Git Over Reticulum¶

A set of utilities for distributed collaborative software development and publishing is included in RNS.

The system consists of two parts: The rngit node that hosts repositories, and the git-remote-rns helper that enables Git to communicate with rngit nodes. As soon as you have RNS installed on your system, you can transparently use Git with Reticulum-hosted repositories just like any other type of remote. Git over Reticulum uses URLs in the following format: rns://DESTINATION_HASH/group/repo.

If you set a branch to track a Reticulum remote as the default upstream, you can simply use git as you normally would; all commands work transparently and as expected.

Warning

The rngit program is a new addition to RNS! This functionality was introduced in RNS 1.2.0. While great care has been taken to design a secure, but highly configurable and flexible permission system for allowing many users to interact with many different repositories on a single node, rngit has not been tested extensively in the wild! Be careful when hosting repositories, especially if they are public or semi-public.

The rngit Utility¶

The rngit utility provides full Git repository hosting and interaction over Reticulum. It allows you to host and manage Git repositories and releases on Reticulum nodes, and to interact with remote repositories using standard Git commands through the rns:// URL scheme.

Usage Examples

Run rngit to start a repository node:

$ rngit

[Notice] Starting Reticulum Git Node...
[Notice] Reticulum Git Node listening on <0d7334d411d00120cbad24edf355fdd2>

On the first run, rngit will create a default configuration file. You will then need to edit this, to point to your repository locations, configure access permissions, and perform any other necessary configuration.

View your identity and destination hashes:

$ rngit --print-identity

Git Peer Identity         : <959e10e5efc1bd9d97a4083babe51dea>
Repository Node Identity  : <153cb870b4665b8c1c348896292b0bad>
Repositories Destination  : <0d7334d411d00120cbad24edf355fdd2>

If the page node is enabled, the output will also include the Nomad Network destination hash.

You can run rngit in service mode with logging to file:

$ rngit -s

Clone a repository from a remote rngit node:

$ git clone rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo

Add a Reticulum remote to an existing repository:

$ git remote add some_remote rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo

Push changes to the Reticulum remote:

$ git push some_remote master

Get changes from a remote repository:

$ git pull rns_remote master

All Command-Line Options (rngit)

usage: rngit.py [-h] [--config CONFIG] [--rnsconfig RNSCONFIG] [-s] [-i] [-v]
                [-q] [--version]

Reticulum Git Repository Node

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --config CONFIG       path to alternative config directory
  --rnsconfig RNSCONFIG
                        path to alternative Reticulum config directory
  -p, --print-identity  print identity and destination info and exit
  -s, --service         rngit is running as a service and should log to file
  -i, --interactive     drop into interactive shell after initialisation
  -v, --verbose         increase verbosity
  -q, --quiet           decrease verbosity
  --version             show program's version number and exit

All Command-Line Options (git-remote-rns)

The git-remote-rns helper is automatically invoked by Git when interacting with rns:// URLs. It is not typically run directly by users, but accepts the following environment variables for configuration:

RNGIT_CONFIG - Path to alternative client configuration directory
RNS_CONFIG - Path to alternative Reticulum configuration directory

The client configuration file is located at ~/.rngit/client_config and allows adjusting parameters such as the reference batch size for transfers.

Repository Structure¶

The rngit node organizes repositories into groups. Each group is a directory containing bare Git repositories. The repository path format is group_name/repo_name. For example, a repository at /var/git/public/myrepo would be accessible as public/myrepo via the URL rns://DESTINATION_HASH/public/myrepo.

Configuration

The rngit node configuration file is located at ~/.rngit/config (or /etc/rngit/config for system-wide installations). The default configuration includes:

Repository group paths defining where to find bare repositories
Access permissions for groups and individual repositories
Announce intervals for network visibility
Optional statistics recording for repository activity

Access permissions can be configured at the group level in the config file, or per-repository using .allowed files. Permissions use the format permission:target where permission is r (read), w (write), rw (read/write), c (create) or s (stats) and target is all, none, or a specific identity hash.

The s (stats) permission allows viewing repository activity statistics, including views, fetches and pushes over time. To enable statistics recording, set record_stats = yes in the [rngit] section of the configuration file. You can also exclude specific identities from statistics by adding their hashes to stats_ignore_identities.

Repository-specific .allowed files can be static text files or executable scripts that output permission rules to stdout. A group.allowed file in a repository group directory applies to all repositories within that group.

Serving Pages Over Nomad Network¶

In addition to providing Git repository access via the Git remote helper protocol, rngit can also run a Nomad Network compatible page node. This allows users to browse repository information, view file contents, inspect commit history and access repository statistics through any Nomad Network client.

When enabled, the page node provides a complete interface to your repositories, with automatic Markdown to Micron conversion, syntax-highlighted code browsing, and detailed commit, diff and statistics views.

Enabling the Git Page Node

To enable the page node, add the following to your ~/.rngit/config file:

[pages]
serve_nomadnet = yes

When the page node is enabled, rngit will listen on a Nomad Network node destination in addition to the Git repository destination. You can view the destination hash by running:

$ rngit --print-identity

Git Peer Identity         : <959e10e5efc1bd9d97a4083babe51dea>
Repository Node Identity  : <153cb870b4665b8c1c348896292b0bad>
Repositories Destination  : <0d7334d411d00120cbad24edf355fdd2>
Nomad Network Destination : <50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9>

Accessing Repository Pages

Once the page node is running, you can access it from any Nomad Network client by connecting to the Nomad Network destination. The page node provides the following views:

Front Page - Lists all repository groups accessible to your identity
Group Page - Shows all repositories within a group
Repository Page - Displays repository overview, description and README
Releases - List of releases for the repository, with information and downloads
File Browser - Browse directory trees and view and download file contents
Commits View - View commit history with pagination
Commit Details - Detailed commit information with file changes and diffs
Refs View - List branches and tags
Statistics - Activity charts showing views, fetches and pushes over time

All pages respect the same permission system used for Git access. If an identity does not have read access to a repository, they will not be able to view its pages.

Formatting & Syntax Highlighting¶

If the pygments Python module is installed on your system, the page node will automatically apply syntax highlighting to code files. The highlighting supports a wide range of programming languages and uses a color theme optimized for terminal display.

To enable syntax highlighting, install pygments:

pip install pygments

Markdown & Micron Support

README files and other Markdown documents are automatically converted to Micron markup for display in Nomad Network clients. You can also write your README files directly in Micron, in which case they will display and render as such in any Nomad Network client. The file browser also supports viewing both rendered and raw Markdown and Micron documents.

Code blocks in Markdown can include language hints for syntax highlighting:

```python
def hello_world():
    print("Hello, Reticulum!")
```

Customizing Templates¶

The page node uses a template system that allows complete customization of the generated pages. Templates are stored in the ~/.rngit/templates/ directory as Micron files.

The following template files are supported:

base.mu - Base template wrapping all pages
front.mu - Front page listing all groups
group.mu - Group page listing repositories
repo.mu - Repository overview page
releases.mu - Release list page
release.mu - Release details page
tree.mu - File browser pages
blob.mu - File content display
commits.mu - Commit history listing
commit.mu - Individual commit detail page
refs.mu - Branches and tags listing
stats.mu - Statistics page

Templates can include the following variables:

{PAGE_CONTENT} - The main content of the page (required)
{NODE_NAME} - The configured node name
{NAVIGATION} - Breadcrumb navigation links
{VERSION} - The rngit version number
{GEN_TIME} - Page generation time

Dynamic Templates

Templates can be made executable to generate dynamic content. If a template file has the executable bit set, it will be executed and its stdout used as the template content.

Icon Sets

By default, the page node uses Nerd Font icons. If you prefer simpler icons or your terminal does not support Nerd Fonts, you can enable Unicode icons instead:

[pages]
serve_nomadnet = yes
unicode_icons = yes

Repository Statistics

When statistics recording is enabled (see the record_stats configuration option), the page node can display activity charts for each repository. The statistics page shows:

Total and peak views, fetches and pushes
Daily activity charts over a 90-day period
Combined activity visualization

To view statistics, a user must have the s (stats) permission for the repository. See the Access Configuration section for details on setting permissions.

Repository Thanks

The page node includes a “Thanks” feature that allows users to express appreciation for a repository. On each repository page, a “Thanks” link is displayed showing the current thanks count. Clicking this link registers a thank you for the repository.

Configuration Example

A complete page node configuration might look like this:

[rngit]
node_name = My Git Node
announce_interval = 360
record_stats = yes

[repositories]
public = /var/git/public
internal = /var/git/internal

[access]
public = r:all
internal = rw:9710b86ba12c42d1d8f30f74fe509286

[pages]
serve_nomadnet = yes
unicode_icons = no

Release Management¶

In addition to hosting Git repositories, rngit provides a complete release management system. This allows you to publish versioned releases with associated artifacts, release notes and metadata. Releases are managed through the rngit release subcommand, and are also viewable through the Nomad Network page interface.

The Release Workflow

Creating a release involves specifying a Git tag and a directory containing build artifacts or other files to distribute. The rngit client will open your configured $EDITOR to compose release notes, then upload all artifacts to the remote repository node.

To create a release, specify the tag name and path to artifacts:

$ rngit release rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo create v1.2.0:./dist

This will:

Verify that the tag v1.2.0 exists in the repository
Open your editor to write release notes
Upload all files from the ./dist directory
Publish the release

If no $EDITOR environment variable is set, rngit will try to use nano, vim or vi. The editor will show a template with instructions. Lines starting with # will be ignored, and if the remaining content is empty after stripping comments, the release creation will be cancelled.

Release Storage & Structure

Releases are stored on the node in a directory named repo_name.releases next to the bare repository. Each release is a subdirectory containing:

META - Release metadata in ConfigObj format
RELEASE.md or RELEASE.mu - Release notes
artifacts/ - All uploaded files
THANKS - Appreciation count from users

Listing Releases

To view all releases for a repository:

$ rngit release rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo list

Tag          Status     Created              Objs  Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------
v1.2.0       published  2025-01-15 14:32     3     Another release
v1.1.0       published  2024-12-03 09:15     2     Bug fix release
v1.0.0       published  2024-10-20 16:45     2     Initial release

Viewing Release Details

To see full information about a specific release:

$ rngit release rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo view v1.2.0

Release : 0.9.2
Status  : published
Created : 2026-05-04 23:53:09
Thanks  : 5

Release Notes
=============

Version 1.2.0 release notes...

Artifacts (4)
=============
  - myapp-1.2.0.tar.gz (1.5 MB)
  - myapp-1.2.0.zip (1.6 MB)
  - checksums.txt (256 B)

Deleting Releases

To remove a release:

$ rngit release rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo delete v1.2.0

Are you sure you want to delete release 'v1.2.0'? [y/N]: y
Release v1.2.0 deleted

Requirements & Validation

The specified tag must exist in the remote repository
You must have release permission for the repository
The target artifacts directory must exist and contain at least one file
Release notes cannot be empty

Permissions

Release management requires the release permission, configured the same way as other repository permissions. In the config file or .allowed files, use rel:target to grant release management rights:

# In .allowed file or config
rel:all          # Allow everyone
rel:9710b86...   # Allow specific identity
rel:none         # Deny everyone

Nomad Network Interface

When the Nomad Network page node is enabled, releases are displayed on a dedicated releases page for each repository. Each release is listed with its tag, creation date, artifact count and a preview of the release notes. Clicking a release shows the full details including formatted release notes and a listing of all artifacts with their sizes.

Only releases with published status are visible through the Nomad Network interface. Draft releases (if supported in future implementations) would only be visible through the command-line interface.

All Command-Line Options (rngit release)

usage: rngit release [-h] [--config CONFIG] [--rnsconfig RNSCONFIG]
                     [-i PATH] [-v] [-q] [--version]
                     [repository] [operation] [target]

Reticulum Git Release Manager

positional arguments:
  repository            URL of remote repository
  operation             list, view, create or delete
  target                tag and path to release artifacts directory

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --config CONFIG       path to alternative config directory
  --rnsconfig RNSCONFIG
                        path to alternative Reticulum config directory
  -i, --identity PATH   path to release identity
  -v, --verbose
  -q, --quiet
  --version             show program's version number and exit

Work Documents¶

In addition to releases, rngit provides a work document management system for tracking tasks, investigations, issues and progress related to repositories. Work documents are stored as structured msgpack data and support threaded updates and comments.

Listing Work Documents

To view work documents for a repository:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo list

Active documents
=================

ID   Title                    Author             Created           Comments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1    Implemented new feature  9710b86ba12c4f2e…  2025-01-15 14:32         3
2    Fixed bug in parser      8f3a21c9d84e927b…  2025-01-14 09:15         1

Use --scope completed to view completed work documents, or --scope all to see both active and completed.

Viewing a Work Document

To view a specific work document with all its comments:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo view -d 1

Implement new feature (active #1)
=================================
Author   : 9710b86ba12c42d1d8f30f74fe509286
Status   : active
Created  : 2026-05-05 15:11:11
Edited   : 2026-05-05 18:22:11
Format   : markdown
Updates  : 0

This work document tracks the implementation of the new feature...

Updates
=======

#1 by 9710b86ba12c42d1d8f30f74fe509286 at 2026-05-05 15:38:37
-------------------------------------------------------------
Initial analysis complete

Creating Work Documents

To create a new work document:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo create --title "Investigate performance issue"

This will open your configured $EDITOR to compose the document content. Save and exit to create the document, or save an empty document to cancel.

Editing Work Documents

To edit an existing work document:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo edit -d 1

This fetches the current content, opens it in your editor, and sends any changes back to the node.

Adding Comments

To add an update to a work document:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo update -d 1

This opens your editor to compose the update.

Completing Work Documents

To mark a work document as completed (moving it from active to completed):

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo complete -d 1

Work document #1 completed

Activating Work Documents

To mark a work document as active (moving it from completed to active):

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo activate -d 1

Work document #1 activated

Deleting Work Documents

To delete a work document and all its comments:

$ rngit work rns://50824b711717f97c2fb1166ceddd5ea9/public/myrepo delete -id 1

Are you sure you want to delete active work document #1? [y/N]: y
Work document #1 deleted

Permissions

Users can view work documents and updates if the have read permission for the repository. If users have read and interact, they can also post updates/comments on existing work documents. Work document management requires having write and interact permission to the repository. These permissions are configured the same way as any other repository permissions. In the config file or .allowed files, use i:target to grant work document interaction rights:

# In .allowed file or config
i:all          # Allow everyone
i:9710b86...   # Allow specific identity
i:none         # Deny everyone

Author Verification

Users can only edit or delete work documents and updates they created. The author is cryptographically verified from the interacting link’s remote_identity.

Storage Format

Work documents are stored in a repo_name.work directory next to the repository, containing:

active/ - Active work documents
completed/ - Completed work documents

Each document is a numbered directory containing:

root - The work document content and metadata (msgpack format)
N - Numbered comment files (msgpack format)

Nomad Network Interface

When the Nomad Network page node is enabled, work documents are viewable through the web interface. The work page lists all documents with their status, and clicking a document shows its full content and updates.

All Command-Line Options (rngit work)

usage: rngit work [-h] [--config CONFIG] [--rnsconfig RNSCONFIG]
                  [-i PATH] [--scope SCOPE] [-t TITLE] [-d ID] [-v]
                  [-q] [--version]
                  [repository] [operation]

Reticulum Git Work Document Manager

positional arguments:
  repository            URL of remote repository
  operation             list, view, create, edit, delete, update or complete

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --config CONFIG       path to alternative config directory
  --rnsconfig RNSCONFIG
                        path to alternative Reticulum config directory
  -i, --identity PATH   path to identity
  --scope SCOPE         document scope: active, completed or all
  -t, --title TITLE     document title for create
  -d, --id ID           document ID
  -v, --verbose
  -q, --quiet
  --version             show program's version number and exit