Gitlawb Node, Federated Git server in Rust

Gitlawb released Gitlawb Node, an open-source Rust workspace for a decentralized git infrastructure that lets users run self-hosted nodes, publish repositories under DID identities, and sign writes with Ed25519 HTTP signatures. The project, which includes four crates (gitlawb-node, gl CLI, git-remote-gitlawb, and gitlawb-core), aims to create a resilient app-delivery network where code and build assets are served closer to users, with known limitations including incomplete private repository enforcement and UCAN validation. The software is available via Docker Compose, npm, Homebrew, curl, and PowerShell.

Decentralized git infrastructure for developers, AI agents, and app delivery. Gitlawb Node is the open-source node software behind the Gitlawb network. It lets anyone run a self-hosted node, publish repositories under a DID, sign writes with Ed25519 HTTP signatures, replicate git activity across peers, and move toward a resilient app-delivery network where code and build assets can be served closer to users. Gitlawb is not trying to be only "another git host." The long-term direction is: Decentralized GitHub + signed agent-native workflows + resilient repo replication + CDN-style app/code delivery The mission is simple: once code is pushed to the network, it should not disappear because one server went down. This is a Rust workspace with four crates: | Crate | Purpose | |---|---| gitlawb-node | The node daemon: Axum HTTP server, git smart-HTTP, Postgres metadata, libp2p gossip, optional S3/Tigris/IPFS/Arweave/Base PoS hooks. | gl | The Gitlawb CLI for identity, repos, issues, PRs, bounties, tasks, peers, node status, MCP, and setup flows. | git-remote-gitlawb | Git remote helper for gitlawb:// URLs, so normal git clone , git fetch , and git push can talk to Gitlawb nodes. | gitlawb-core | Shared primitives: Ed25519 identities, did:key , CIDs, RFC 9421 HTTP signatures, certificates, and UCAN tokens. | Most git hosting today depends on a small number of centralized platforms. Gitlawb Nodes are designed for a different model: Own your identity : every user, agent, and node is an Ed25519 keypair represented as did:key:z6Mk... . Signed writes by default : write requests use RFC 9421 HTTP Signatures instead of passwords. Git-native transport : repositories are still real git repositories served over smart HTTP. Agent-native workflows : the gl CLI and MCP server expose repo, issue, task, PR, and UCAN flows to AI agents. Peer-aware delivery : nodes can announce, discover, gossip, and sync with each other. App CDN direction : the network can evolve from decentralized code storage into code + asset + app delivery. Gitlawb Node is live early infrastructure. It is useful today, but some security and reliability features are intentionally staged for compatibility with existing nodes. Good today: - Local or Docker node startup. - Postgres-backed repo metadata. - Bare git repository storage. - Git smart-HTTP clone/fetch/push. - RFC 9421-signed writes. - DID identities. gl CLI workflows.- libp2p peer discovery/gossip foundation. - Optional Tigris/S3 storage. - Optional IPFS/Pinata and Arweave/Irys hooks. - Optional Base node-operator staking/heartbeat hooks. Known limitations: - Private repository read enforcement is not wired yet. Treat public nodes as public infrastructure unless you restrict access at your proxy/firewall. - UCAN chain validation and revocation are not complete. - Repository write authorization is not capability-complete yet; HTTP signatures prove identity, not full authorization policy. - Peer writes are signed by upgraded nodes, but strict signed-peer enforcement is opt-in during rolling upgrades. - GraphQL mutations need mutation-aware auth before becoming a public write surface. See: The fastest path is Docker Compose. It starts a node and Postgres. git clone https://github.com/Gitlawb/node.git cd node cp .env.example .env docker compose up -d Your local node will serve: | Service | Default | |---|---| | HTTP API + git smart-HTTP | http://localhost:7545 | | libp2p QUIC/UDP | 7546 | | Postgres | compose-managed | Verify: curl http://localhost:7545/health curl http://localhost:7545/api/v1/stats Expected health response: { "status": "ok" } Stop it: docker compose down npm macOS / Linux npm install -g @gitlawb/gl Homebrew macOS / Linux brew install gitlawb/tap/gl curl macOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://gitlawb.com/install.sh | sh PowerShell Windows irm https://gitlawb.com/install.ps1 | iex Or build from source: cargo build --release -p gl -p git-remote-gitlawb -p gitlawb-node Put these binaries on your PATH : target/release/gl target/release/git-remote-gitlawb target/release/gitlawb-node Check your setup: gl doctor Create an identity: gl identity new gl identity show Register against your local node: gl register --node http://localhost:7545 Create a repo: gl repo create my-repo --description "My first Gitlawb repo" --node http://localhost:7545 Use the git remote helper: export GITLAWB NODE=http://localhost:7545 git clone gitlawb://did:key:z6Mk.../my-repo For public-network use, make sure GITLAWB NODE points to the node you want. The helper defaults to localhost for local development. Public nodes e.g. node.gitlawb.com require two things on writes: RFC 9421 HTTP Signatures : every write is signed by your identity key. gl and the git-remote-gitlawb helper do this automatically. An old/unsigned CLI fails with 401 not an agent ; gl will tell you to upgrade and register. An iCaptcha proof on the spam-gated writes repo create, fork, register . gl solves this for you: on the node's 403 icaptcha proof required it reads the x-icaptcha-url / x-icaptcha-level hints, requests a challenge, solves it locally arithmetic / algebra / sequence , and retries the same signed request with the x-icaptcha-proof header. No manual steps, no env vars. gl identity new create did:key identity gl register --node https://node.gitlawb.com signed + auto-solves iCaptcha gl repo create memlawb --node https://node.gitlawb.com signed + auto-solves iCaptcha git push origin2 main origin2 = gitlawb://<your-did /memlawb signed git clone gitlawb://<your-did /memlawb public read, no proof needed gl doctor preflight: identity, node, version, iCaptcha Notes: The proof's requesterId is always your DID. sub claim must equal the authenticated signer; gl /helper set this automatically and the node enforces sub == authenticated DID so a proof minted for another identity is rejected . Proofs are short-lived ~5 min TTL and single-use. If one expires between solving and use, the client transparently solves a fresh one and retries. What needs what: create / fork / register are signed and iCaptcha-gated; git push is signed-only owner signature is the gate, no per-push challenge ; reads clone / fetch / repo info need no proof. A non-existent repo returns a clear 404 , never a placeholder. API-key iCaptcha deployments: set GITLAWB ICAPTCHA URL to your iCaptcha origin and GITLAWB ICAPTCHA API KEY to its key. The client only talks to an https origin whose host is allowlisted that URL or the public default , and sends the bearer token only to your configured origin, never to a URL a node advertises, so a hostile node can't capture the key or redirect the solve. ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ gl CLI / git / AI agents │ └────────────┬─────────────┘ │ signed HTTP writes / git smart-HTTP ↓ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │ gitlawb-node │ │ Axum API + git routes │ └────────────┬─────────────┘ │ ┌────────┴────────┐ ↓ ↓ Postgres Bare git repos metadata local disk / optional S3 │ │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ libp2p peers gossip + discovery + sync ↓ optional IPFS / Arweave / Base PoS | Concept | Meaning | |---|---| | DID | A user, agent, or node identity derived from an Ed25519 public key. | | HTTP Signature | RFC 9421 signature proving control of the DID key for write requests. | | Ref certificate | Signed record of a ref update. Useful for audit and replication. | | UCAN | Delegation token for future capability-based workflows. | | Peer announce | Node-to-node HTTP announcement of DID + public URL. | | Gossipsub | libp2p topic for ref-update events. | | Smart HTTP | Standard git protocol over HTTP for clone/fetch/push. | The node exposes both git smart-HTTP routes and JSON APIs. Common public read routes: GET /health GET / GET /api/v1/stats GET /api/v1/contracts GET /api/v1/repos GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo} GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/tree GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/blob/{path} GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues GET /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls GET /api/v1/peers GET /{owner}/{repo}/info/refs POST /{owner}/{repo}/git-upload-pack Signed write routes include: POST /api/v1/repos POST /api/register POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/fork POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{number}/merge POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/hooks POST /api/v1/bounties/{id}/... POST /{owner}/{repo}/git-receive-pack These peer write routes support staged rollout: POST /api/v1/peers/announce POST /api/v1/sync/notify When GITLAWB REQUIRE SIGNED PEER WRITES=false , unsigned legacy peers are accepted on those two routes, but signed requests are verified when signature headers are present. Staged rollout relaxes who may announce, not who owns a peer row. An unsigned announce may register a previously unseen peer, and it may refresh an existing row whose http url is unchanged, but changing an existing peer's http url requires an RFC 9421 signature from that peer's own DID and is refused with 403 otherwise. An unsigned announce can only register a did:key , since that is the only method whose verifying key can be resolved and therefore the only kind of row anyone could ever correct through the signed path; any other DID is refused with 400. Once all live peers upgrade, operators can set: GITLAWB REQUIRE SIGNED PEER WRITES=true POST /api/v1/sync/trigger is not part of the staged rollout: it always requires a signature in both config modes and returns 401 without one, because each call drives an O peers outbound fan-out. All configuration is via environment variables. See .env.example /Gitlawb/node/blob/main/.env.example for the full reference. Minimum required for a persistent node: DATABASE URL=postgresql://gitlawb:changeme@localhost:5432/gitlawb Important node settings: | Variable | Purpose | |---|---| GITLAWB HOST / GITLAWB PORT | HTTP bind address and port. | GITLAWB REPOS DIR | Local bare repo storage directory. | GITLAWB PUBLIC URL | Public HTTP URL announced to peers. | GITLAWB P2P PORT | libp2p QUIC/UDP port. Use 0 to disable. | GITLAWB BOOTSTRAP PEERS | Comma-separated HTTP peer URLs. | GITLAWB P2P BOOTSTRAP | Comma-separated libp2p multiaddrs. | GITLAWB BOOTSTRAP DISABLE SEEDS | Disable embedded seed peers for isolated dev/test networks. | GITLAWB REQUIRE SIGNED PEER WRITES | Require signed peer announce/sync writes. | GITLAWB AUTO SYNC | Enable automatic sync from known peers. | GITLAWB MAX PACK BYTES | Max git pack body size for smart-HTTP routes. | GITLAWB GIT SERVICE TIMEOUT SECS | Max seconds a served git upload-pack, receive-pack, or info/refs advertisement may run before it is aborted 504 . Default 600. Also bounds the withheld-blob classification walk on both the upload-pack serve and receive-pack replication paths and the push-side pin-candidate discovery rev-list / cat-file , each reaped via process-group teardown at the deadline. On the path-scoped upload-pack path the classification walk and the pack serve share ONE deadline, so this value bounds their combined duration rather than granting each stage a full budget: a walk that consumes it leaves the serve nothing and the clone gets a 504. Serving large path-scoped repos may therefore need a higher value than they did when each stage was budgeted separately. Accepted range is 1 to 3153600000 100 years , since the node derives deadlines from this value and a larger one cannot be represented. | GITLAWB GIT ACQUIRE TIMEOUT SECS | Max seconds the storage-acquisition phase Tigris HEAD/GET, push advisory-lock of a served git op may run before the request is shed with a 503, separate from the git-run timeout. The concurrency permit is released on expiry so a stalled backend cannot pin the pool. Default 30. | GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT GIT OPS | Max concurrent served git READ ops upload-pack and its info/refs advertisement across all callers; over-cap sheds a 503 + Retry-After. Anonymous reads draw from this pool, so pair it with GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT READS PER CALLER . Pushes and the receive-pack advertisement have their own pools, so a read flood cannot shed an authenticated push. Default 128. | GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT GIT PUSHES | Max concurrent git-receive-pack POST operations, in a pool separate from the read pool. The anon receive-pack info/refs advertisement runs in a third pool of the same size, disjoint from both, so an advertisement flood cannot shed a push either. Two per-source push caps are derived from this value /8 , floor 1 and have no env var of their own. Over-cap sheds a 503 + Retry-After. Default 32. | GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT READS PER CALLER | Max concurrent read ops a single caller may hold, so one caller cannot monopolize the read pool. Keyed on the resolved source IP, never the DID, and only as granular as GITLAWB TRUSTED PROXY : left unset, a node behind an edge or NAT keys every caller on the edge IP and this collapses to one global cap. Default 16. | GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT PIN TASKS | Max post-push pin loops IPFS + Pinata running concurrently across all repos. This caps how many loops RUN at once, not how much object-id list memory the node retains: on the local IPFS path a loop parked waiting for a permit still holds its full list. Do not size memory from this knob alone. A loop over cap waits, never drops a pin. Default 8. | GITLAWB REPO LEASE MAX WAITERS | Max pushes parked at once waiting for the same repo's write lease. Each waiter pins its buffered pack body, so this bounds that memory for a hot repo; past the cap the newest push sheds a 503 + Retry-After instead of queueing. Pushes to other repos are unaffected, and the lease holder is not counted. Default 8. | GITLAWB MAX CONCURRENT IPFS WALKS | Max concurrent GET /ipfs/{cid} visibility walks across all callers own pool, disjoint from the served-git pools ; over-cap sheds 503. Default 32. | GITLAWB IPFS WALK PER SOURCE | Max concurrent /ipfs walks a single source IP may hold. Default 4. | GITLAWB IPFS MAX REPOS WALKED | Max expensive path-scope visibility walks per /ipfs/{cid} request; over-cap repos are skipped and the scan continues, shedding a retryable 503 not a false 404 if the object is then found nowhere. Default 64. | GITLAWB IPFS MAX REPO VISITS | Ceiling on repos one /ipfs/{cid} request may visit acquire + probe past the visibility gate. Also the worst-case per-request Tigris fetch count. On exhaustion the scan stops with a retryable 503. Default 1024. | GITLAWB IPFS REQUEST BUDGET SECS | Absolute wall-clock budget for one admitted /ipfs/{cid} request's acquire+walk lifetime. Per-stage clamps bound the acquire and walk stages to the remaining budget, and no stage starts once it is exhausted; the scan then stops with a retryable 503. The object-type probe and content-read cat-file subprocesses are budget-checked before starting and each also run under their own deadline the lesser of GITLAWB GIT SERVICE TIMEOUT SECS and the remaining budget , reaped via process-group teardown, so a hung cat-file cannot hold the request's walk slot past it. One hang path is still unbounded: the probe's object-store readability check is a plain filesystem sweep with nothing to reap, so a wedged filesystem can hold the slot past the deadline. Default 600. Accepted range is 1 to 3153600000 100 years , since the node derives a deadline from this value and a larger one cannot be represented. | GITLAWB IPFS RATE LIMIT | Max /ipfs/{cid} requests per client IP per hour route flood brake . 0 disables. Default 600. | GITLAWB TIGRIS BUCKET | Optional S3/Tigris shared repo storage bucket. | GITLAWB PINATA JWT | Optional Pinata/IPFS warm-storage pinning. | GITLAWB IRYS URL | Optional Irys/Arweave permanent anchoring. | Production note: change the default Postgres password before exposing a node publicly. Gitlawb Node includes optional Base L2 node-operator hooks. Operators can register a node DID, stake $GITLAWB , and post heartbeats. PoS is disabled unless these are configured: GITLAWB CONTRACT NODE STAKING=0x... GITLAWB OPERATOR PRIVATE KEY=0x... GITLAWB CHAIN RPC URL=https://mainnet.base.org Recommended for operators: GITLAWB OPERATOR STRICT MODE=true GITLAWB HEARTBEAT INTERVAL HOURS=20 Read: Use a dedicated low-balance operator wallet. Do not use a treasury wallet as the heartbeat key. Requires Rust 1.91+. cargo build --release -p gitlawb-node -p gl -p git-remote-gitlawb Run tests: cargo fmt --all -- --check cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings cargo test --workspace Run the node from source: DATABASE URL=postgresql://gitlawb:changeme@localhost:5432/gitlawb \ cargo run -p gitlawb-node --release A native Swift/AppKit menu bar app is included for managing a local Docker Compose stack without living in the terminal. Requirements: - macOS 26+ - Xcode Command Line Tools - Docker Desktop, OrbStack, or Colima Build: ./scripts/build-macos-app.sh Output: dist/Gitlawb Node.app dist/Gitlawb Node.dmg Features: - Start/stop local node stack. - Status indicator. - Settings GUI. - Auto-start on login. - Docker runtime detection. Unsigned local build: xattr -cr "dist/Gitlawb Node.app" The current maintainer focus is live-network stability first. Short-term priorities: - Keep CI green: fmt, clippy, tests, release build. - Add Docker and installer smoke tests. - Improve operator docs and gl doctor checks. - Harden peer writes and publish the signed-peer rollout plan. - Implement repo write authorization: owner checks, protected branches, and UCAN capability checks. - Implement private-read enforcement or remove private repo affordances until it exists. - Add metrics for pushes, fetches, pack sizes, peer sync, failed auth, and webhooks. Product direction: - Reliable repo replication. - Health-aware peer syncing. - CDN-style clone/fetch routing to healthy replicas. - App asset/build delivery from nodes. - Operator dashboard and desktop UX. Read the maintainer roadmap: docs/MAINTAINER-ROADMAP.md Start here: Good first contribution areas: - docs and install polish - Docker smoke tests - CLI error messages gl doctor checks- operator dashboard UX - test coverage for peer sync and signed writes Security issues should follow SECURITY.md /Gitlawb/node/blob/main/SECURITY.md . Licensed under either of: - Apache License, Version 2.0 LICENSE-APACHE /Gitlawb/node/blob/main/LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 - MIT license LICENSE-MIT /Gitlawb/node/blob/main/LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT at your option. Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in this project shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.