GIT-MULTI-PACK-INDEX(1) Git Manual GIT-MULTI-PACK-INDEX(1)

git-multi-pack-index - Write and verify multi-pack-indexes

git multi-pack-index [<options>] write [--preferred-pack=<pack>]
                         [--[no-]bitmap] [--[no-]incremental] [--[no-]stdin-packs]
                         [--refs-snapshot=<path>]
git multi-pack-index [<options>] compact [--[no-]incremental]
                         [--[no-]bitmap] <from> <to>
git multi-pack-index [<options>] verify
git multi-pack-index [<options>] expire
git multi-pack-index [<options>] repack [--batch-size=<size>]

Write or verify a multi-pack-index (MIDX) file.

The following command-line options are applicable to all sub-commands:

--object-dir=<dir>

Use given directory for the location of Git objects. We check <dir>/packs/multi-pack-index for the current MIDX file, and <dir>/packs for the pack-files to index.

<dir> must be an alternate of the current repository.

--progress, --no-progress

Turn progress on/off explicitly. If neither is specified, progress is shown if standard error is connected to a terminal. Supported by sub-commands write, verify, expire, and repack.

The following subcommands are available:

write

Write a new MIDX file. The following options are available for the write sub-command:

--preferred-pack=<pack>

When specified, break ties in favor of this pack when there are additional copies of its objects in other packs. Ties for objects not found in the preferred pack are always resolved in favor of the copy in the pack with the highest mtime. If unspecified, the pack with the lowest mtime is used by default. The preferred pack must have at least one object.

--[no-]bitmap

Control whether or not a multi-pack bitmap is written.

--stdin-packs

Write a multi-pack index containing only the set of line-delimited pack index basenames provided over stdin.

--refs-snapshot=<path>

With --bitmap, optionally specify a file which contains a "refs snapshot" taken prior to repacking.

A reference snapshot is composed of line-delimited OIDs corresponding to the reference tips, usually taken by git repack prior to generating a new pack. A line may optionally start with a + character to indicate that the reference which corresponds to that OID is "preferred" (see git-config(1)'s pack.preferBitmapTips.)

The file given at <path> is expected to be readable, and can contain duplicates. (If a given OID is given more than once, it is marked as preferred if at least one instance of it begins with the special + marker).

--incremental

Write an incremental MIDX file containing only objects and packs not present in an existing MIDX layer. Migrates non-incremental MIDXs to incremental ones when necessary.

compact

Write a new MIDX layer containing only objects and packs present in the range <from> to <to>, where both arguments are checksums of existing layers in the MIDX chain.

--incremental

Write the result to a MIDX chain instead of writing a stand-alone MIDX.

--[no-]bitmap

Control whether or not a multi-pack bitmap is written.

Note that the compact command requires writing a version-2 midx that cannot be read by versions of Git prior to v2.54.

verify

Verify the contents of the MIDX file.

expire

Delete the pack-files that are tracked by the MIDX file, but have no objects referenced by the MIDX (with the exception of .keep packs and cruft packs). Rewrite the MIDX file afterward to remove all references to these pack-files.

Note
this mode is incompatible with incremental MIDX files.

repack

Create a new pack-file containing objects in small pack-files referenced by the multi-pack-index. If the size given by the --batch-size=<size> argument is zero, then create a pack containing all objects referenced by the multi-pack-index. For a non-zero batch size, Select the pack-files by examining packs from oldest-to-newest, computing the "expected size" by counting the number of objects in the pack referenced by the multi-pack-index, then divide by the total number of objects in the pack and multiply by the pack size. We select packs with expected size below the batch size until the set of packs have total expected size at least the batch size, or all pack-files are considered. If only one pack-file is selected, then do nothing. If a new pack-file is created, rewrite the multi-pack-index to reference the new pack-file. A later run of git multi-pack-index expire will delete the pack-files that were part of this batch.

If repack.packKeptObjects is false, then any pack-files with an associated .keep file will not be selected for the batch to repack.


Note
this mode is incompatible with incremental MIDX files.

•Write a MIDX file for the packfiles in the current .git directory. 
$ git multi-pack-index write
•Write a MIDX file for the packfiles in the current .git directory with a corresponding bitmap. 
$ git multi-pack-index write --preferred-pack=<pack> --bitmap
•Write a MIDX file for the packfiles in an alternate object store. 
$ git multi-pack-index --object-dir <alt> write
•Verify the MIDX file for the packfiles in the current .git directory. 
$ git multi-pack-index verify

See The Multi-Pack-Index Design Document[1] and gitformat-pack(5) for more information on the multi-pack-index feature and its file format.

Part of the git(1) suite

1.
The Multi-Pack-Index Design Document
file:///usr/share/doc/git-doc/technical/multi-pack-index.html
2026-04-19 Git 2.54.0