Add the required README sections (closes #75)
check / check (push) Failing after 1s

Policy names five README sections that were missing or misnamed.

The Description first line now names the project, purpose, category,
WTFPL license, and author. A new Getting Started section gives a
copy-pasteable build-from-source block and gen/check/fetch usage; every
command was run against a built binary. Problem Statement and Proposed
Solution are consolidated under a new Rationale heading, keeping the
prose rather than duplicating it. A new Design section documents the
package layout: mfer/ library, internal/cli commands, internal/log and
internal/bork support, cmd/mfer entrypoint, and the committed protobuf
code. Authors is renamed Author with the canonical link.

Getting Started uses go build because the make build target invokes
protoc, which script/bootstrap does not install.

Model: opus-4-8
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-21 08:03:30 +00:00
parent 6de3f1d714
commit d90bef8580
2 changed files with 69 additions and 11 deletions
+64 -11
View File
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
# mfer
[mfer](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer) is a reference implementation library and
thin wrapper command-line utility written in [Go](https://golang.org) and first
published in 2022 under the [WTFPL](https://wtfpl.net) (public domain) license.
It specifies and generates `.mf` manifest files over a directory tree of files
to encapsulate metadata about them (such as cryptographic checksums or
signatures over same) to aid in archiving, downloading, and streaming, or
mirroring. The manifest files' data is serialized with Google's
[mfer](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer) is a [WTFPL](https://wtfpl.net)-licensed
(public domain) [Go](https://golang.org) library and command-line tool by
[@sneak](https://sneak.berlin) that specifies and generates `.mf` manifest files
over a directory tree to encapsulate metadata about the files — such as
cryptographic checksums and signatures over same — to aid in archiving,
downloading, streaming, and mirroring. It was first published in 2022. The
manifest files' data is serialized with Google's
[protobuf serialization format](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers).
The structure of these files can be found
[in the format specification](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/src/branch/main/mfer/mf.proto)
@@ -21,6 +21,36 @@ This project was started by [@sneak](https://sneak.berlin) to scratch an itch in
as a de-facto standard and be incorporated into other software. A compatible
javascript library is planned.
# Getting Started
`mfer` builds from source with a Go 1.23+ toolchain. The generated protobuf code
is committed, so no `protoc` toolchain is required:
```sh
git clone https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer.git
cd mfer
go build -o bin/mfer ./cmd/mfer
```
Generate a manifest for a directory tree, verify it later, and fetch a published
tree by URL:
```sh
# Write .index.mf describing every file under the current directory.
bin/mfer gen .
# Verify the files on disk against the manifest. Exits nonzero if any file
# is missing or corrupted.
bin/mfer check .index.mf
# Download and cryptographically verify a tree published over HTTP: mfer
# fetches <url>/index.mf, then downloads every file it lists.
bin/mfer fetch https://example.com/tree/
```
Run `bin/mfer help` for the full command list, or `bin/mfer <command> --help`
for a single command's options.
# Build Status
CI runs via `script/cibuild` (`docker build .`), which executes `make check`
@@ -81,7 +111,9 @@ Any changes submitted to this project must also be
See [`REPO_POLICIES.md`](REPO_POLICIES.md) for detailed coding standards,
tooling requirements, and workflow conventions.
# Problem Statement
# Rationale
## The problem
Given a plain URL, there is no standard way to safely and programmatically
download everything "under" that URL path. `wget -r` can traverse directory
@@ -105,7 +137,7 @@ Real issues I face:
- when I download a large file via HTTP, I have no way of knowing if the file
content is what it's supposed to be
# Proposed Solution
## The solution
A standard, a manifest file format, and a tool for generating same.
@@ -137,6 +169,27 @@ The manifest file would do several important things:
- maybe a bittorrent chunklist for torrent client compatibility? perhaps a
top-level infohash for the whole manifest?
# Design
The repository is split into a reusable library and a thin command-line wrapper
around it.
- `mfer/` is the reusable library and the heart of the project: it defines the
manifest format and implements building, scanning, checking, serialization,
and signing. The protobuf schema is `mfer/mf.proto`, and the generated code it
produces (`mfer/mf.pb.go`) is committed alongside it so the library builds
with `go get` and needs no `protoc` toolchain.
- `internal/cli/` holds the command implementations — `gen`, `check`, `freshen`,
`export`, `list`, and `fetch` — that wire the library to the command-line
interface.
- `internal/log/` provides the logging used across the commands.
- `internal/bork/` provides error-handling support.
- `cmd/mfer/` is the entrypoint: its `main` package assembles the pieces above
into the `mfer` binary.
Everything under `internal/` is private to this repository; only the `mfer/`
package is intended for import by other software.
# Design Goals
- Replace SHASUMS/SHASUMS.asc files
@@ -462,9 +515,9 @@ proto `go_package` option. Which is canonical?
- Issues:
[https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/issues](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/mfer/issues)
# Authors
# Author
- [@sneak &lt;sneak@sneak.berlin&gt;](mailto:sneak@sneak.berlin)
- [@sneak](https://sneak.berlin)
# License
+5
View File
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ only thing left of the `chore/align-repo-policies` branch is the list below.
# Completed Steps
- 2026-09-21: added the required README sections — named author, license, and
category in the Description first line; added Getting Started (verified
install/usage block), Rationale (folding in Problem Statement and Proposed
Solution), and a Design section for the package layout; renamed Authors to
Author (#75)
- 2026-09-21: added the canonical `.editorconfig`, made `.gitignore` cover
secrets, OS, editor, and Go artifacts, and removed the dead Drone CI
references from `.gitignore` and `bin/gitrev.sh` (#72)