Core Hosting Model

May 19, 2026 · View on GitHub

Surfaces

Surface	Purpose	Client commands
Forge	Git review, PR/MR submission, auth, CI trigger	`elda ci`, `elda forge`
Remote	Signed metadata and package-definition authority	`elda rmt *`, `elda sync`
Cache	Content-addressed payload mirror only	`elda cache *`
Interemote	Dynamic source repo translated during sync	`elda rmt preview`, `elda sync`
Snapshot import	One-time local recipe import	`elda a <url>`

elda sync reads remotes, not caches. Caches accelerate payload fetch after the signed index names a digest.
Remotes define package names, versions, dependencies, providers, source lanes, binary payload URLs, channels, and trust policy.
Caches mirror blobs at GET <cache base>/<sha256> only.
Source-only remote: signed index carries package records with pkg_lua, repo_commit, and packages_url; no asset_url / sha256 / payload_sig.
Binary remote: same as source-only plus payload fields and optional SBOM/attestation URLs.
Interemote: index_url points at a foreign metadata Git tree (Gentoo overlay, Void srcpkgs). Elda translates on sync; not a binary repo.
Snapshot import: elda a <url> writes local editable recipes once; unlike interemotes, it does not keep updating from upstream on sync.

Style	Index	Recipe Git	Binaries
Source-only native	Signed `index-v1.json.zst`	Required via `packages_url`	Clients build
Full binary native	Signed index	Required for source lane	`asset_url` + sigs
Interemote	Generated at sync from upstream Git	Upstream repo is the source	None from interemote
Cache mirror	N/A	N/A	Digest files only