root oid>","tree_oid":"<source tree oid>","seq":1,"replayed":false}

Resolve pins the source refs into a snapshot. Your platform persists it, then imports exactly that snapshot.

{"source":"templates/starter"}

{"source":"templates/starter","object_format":"sha1","refs":[{"name":"refs/heads/develop","oid":"<full lower-case oid>","peeled":""}],"head":{"symbolic_target":"refs/heads/develop","oid":"<full lower-case oid>"},"snapshot_hash":"<sha256>"}

{"operation_key":"creation-123","snapshot":{"source":"templates/starter","object_format":"sha1","refs":[{"name":"refs/heads/develop","oid":"<full lower-case oid>","peeled":""}],"head":{"symbolic_target":"refs/heads/develop","oid":"<full lower-case oid>"},"snapshot_hash":"<sha256>"}}

{"operation_key":"creation-123","request_hash":"<sha256>","snapshot_hash":"<sha256>","seq":1,"refs_count":1,"head":{"symbolic_target":"refs/heads/develop","oid":"<original oid>"},"replayed":false}

Repeat the identical request to retry. An exact replay returns the original result with replayed:true and never opens the source or moves a ref.

operation_key

1–128 printable ASCII characters without whitespace.

Receipt

One bounded receipt, committed in the same manifest CAS, records the operation key, the request fingerprint and the original result.

Permissions

Every attempt, replays included, needs destination write and source read. The receipt GET needs only target read.

Pristine

No committed WAL work, packs, checkpoint or receipt. A repository whose refs were all deleted is not pristine.

Streaming

With Accept: text/event-stream, work streams as a task with progress; the HTTP status is 200 and the terminal packet carries the result or error.

Object format

SHA-1 and SHA-256 between gitcask repositories; source and target must match (400 otherwise).

Git LFS

Any recognized LFS pointer is rejected with 422 before publication. Import checks every historical small blob, not only the tip.

Gitlinks

Copied unchanged; submodules are never fetched or recursed.

External import

Public HTTPS on port 443, SHA-1 only, no credentials, query or fragment. DNS is pinned to public addresses and every redirect is refused.

Non-503 errors are plain text. A 503 is retryable JSON with Retry-After: retry the identical request.