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diff --git a/Documentation/technical/commit-graph.txt b/Documentation/technical/commit-graph.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..86fed0d --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/technical/commit-graph.txt @@ -0,0 +1,401 @@ +Git Commit-Graph Design Notes +============================= + +Git walks the commit graph for many reasons, including: + +1. Listing and filtering commit history. +2. Computing merge bases. + +These operations can become slow as the commit count grows. The merge +base calculation shows up in many user-facing commands, such as 'merge-base' +or 'status' and can take minutes to compute depending on history shape. + +There are two main costs here: + +1. Decompressing and parsing commits. +2. Walking the entire graph to satisfy topological order constraints. + +The commit-graph file is a supplemental data structure that accelerates +commit graph walks. If a user downgrades or disables the 'core.commitGraph' +config setting, then the existing object database is sufficient. The file is stored +as "commit-graph" either in the .git/objects/info directory or in the info +directory of an alternate. + +The commit-graph file stores the commit graph structure along with some +extra metadata to speed up graph walks. By listing commit OIDs in +lexicographic order, we can identify an integer position for each commit +and refer to the parents of a commit using those integer positions. We +use binary search to find initial commits and then use the integer +positions for fast lookups during the walk. + +A consumer may load the following info for a commit from the graph: + +1. The commit OID. +2. The list of parents, along with their integer position. +3. The commit date. +4. The root tree OID. +5. The generation number (see definition below). + +Values 1-4 satisfy the requirements of parse_commit_gently(). + +There are two definitions of generation number: +1. Corrected committer dates (generation number v2) +2. Topological levels (generation number v1) + +Define "corrected committer date" of a commit recursively as follows: + + * A commit with no parents (a root commit) has corrected committer date + equal to its committer date. + + * A commit with at least one parent has corrected committer date equal to + the maximum of its committer date and one more than the largest corrected + committer date among its parents. + + * As a special case, a root commit with timestamp zero has corrected commit + date of 1, to be able to distinguish it from GENERATION_NUMBER_ZERO + (that is, an uncomputed corrected commit date). + +Define the "topological level" of a commit recursively as follows: + + * A commit with no parents (a root commit) has topological level of one. + + * A commit with at least one parent has topological level one more than + the largest topological level among its parents. + +Equivalently, the topological level of a commit A is one more than the +length of a longest path from A to a root commit. The recursive definition +is easier to use for computation and observing the following property: + + If A and B are commits with generation numbers N and M, respectively, + and N <= M, then A cannot reach B. That is, we know without searching + that B is not an ancestor of A because it is further from a root commit + than A. + + Conversely, when checking if A is an ancestor of B, then we only need + to walk commits until all commits on the walk boundary have generation + number at most N. If we walk commits using a priority queue seeded by + generation numbers, then we always expand the boundary commit with highest + generation number and can easily detect the stopping condition. + +The property applies to both versions of generation number, that is both +corrected committer dates and topological levels. + +This property can be used to significantly reduce the time it takes to +walk commits and determine topological relationships. Without generation +numbers, the general heuristic is the following: + + If A and B are commits with commit time X and Y, respectively, and + X < Y, then A _probably_ cannot reach B. + +In absence of corrected commit dates (for example, old versions of Git or +mixed generation graph chains), +this heuristic is currently used whenever the computation is allowed to +violate topological relationships due to clock skew (such as "git log" +with default order), but is not used when the topological order is +required (such as merge base calculations, "git log --graph"). + +In practice, we expect some commits to be created recently and not stored +in the commit-graph. We can treat these commits as having "infinite" +generation number and walk until reaching commits with known generation +number. + +We use the macro GENERATION_NUMBER_INFINITY to mark commits not +in the commit-graph file. If a commit-graph file was written by a version +of Git that did not compute generation numbers, then those commits will +have generation number represented by the macro GENERATION_NUMBER_ZERO = 0. + +Since the commit-graph file is closed under reachability, we can guarantee +the following weaker condition on all commits: + + If A and B are commits with generation numbers N and M, respectively, + and N < M, then A cannot reach B. + +Note how the strict inequality differs from the inequality when we have +fully-computed generation numbers. Using strict inequality may result in +walking a few extra commits, but the simplicity in dealing with commits +with generation number *_INFINITY or *_ZERO is valuable. + +We use the macro GENERATION_NUMBER_V1_MAX = 0x3FFFFFFF for commits whose +topological levels (generation number v1) are computed to be at least +this value. We limit at this value since it is the largest value that +can be stored in the commit-graph file using the 30 bits available +to topological levels. This presents another case where a commit can +have generation number equal to that of a parent. + +Design Details +-------------- + +- The commit-graph file is stored in a file named 'commit-graph' in the + .git/objects/info directory. This could be stored in the info directory + of an alternate. + +- The core.commitGraph config setting must be on to consume graph files. + +- The file format includes parameters for the object ID hash function, + so a future change of hash algorithm does not require a change in format. + +- Commit grafts and replace objects can change the shape of the commit + history. The latter can also be enabled/disabled on the fly using + `--no-replace-objects`. This leads to difficultly storing both possible + interpretations of a commit id, especially when computing generation + numbers. The commit-graph will not be read or written when + replace-objects or grafts are present. + +- Shallow clones create grafts of commits by dropping their parents. This + leads the commit-graph to think those commits have generation number 1. + If and when those commits are made unshallow, those generation numbers + become invalid. Since shallow clones are intended to restrict the commit + history to a very small set of commits, the commit-graph feature is less + helpful for these clones, anyway. The commit-graph will not be read or + written when shallow commits are present. + +Commit-Graphs Chains +-------------------- + +Typically, repos grow with near-constant velocity (commits per day). Over time, +the number of commits added by a fetch operation is much smaller than the +number of commits in the full history. By creating a "chain" of commit-graphs, +we enable fast writes of new commit data without rewriting the entire commit +history -- at least, most of the time. + +## File Layout + +A commit-graph chain uses multiple files, and we use a fixed naming convention +to organize these files. Each commit-graph file has a name +`$OBJDIR/info/commit-graphs/graph-{hash}.graph` where `{hash}` is the hex- +valued hash stored in the footer of that file (which is a hash of the file's +contents before that hash). For a chain of commit-graph files, a plain-text +file at `$OBJDIR/info/commit-graphs/commit-graph-chain` contains the +hashes for the files in order from "lowest" to "highest". + +For example, if the `commit-graph-chain` file contains the lines + +``` + {hash0} + {hash1} + {hash2} +``` + +then the commit-graph chain looks like the following diagram: + + +-----------------------+ + | graph-{hash2}.graph | + +-----------------------+ + | + +-----------------------+ + | | + | graph-{hash1}.graph | + | | + +-----------------------+ + | + +-----------------------+ + | | + | | + | | + | graph-{hash0}.graph | + | | + | | + | | + +-----------------------+ + +Let X0 be the number of commits in `graph-{hash0}.graph`, X1 be the number of +commits in `graph-{hash1}.graph`, and X2 be the number of commits in +`graph-{hash2}.graph`. If a commit appears in position i in `graph-{hash2}.graph`, +then we interpret this as being the commit in position (X0 + X1 + i), and that +will be used as its "graph position". The commits in `graph-{hash2}.graph` use these +positions to refer to their parents, which may be in `graph-{hash1}.graph` or +`graph-{hash0}.graph`. We can navigate to an arbitrary commit in position j by checking +its containment in the intervals [0, X0), [X0, X0 + X1), [X0 + X1, X0 + X1 + +X2). + +Each commit-graph file (except the base, `graph-{hash0}.graph`) contains data +specifying the hashes of all files in the lower layers. In the above example, +`graph-{hash1}.graph` contains `{hash0}` while `graph-{hash2}.graph` contains +`{hash0}` and `{hash1}`. + +## Merging commit-graph files + +If we only added a new commit-graph file on every write, we would run into a +linear search problem through many commit-graph files. Instead, we use a merge +strategy to decide when the stack should collapse some number of levels. + +The diagram below shows such a collapse. As a set of new commits are added, it +is determined by the merge strategy that the files should collapse to +`graph-{hash1}`. Thus, the new commits, the commits in `graph-{hash2}` and +the commits in `graph-{hash1}` should be combined into a new `graph-{hash3}` +file. + + +---------------------+ + | | + | (new commits) | + | | + +---------------------+ + | | + +-----------------------+ +---------------------+ + | graph-{hash2} |->| | + +-----------------------+ +---------------------+ + | | | + +-----------------------+ +---------------------+ + | | | | + | graph-{hash1} |->| | + | | | | + +-----------------------+ +---------------------+ + | tmp_graphXXX + +-----------------------+ + | | + | | + | | + | graph-{hash0} | + | | + | | + | | + +-----------------------+ + +During this process, the commits to write are combined, sorted and we write the +contents to a temporary file, all while holding a `commit-graph-chain.lock` +lock-file. When the file is flushed, we rename it to `graph-{hash3}` +according to the computed `{hash3}`. Finally, we write the new chain data to +`commit-graph-chain.lock`: + +``` + {hash3} + {hash0} +``` + +We then close the lock-file. + +## Merge Strategy + +When writing a set of commits that do not exist in the commit-graph stack of +height N, we default to creating a new file at level N + 1. We then decide to +merge with the Nth level if one of two conditions hold: + + 1. `--size-multiple=<X>` is specified or X = 2, and the number of commits in + level N is less than X times the number of commits in level N + 1. + + 2. `--max-commits=<C>` is specified with non-zero C and the number of commits + in level N + 1 is more than C commits. + +This decision cascades down the levels: when we merge a level we create a new +set of commits that then compares to the next level. + +The first condition bounds the number of levels to be logarithmic in the total +number of commits. The second condition bounds the total number of commits in +a `graph-{hashN}` file and not in the `commit-graph` file, preventing +significant performance issues when the stack merges and another process only +partially reads the previous stack. + +The merge strategy values (2 for the size multiple, 64,000 for the maximum +number of commits) could be extracted into config settings for full +flexibility. + +## Handling Mixed Generation Number Chains + +With the introduction of generation number v2 and generation data chunk, the +following scenario is possible: + +1. "New" Git writes a commit-graph with the corrected commit dates. +2. "Old" Git writes a split commit-graph on top without corrected commit dates. + +A naive approach of using the newest available generation number from +each layer would lead to violated expectations: the lower layer would +use corrected commit dates which are much larger than the topological +levels of the higher layer. For this reason, Git inspects the topmost +layer to see if the layer is missing corrected commit dates. In such a case +Git only uses topological level for generation numbers. + +When writing a new layer in split commit-graph, we write corrected commit +dates if the topmost layer has corrected commit dates written. This +guarantees that if a layer has corrected commit dates, all lower layers +must have corrected commit dates as well. + +When merging layers, we do not consider whether the merged layers had corrected +commit dates. Instead, the new layer will have corrected commit dates if the +layer below the new layer has corrected commit dates. + +While writing or merging layers, if the new layer is the only layer, it will +have corrected commit dates when written by compatible versions of Git. Thus, +rewriting split commit-graph as a single file (`--split=replace`) creates a +single layer with corrected commit dates. + +## Deleting graph-{hash} files + +After a new tip file is written, some `graph-{hash}` files may no longer +be part of a chain. It is important to remove these files from disk, eventually. +The main reason to delay removal is that another process could read the +`commit-graph-chain` file before it is rewritten, but then look for the +`graph-{hash}` files after they are deleted. + +To allow holding old split commit-graphs for a while after they are unreferenced, +we update the modified times of the files when they become unreferenced. Then, +we scan the `$OBJDIR/info/commit-graphs/` directory for `graph-{hash}` +files whose modified times are older than a given expiry window. This window +defaults to zero, but can be changed using command-line arguments or a config +setting. + +## Chains across multiple object directories + +In a repo with alternates, we look for the `commit-graph-chain` file starting +in the local object directory and then in each alternate. The first file that +exists defines our chain. As we look for the `graph-{hash}` files for +each `{hash}` in the chain file, we follow the same pattern for the host +directories. + +This allows commit-graphs to be split across multiple forks in a fork network. +The typical case is a large "base" repo with many smaller forks. + +As the base repo advances, it will likely update and merge its commit-graph +chain more frequently than the forks. If a fork updates their commit-graph after +the base repo, then it should "reparent" the commit-graph chain onto the new +chain in the base repo. When reading each `graph-{hash}` file, we track +the object directory containing it. During a write of a new commit-graph file, +we check for any changes in the source object directory and read the +`commit-graph-chain` file for that source and create a new file based on those +files. During this "reparent" operation, we necessarily need to collapse all +levels in the fork, as all of the files are invalid against the new base file. + +It is crucial to be careful when cleaning up "unreferenced" `graph-{hash}.graph` +files in this scenario. It falls to the user to define the proper settings for +their custom environment: + + 1. When merging levels in the base repo, the unreferenced files may still be + referenced by chains from fork repos. + + 2. The expiry time should be set to a length of time such that every fork has + time to recompute their commit-graph chain to "reparent" onto the new base + file(s). + + 3. If the commit-graph chain is updated in the base, the fork will not have + access to the new chain until its chain is updated to reference those files. + (This may change in the future [5].) + +Related Links +------------- +[0] https://bugs.chromium.org/p/git/issues/detail?id=8 + Chromium work item for: Serialized Commit Graph + +[1] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20110713070517.GC18566@sigill.intra.peff.net/ + An abandoned patch that introduced generation numbers. + +[2] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20170908033403.q7e6dj7benasrjes@sigill.intra.peff.net/ + Discussion about generation numbers on commits and how they interact + with fsck. + +[3] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20170908034739.4op3w4f2ma5s65ku@sigill.intra.peff.net/ + More discussion about generation numbers and not storing them inside + commit objects. A valuable quote: + + "I think we should be moving more in the direction of keeping + repo-local caches for optimizations. Reachability bitmaps have been + a big performance win. I think we should be doing the same with our + properties of commits. Not just generation numbers, but making it + cheap to access the graph structure without zlib-inflating whole + commit objects (i.e., packv4 or something like the "metapacks" I + proposed a few years ago)." + +[4] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20180108154822.54829-1-git@jeffhostetler.com/T/#u + A patch to remove the ahead-behind calculation from 'status'. + +[5] https://lore.kernel.org/git/f27db281-abad-5043-6d71-cbb083b1c877@gmail.com/ + A discussion of a "two-dimensional graph position" that can allow reading + multiple commit-graph chains at the same time. |