[v4,13/15] Reftable support for git-core

Commit Message

Han-Wen Nienhuys Dec. 9, 2020, 2 p.m. UTC

From: Han-Wen Nienhuys <[e-mail]>

For background, see the previous commit introducing the library.

This introduces the file refs/reftable-backend.c containing a reftable-powered
ref storage backend.

It can be activated by passing --ref-storage=reftable to "git init", or setting
GIT_TEST_REFTABLE in the environment.

Example use: see t/t0031-reftable.sh

Signed-off-by: Han-Wen Nienhuys <[e-mail]>
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <[e-mail]>
Helped-by: Johannes Schindelin <[e-mail]>
Co-authored-by: Jeff King <[e-mail]>
---
 Documentation/config/extensions.txt           |    9 +
 .../technical/repository-version.txt          |    7 +
 Makefile                                      |    4 +
 builtin/clone.c                               |    5 +-
 builtin/init-db.c                             |   55 +-
 builtin/worktree.c                            |   27 +-
 cache.h                                       |    8 +-
 config.mak.uname                              |    2 +-
 contrib/buildsystems/Generators/Vcxproj.pm    |   11 +-
 refs.c                                        |   27 +-
 refs.h                                        |    3 +
 refs/refs-internal.h                          |    1 +
 refs/reftable-backend.c                       | 1435 +++++++++++++++++
 repository.c                                  |    2 +
 repository.h                                  |    3 +
 setup.c                                       |    9 +-
 t/t0031-reftable.sh                           |  199 +++
 t/t1409-avoid-packing-refs.sh                 |    6 +
 t/t1450-fsck.sh                               |    6 +
 t/t3210-pack-refs.sh                          |    6 +
 t/test-lib.sh                                 |    5 +
 21 files changed, 1797 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 refs/reftable-backend.c
 create mode 100755 t/t0031-reftable.sh

Comments

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason Jan. 21, 2021, 3:55 p.m. UTC | #1

On Wed, Dec 09 2020, Han-Wen Nienhuys via GitGitGadget wrote:

> From: Han-Wen Nienhuys <[e-mail]>
> [...]
>  refs.c                                        |   27 +-
>  refs.h                                        |    3 +
> [...]
>  refs/reftable-backend.c                       | 1435 +++++++++++++++++
> [...]
> +static int git_reftable_read_raw_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
> +				     const char *refname, struct object_id *oid,
> +				     struct strbuf *referent,
> +				     unsigned int *type)
> +{
> +	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
> +		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
> +	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
> +
> +	struct reftable_ref_record ref = { NULL };
> +	int err = 0;
> +	if (refs->err < 0) {
> +		return refs->err;
> +	}
> +
> +	/* This is usually not needed, but Git doesn't signal to ref backend if
> +	   a subprocess updated the ref DB.  So we always check.
> +	*/
> +	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
> +	if (err) {
> +		goto done;
> +	}
> +
> +	err = reftable_stack_read_ref(stack, refname, &ref);
> +	if (err > 0) {
> +		errno = ENOENT;
> +		err = -1;
> +		goto done;
> +	}
> +	if (err < 0) {
> +		errno = reftable_error_to_errno(err);
> +		err = -1;
> +		goto done;
> +	}
> +
> +	if (ref.value_type == REFTABLE_REF_SYMREF) {
> +		strbuf_reset(referent);
> +		strbuf_addstr(referent, ref.value.symref);
> +		*type |= REF_ISSYMREF;
> +	} else if (reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref) != NULL) {
> +		hashcpy(oid->hash, reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref));
> +	} else {
> +		*type |= REF_ISBROKEN;
> +		errno = EINVAL;
> +		err = -1;

I've been chasing down some edge cases in refs.c as part of another WIP
series I have and found that for this particular "errno" stuff we don't
have any test coverage. And with master & hanwen/reftable if I apply:

    diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
    index af0d000082..8ac57908ea 100644
    --- a/refs.c
    +++ b/refs.c
    @@ -1589,3 +1589,2 @@ const char *refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(struct ref_store *refs,
                        !refname_is_safe(refname)) {
    -                       errno = EINVAL;
                            return NULL;
    @@ -1649,3 +1648,2 @@ const char *refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(struct ref_store *refs,
                                !refname_is_safe(refname)) {
    -                               errno = EINVAL;
                                    return NULL;
    @@ -1657,3 +1655,2 @@ const char *refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(struct ref_store *refs,
     
    -       errno = ELOOP;
            return NULL;
    diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
    index e98d22c826..e09ae21965 100644
    --- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
    +++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
    @@ -1343,3 +1343,2 @@ static int git_reftable_read_raw_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
            if (err < 0) {
    -               errno = reftable_error_to_errno(err);
                    err = -1;
    @@ -1355,3 +1354,2 @@ static int git_reftable_read_raw_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
                    *type |= REF_ISBROKEN;
    -               errno = EINVAL;
                    err = -1;

All tests pass on both.

Anyway, in the case of the code sitting on "master" I find that less
concerning. It's some code that's drifted apart over the years blah blah
blah. Boring details but for various reasons we don't use some/any of
that error handling logic anymore, or to the extent that we do I'll need
to improve the tests.

I must say I do find it a bit more concerning in the case of the
reftable series. I.e. the git_reftable_read_raw_ref() function seems
like a faithful copy of the general logic (at least this part) of the
refs_resolve_ref_unsafe() function in refs.c.

That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
for it, or adding one. Or perhaps given the history of this codebase
there's out-of-tree tests for it somewhere?

Han-Wen Nienhuys Jan. 21, 2021, 4:14 p.m. UTC | #2

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:55 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> I must say I do find it a bit more concerning in the case of the
> reftable series. I.e. the git_reftable_read_raw_ref() function seems
> like a faithful copy of the general logic (at least this part) of the
> refs_resolve_ref_unsafe() function in refs.c.
>
> That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
> general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
> for it, or adding one. Or perhaps given the history of this codebase
> there's out-of-tree tests for it somewhere?

One of the earlier iterations of this code didn't have the errno
handling, and it caused a bug that I tracked down to the errno
handling. I'm fairly sure of this, because I remember being perplexed
and flabbergasted at using errno as an out-of-band API mechanism. The
first iteration of reftable code was about a year ago, so if you
checkout the Git source code from that time, and remove the errno
assignments, you would be able to see which test exercised this code
path.

Or you could check where errno is read-back (I believe ENOENT is the
case that has special meaning)

Han-Wen Nienhuys Jan. 21, 2021, 4:21 p.m. UTC | #3

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 5:14 PM Han-Wen Nienhuys <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:55 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
> <[e-mail]> wrote:
> > I must say I do find it a bit more concerning in the case of the
> > reftable series. I.e. the git_reftable_read_raw_ref() function seems
> > like a faithful copy of the general logic (at least this part) of the
> > refs_resolve_ref_unsafe() function in refs.c.
> >
> > That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
> > general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
> > for it, or adding one. Or perhaps given the history of this codebase
> > there's out-of-tree tests for it somewhere?
>
> One of the earlier iterations of this code didn't have the errno
> handling, and it caused a bug that I tracked down to the errno
> handling. I'm fairly sure of this, because I remember being perplexed
> and flabbergasted at using errno as an out-of-band API mechanism. The
> first iteration of reftable code was about a year ago, so if you
> checkout the Git source code from that time, and remove the errno
> assignments, you would be able to see which test exercised this code
> path.
>
> Or you could check where errno is read-back (I believe ENOENT is the
> case that has special meaning)

In refs.c, there is behavior that depends on errno,

if (refs_read_raw_ref(refs, refname,
      oid, &sb_refname, &read_flags)) {
..
/*
* Otherwise a missing ref is OK. But the files backend
* may show errors besides ENOENT if there are
* similarly-named refs.
*/
if (errno != ENOENT &&
    errno != EISDIR &&
    errno != ENOTDIR)
return NULL;

blame tells me it has something to do with dir/file conflicts and
commit a1c1d8170db.

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason Jan. 26, 2021, 1:44 p.m. UTC | #4

On Thu, Jan 21 2021, Han-Wen Nienhuys wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 5:14 PM Han-Wen Nienhuys <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:55 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
>> <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> > I must say I do find it a bit more concerning in the case of the
>> > reftable series. I.e. the git_reftable_read_raw_ref() function seems
>> > like a faithful copy of the general logic (at least this part) of the
>> > refs_resolve_ref_unsafe() function in refs.c.
>> >
>> > That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
>> > general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
>> > for it, or adding one. Or perhaps given the history of this codebase
>> > there's out-of-tree tests for it somewhere?
>>
>> One of the earlier iterations of this code didn't have the errno
>> handling, and it caused a bug that I tracked down to the errno
>> handling. I'm fairly sure of this, because I remember being perplexed
>> and flabbergasted at using errno as an out-of-band API mechanism. The
>> first iteration of reftable code was about a year ago, so if you
>> checkout the Git source code from that time, and remove the errno
>> assignments, you would be able to see which test exercised this code
>> path.
>>
>> Or you could check where errno is read-back (I believe ENOENT is the
>> case that has special meaning)
>
> In refs.c, there is behavior that depends on errno,
>
> if (refs_read_raw_ref(refs, refname,
>       oid, &sb_refname, &read_flags)) {
> ..
> /*
> * Otherwise a missing ref is OK. But the files backend
> * may show errors besides ENOENT if there are
> * similarly-named refs.
> */
> if (errno != ENOENT &&
>     errno != EISDIR &&
>     errno != ENOTDIR)
> return NULL;
>
> blame tells me it has something to do with dir/file conflicts and
> commit a1c1d8170db.

I'm aware mostly of what the code is doing. Yes some of it's used, some
of it's not.

My upthread [1] wasn't clear enough, the intended message was "hey this
new major refactoring/replacement of a core git format still has zero
coverage on at least some of the code it seeks to replace" not "hey
what's this thing in refs.c doing?".

I.e. lack of test coverage on refactored code as part of a big patch
series is a lot scarier than the same lack of coverage on existing
long-established code we'll either not update, or in small incremental
updates.

So it was a gentle prod to maybe look into what the state of that in the
reftable series as a whole is and fix the coverage gaps. I'd like the
feature in git.git, but this series has been stalled for a while. I for
one would feel a lot more confident in reviewing it if I knew I'd just
discovered an outlier case.

But in any case, when I wrote[1] I didn't know about / had forgotten
"make cover". As noted in t/README that can even give pretty HTML
output. It takes ages to run so I haven't run it on your series, but I
ran it on master a couple of days ago and it flagged those (and other)
parts of refs.c.

So perhaps running it on the reftables series will find some useful
cases to make up the test difference / potential bugs.

Of course 100% line coverage isn't practical (hitting every BUG(...)),
and even 100% line coverage != 100% test coverage. But it's a very good
first stop to see glaring omissions. E.g. the refs.c cases I mentioned
where we'resetting flag "xyz" in a() and then acting on "xyz/!xyz" in
b().

1. <[e-mail]>

Han-Wen Nienhuys April 23, 2021, 10:22 a.m. UTC | #5

On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:55 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> I've been chasing down some edge cases in refs.c as part of another WIP
> series I have and found that for this particular "errno" stuff we don't
> have any test coverage. And with master & hanwen/reftable if I apply:
>
>     -                       errno = EINVAL;
..
> All tests pass on both.
..
> That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
> general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
> for it, or adding one.

I think that is an unfair characterization. The API documentation of
read_raw_ref_fn says that implementations should return EINVAL for
certain cases, so that's what I did. The point of having a documented
internal API is that one doesn't have to double check what is behind
the API.

--
Han-Wen Nienhuys - Google Munich
I work 80%. Don't expect answers from me on Fridays.
--

Google Germany GmbH, Erika-Mann-Strasse 33, 80636 Munich

Registergericht und -nummer: Hamburg, HRB 86891

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Hamburg

Geschäftsführer: Paul Manicle, Halimah DeLaine Prado

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason April 26, 2021, 1:23 p.m. UTC | #6

On Fri, Apr 23 2021, Han-Wen Nienhuys wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:55 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
> <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> I've been chasing down some edge cases in refs.c as part of another WIP
>> series I have and found that for this particular "errno" stuff we don't
>> have any test coverage. And with master & hanwen/reftable if I apply:
>>
>>     -                       errno = EINVAL;
> ..
>> All tests pass on both.
> ..
>> That I can remove error checking/handling from this place means existing
>> general logic was faithfully copied without checking that we have a test
>> for it, or adding one.
>
> I think that is an unfair characterization. The API documentation of
> read_raw_ref_fn says that implementations should return EINVAL for
> certain cases, so that's what I did. The point of having a documented
> internal API is that one doesn't have to double check what is behind
> the API.

I'm only meaning to point out that the behavior being relied on here
doesn't have any tests.

I agree that whether or not we should have any tests at all is a matter
of opinion and circumstance. I don't think in general that someone using
some random internal API needs to be checking what is and isn't tested
in that API.

I do think in this case that it's worth digging a bit further. The APIs
in question are using EINVAL and EISDIR to pass up errors that are had a
1:1 mapping into the FS historically.

Are we really better off faking those up, or is some of that perhaps not
used at all? Maybe we'd find that this level of abstraction isn't what
we need, and it could actually be much simpler.

My main goal here is not to keep creating some infinite amount of work
for you, but to try to help this along into some shape that's better
reviewable & land-able.

It seems to me that a good way to get there is to seek some systematic
ways of focusing review onto various edge cases of this series. I.e. to
begin with having GIT_TEST_REFTABLE pass as noted elsewhere, and in this
case calling attention to some of the underlying assumptions behind this
series.

One of the hardest things I've found about trying to review this has
been closing the gap between things that exist in your mind and commit
messages / code.

E.g. in this case sure, you can be of the opinion that since the point
of an internal API is to provide an interface we can simply assume it's
OK and working as intended.

I don't think given the history and use of this code that that's an
assumption I'd be as comfortable making, but anyway. Getting back on
point, I do think whatever opinion anyone is of on that subject having
something like this in the commit message (and other applicable commits
etc.) would be *very* valuable:

    In functions such as git_reftable_read_raw_ref() (and ????, are
    there more?) we're diligently emulating the documented behavior and
    return values of the refs file backend. According to "make gcov" we
    can see we don't have coverage for this, in particular the behavior
    of EINVAL etc.

I.e. per [1] once if and when we have GIT_TEST_REFTABLE passing surely
one of the best way to garner feedback on the rest is to discover those
parts (using "make gcov", after running with/without
GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=[true|false]) where we still have outstanding blind
spots between the tests and code.

1. https://lore.kernel.org/git/[e-mail]/

Han-Wen Nienhuys April 26, 2021, 4:17 p.m. UTC | #7

On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 4:28 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> I agree that whether or not we should have any tests at all is a matter
> of opinion and circumstance. I don't think in general that someone using
> some random internal API needs to be checking what is and isn't tested
> in that API.
>
> I do think in this case that it's worth digging a bit further. The APIs
> in question are using EINVAL and EISDIR to pass up errors that are had a
> 1:1 mapping into the FS historically.
>
> Are we really better off faking those up, or is some of that perhaps not
> used at all? Maybe we'd find that this level of abstraction isn't what
> we need, and it could actually be much simpler.

I think none of these error functions are being used at all, and I've
made a start at removing them in https://github.com/git/git/pull/1012
(see also my discussion with peff.)

> It seems to me that a good way to get there is to seek some systematic
> ways of focusing review onto various edge cases of this series. I.e. to
> begin with having GIT_TEST_REFTABLE pass as noted elsewhere, and in this
> case calling attention to some of the underlying assumptions behind this
> series.

> One of the hardest things I've found about trying to review this has
> been closing the gap between things that exist in your mind and commit
> messages / code.

thanks, that is valuable feedback.

> something like this in the commit message (and other applicable commits
> etc.) would be *very* valuable:
>
>     In functions such as git_reftable_read_raw_ref() (and ????, are
>     there more?) we're diligently emulating the documented behavior and
>     return values of the refs file backend. According to "make gcov" we
>     can see we don't have coverage for this, in particular the behavior
>     of EINVAL etc.

I haven't done this, because a lot of these considerations are
transient, and I'd rather not spend a lot of time documenting what I
don't know.

> I.e. per [1] once if and when we have GIT_TEST_REFTABLE passing surely
> one of the best way to garner feedback on the rest is to discover those
> parts (using "make gcov", after running with/without
> GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=[true|false]) where we still have outstanding blind
> spots between the tests and code.

Getting GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=1 passing is the hard part, because it means
having  to understand exactly how the current code is supposed to
work.  Once I get to that point (with knowledge being complete and
tests passing), it will be easy to document what is happening and why.

I was hoping that by posting these series with known test failures,
and questions marked "XXX" in reftable-backend.c, I would get feedback
from the other people who know exactly how this part of the code
works.  But from your mail, I get the sense that nobody understands
how the whole picture fits together?

--
Han-Wen Nienhuys - Google Munich
I work 80%. Don't expect answers from me on Fridays.
--

Google Germany GmbH, Erika-Mann-Strasse 33, 80636 Munich

Registergericht und -nummer: Hamburg, HRB 86891

Sitz der Gesellschaft: Hamburg

Geschäftsführer: Paul Manicle, Halimah DeLaine Prado

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason April 28, 2021, 4:32 p.m. UTC | #8

On Mon, Apr 26 2021, Han-Wen Nienhuys wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 4:28 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
> <[e-mail]> wrote:
>> I agree that whether or not we should have any tests at all is a matter
>> of opinion and circumstance. I don't think in general that someone using
>> some random internal API needs to be checking what is and isn't tested
>> in that API.
>>
>> I do think in this case that it's worth digging a bit further. The APIs
>> in question are using EINVAL and EISDIR to pass up errors that are had a
>> 1:1 mapping into the FS historically.
>>
>> Are we really better off faking those up, or is some of that perhaps not
>> used at all? Maybe we'd find that this level of abstraction isn't what
>> we need, and it could actually be much simpler.
>
> I think none of these error functions are being used at all, and I've
> made a start at removing them in https://github.com/git/git/pull/1012
> (see also my discussion with peff.)
>
>> It seems to me that a good way to get there is to seek some systematic
>> ways of focusing review onto various edge cases of this series. I.e. to
>> begin with having GIT_TEST_REFTABLE pass as noted elsewhere, and in this
>> case calling attention to some of the underlying assumptions behind this
>> series.
>
>> One of the hardest things I've found about trying to review this has
>> been closing the gap between things that exist in your mind and commit
>> messages / code.
>
> thanks, that is valuable feedback.
>
>> something like this in the commit message (and other applicable commits
>> etc.) would be *very* valuable:
>>
>>     In functions such as git_reftable_read_raw_ref() (and ????, are
>>     there more?) we're diligently emulating the documented behavior and
>>     return values of the refs file backend. According to "make gcov" we
>>     can see we don't have coverage for this, in particular the behavior
>>     of EINVAL etc.
>
> I haven't done this, because a lot of these considerations are
> transient, and I'd rather not spend a lot of time documenting what I
> don't know.
>
>> I.e. per [1] once if and when we have GIT_TEST_REFTABLE passing surely
>> one of the best way to garner feedback on the rest is to discover those
>> parts (using "make gcov", after running with/without
>> GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=[true|false]) where we still have outstanding blind
>> spots between the tests and code.
>
> Getting GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=1 passing is the hard part, because it means
> having  to understand exactly how the current code is supposed to
> work.  Once I get to that point (with knowledge being complete and
> tests passing), it will be easy to document what is happening and why.
>
> I was hoping that by posting these series with known test failures,
> and questions marked "XXX" in reftable-backend.c, I would get feedback
> from the other people who know exactly how this part of the code
> works.  But from your mail, I get the sense that nobody understands
> how the whole picture fits together?

Almost definitely not. I don't know about you but when I'm looking at
code I wrote 6 months ago handling some special case it takes me a while
to get up to speed on just knowing what I knew then, and when we're
talking about something like refs.c ...

On the topic of the way forward: I for one would very much be for a plan
where step 0 is to just a series import the reftable code you have
as-is. I.e. we'd include it as an imported external library, maybe have
some light test-tool integration and compile it / run its own tests, but
not have/advertise the "git init" etc. integration yet.

I.e. my opinion on GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=1 needing to pass is implicit (but
I now realize I haven't explicitly said this) on that happening before
the tree is in a state where we'd code/doc-wise be in a state of
shipping this to users.

Whereas just importing the library != that, and I think we'd be in much
better shape if we had it in-tree and would incrementally work on
integration from that point, v.s. having more re-rolls of
mostly-the-same big codebase being re-submitted.

I'm sure there's some things that'll need to change as we start the
test/integration work, e.g. the reflog topic that's been discussed. But
that's surely better done as some patches on top of the already-landed
library import at this point v.s. trying to get the library perfect
before getting it in-tree.

Maybe Junio disagrees, just my 0.02....

Han-Wen Nienhuys April 28, 2021, 5:40 p.m. UTC | #9

On Wed, Apr 28, 2021 at 6:40 PM Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
<[e-mail]> wrote:
> >> I.e. per [1] once if and when we have GIT_TEST_REFTABLE passing surely
> >> one of the best way to garner feedback on the rest is to discover those
> >> parts (using "make gcov", after running with/without
> >> GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=[true|false]) where we still have outstanding blind
> >> spots between the tests and code.
> >
> > Getting GIT_TEST_REFTABLE=1 passing is the hard part, because it means
> > having  to understand exactly how the current code is supposed to
> > work.  Once I get to that point (with knowledge being complete and
> > tests passing), it will be easy to document what is happening and why.
> >
> > I was hoping that by posting these series with known test failures,
> > and questions marked "XXX" in reftable-backend.c, I would get feedback
> > from the other people who know exactly how this part of the code
> > works.  But from your mail, I get the sense that nobody understands
> > how the whole picture fits together?
>
> Almost definitely not. I don't know about you but when I'm looking at
> code I wrote 6 months ago handling some special case it takes me a while
> to get up to speed on just knowing what I knew then, and when we're
> talking about something like refs.c ...

:-(

on the bright side, once this is in, the expectations will be much
more explicit, because there are two backends that have to work in
roughly the same way.

> On the topic of the way forward: I for one would very much be for a plan
> where step 0 is to just a series import the reftable code you have
> as-is. I.e. we'd include it as an imported external library, maybe have
> some light test-tool integration and compile it / run its own tests, but
> not have/advertise the "git init" etc. integration yet.

I would really like that too, and I support this way forward. The bulk
of the work and problems are in the refs/reftable-backend.c and
assorted incompatibilities across the code base. The library itself
seems pretty solid at this point.

> I'm sure there's some things that'll need to change as we start the
> test/integration work, e.g. the reflog topic that's been discussed. But
> that's surely better done as some patches on top of the already-landed
> library import at this point v.s. trying to get the library perfect
> before getting it in-tree.
>
> Maybe Junio disagrees, just my 0.02....

Patch

diff --git a/Documentation/config/extensions.txt b/Documentation/config/extensions.txt
index 4e23d73cdca..82c5940f143 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/extensions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/extensions.txt
@@ -6,3 +6,12 @@  extensions.objectFormat::
 Note that this setting should only be set by linkgit:git-init[1] or
 linkgit:git-clone[1].  Trying to change it after initialization will not
 work and will produce hard-to-diagnose issues.
++
+extensions.refStorage::
+	Specify the ref storage mechanism to use.  The acceptable values are `files` and
+	`reftable`.  If not specified, `files` is assumed.  It is an error to specify
+	this key unless `core.repositoryFormatVersion` is 1.
++
+Note that this setting should only be set by linkgit:git-init[1] or
+linkgit:git-clone[1].  Trying to change it after initialization will not
+work and will produce hard-to-diagnose issues.
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/repository-version.txt b/Documentation/technical/repository-version.txt
index 7844ef30ffd..72576235833 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/repository-version.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/repository-version.txt
@@ -100,3 +100,10 @@  If set, by default "git config" reads from both "config" and
 multiple working directory mode, "config" file is shared while
 "config.worktree" is per-working directory (i.e., it's in
 GIT_COMMON_DIR/worktrees/<id>/config.worktree)
+
+==== `refStorage`
+
+Specifies the file format for the ref database. Values are `files`
+(for the traditional packed + loose ref format) and `reftable` for the
+binary reftable format. See https://github.com/google/reftable for
+more information.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 18cc18c2153..6b7c8a165f4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -977,6 +977,7 @@  LIB_OBJS += reflog-walk.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs/debug.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs/files-backend.o
+LIB_OBJS += refs/reftable-backend.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs/iterator.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs/packed-backend.o
 LIB_OBJS += refs/ref-cache.o
@@ -2408,8 +2409,11 @@  REFTABLE_OBJS += reftable/zlib-compat.o
 
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/basics_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/block_test.o
+REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/merged_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/record_test.o
+REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/refname_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/reftable_test.o
+REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/stack_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/test_framework.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/tree_test.o
 
diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index a0841923cfe..974a374e9c9 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -1138,7 +1138,7 @@  int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	init_db(git_dir, real_git_dir, option_template, GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN, NULL,
-		INIT_DB_QUIET);
+		default_ref_storage(), INIT_DB_QUIET);
 
 	if (real_git_dir)
 		git_dir = real_git_dir;
@@ -1273,7 +1273,8 @@  int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		 * Now that we know what algorithm the remote side is using,
 		 * let's set ours to the same thing.
 		 */
-		initialize_repository_version(hash_algo, 1);
+		initialize_repository_version(hash_algo, 1,
+					      default_ref_storage());
 		repo_set_hash_algo(the_repository, hash_algo);
 
 		mapped_refs = wanted_peer_refs(refs, &remote->fetch);
diff --git a/builtin/init-db.c b/builtin/init-db.c
index dcb7015db48..e10dc712b8d 100644
--- a/builtin/init-db.c
+++ b/builtin/init-db.c
@@ -179,12 +179,14 @@  static int needs_work_tree_config(const char *git_dir, const char *work_tree)
 	return 1;
 }
 
-void initialize_repository_version(int hash_algo, int reinit)
+void initialize_repository_version(int hash_algo, int reinit,
+				   const char *ref_storage_format)
 {
 	char repo_version_string[10];
 	int repo_version = GIT_REPO_VERSION;
 
-	if (hash_algo != GIT_HASH_SHA1)
+	if (hash_algo != GIT_HASH_SHA1 ||
+	    !strcmp(ref_storage_format, "reftable"))
 		repo_version = GIT_REPO_VERSION_READ;
 
 	/* This forces creation of new config file */
@@ -237,6 +239,7 @@  static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	is_bare_repository_cfg = init_is_bare_repository;
 	if (init_shared_repository != -1)
 		set_shared_repository(init_shared_repository);
+	the_repository->ref_storage_format = xstrdup(fmt->ref_storage);
 
 	/*
 	 * We would have created the above under user's umask -- under
@@ -246,6 +249,24 @@  static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 		adjust_shared_perm(get_git_dir());
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Check to see if .git/HEAD exists; this must happen before
+	 * initializing the ref db, because we want to see if there is an
+	 * existing HEAD.
+	 */
+	path = git_path_buf(&buf, "HEAD");
+	reinit = (!access(path, R_OK) ||
+		  readlink(path, junk, sizeof(junk) - 1) != -1);
+
+	/*
+	 * refs/heads is a file when using reftable. We can't reinitialize with
+	 * a reftable because it will overwrite HEAD
+	 */
+	if (reinit && (!strcmp(fmt->ref_storage, "reftable")) ==
+			      is_directory(git_path_buf(&buf, "refs/heads"))) {
+		die("cannot switch ref storage format.");
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * We need to create a "refs" dir in any case so that older
 	 * versions of git can tell that this is a repository.
@@ -260,9 +281,6 @@  static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 	 * Point the HEAD symref to the initial branch with if HEAD does
 	 * not yet exist.
 	 */
-	path = git_path_buf(&buf, "HEAD");
-	reinit = (!access(path, R_OK)
-		  || readlink(path, junk, sizeof(junk)-1) != -1);
 	if (!reinit) {
 		char *ref;
 
@@ -279,7 +297,7 @@  static int create_default_files(const char *template_path,
 		free(ref);
 	}
 
-	initialize_repository_version(fmt->hash_algo, 0);
+	initialize_repository_version(fmt->hash_algo, 0, fmt->ref_storage);
 
 	/* Check filemode trustability */
 	path = git_path_buf(&buf, "config");
@@ -395,7 +413,7 @@  static void validate_hash_algorithm(struct repository_format *repo_fmt, int hash
 
 int init_db(const char *git_dir, const char *real_git_dir,
 	    const char *template_dir, int hash, const char *initial_branch,
-	    unsigned int flags)
+	    const char *ref_storage_format, unsigned int flags)
 {
 	int reinit;
 	int exist_ok = flags & INIT_DB_EXIST_OK;
@@ -434,6 +452,7 @@  int init_db(const char *git_dir, const char *real_git_dir,
 	 * is an attempt to reinitialize new repository with an old tool.
 	 */
 	check_repository_format(&repo_fmt);
+	repo_fmt.ref_storage = xstrdup(ref_storage_format);
 
 	validate_hash_algorithm(&repo_fmt, hash);
 
@@ -487,6 +506,9 @@  int init_db(const char *git_dir, const char *real_git_dir,
 		git_config_set("receive.denyNonFastforwards", "true");
 	}
 
+	if (!strcmp(ref_storage_format, "reftable"))
+		git_config_set("extensions.refStorage", ref_storage_format);
+
 	if (!(flags & INIT_DB_QUIET)) {
 		int len = strlen(git_dir);
 
@@ -560,6 +582,7 @@  static const char *const init_db_usage[] = {
 int cmd_init_db(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	const char *git_dir;
+	const char *ref_storage_format = default_ref_storage();
 	const char *real_git_dir = NULL;
 	const char *work_tree;
 	const char *template_dir = NULL;
@@ -568,15 +591,18 @@  int cmd_init_db(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	const char *initial_branch = NULL;
 	int hash_algo = GIT_HASH_UNKNOWN;
 	const struct option init_db_options[] = {
-		OPT_STRING(0, "template", &template_dir, N_("template-directory"),
-				N_("directory from which templates will be used")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "template", &template_dir,
+			   N_("template-directory"),
+			   N_("directory from which templates will be used")),
 		OPT_SET_INT(0, "bare", &is_bare_repository_cfg,
-				N_("create a bare repository"), 1),
+			    N_("create a bare repository"), 1),
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "shared", &init_shared_repository,
-			N_("permissions"),
-			N_("specify that the git repository is to be shared amongst several users"),
-			PARSE_OPT_OPTARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, shared_callback, 0},
+		  N_("permissions"),
+		  N_("specify that the git repository is to be shared amongst several users"),
+		  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG | PARSE_OPT_NONEG, shared_callback, 0 },
 		OPT_BIT('q', "quiet", &flags, N_("be quiet"), INIT_DB_QUIET),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "ref-storage", &ref_storage_format, N_("backend"),
+			   N_("the ref storage format to use")),
 		OPT_STRING(0, "separate-git-dir", &real_git_dir, N_("gitdir"),
 			   N_("separate git dir from working tree")),
 		OPT_STRING('b', "initial-branch", &initial_branch, N_("name"),
@@ -717,10 +743,11 @@  int cmd_init_db(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	}
 
 	UNLEAK(real_git_dir);
+	UNLEAK(ref_storage_format);
 	UNLEAK(git_dir);
 	UNLEAK(work_tree);
 
 	flags |= INIT_DB_EXIST_OK;
 	return init_db(git_dir, real_git_dir, template_dir, hash_algo,
-		       initial_branch, flags);
+		       initial_branch, ref_storage_format, flags);
 }
diff --git a/builtin/worktree.c b/builtin/worktree.c
index 197fd24a555..a102aedfca7 100644
--- a/builtin/worktree.c
+++ b/builtin/worktree.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ 
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "utf8.h"
 #include "worktree.h"
+#include "../refs/refs-internal.h"
 
 static const char * const worktree_usage[] = {
 	N_("git worktree add [<options>] <path> [<commit-ish>]"),
@@ -402,9 +403,29 @@  static int add_worktree(const char *path, const char *refname,
 	 * worktree.
 	 */
 	strbuf_reset(&sb);
-	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/HEAD", sb_repo.buf);
-	write_file(sb.buf, "%s", oid_to_hex(&null_oid));
-	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	if (get_main_ref_store(the_repository)->be == &refs_be_reftable) {
+		/* XXX this is cut & paste from reftable_init_db. */
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/HEAD", sb_repo.buf);
+		write_file(sb.buf, "%s", "ref: refs/heads/.invalid\n");
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs", sb_repo.buf);
+		safe_create_dir(sb.buf, 1);
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs/heads", sb_repo.buf);
+		write_file(sb.buf, "this repository uses the reftable format");
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/reftable", sb_repo.buf);
+		safe_create_dir(sb.buf, 1);
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	} else {
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/HEAD", sb_repo.buf);
+		write_file(sb.buf, "%s", oid_to_hex(&null_oid));
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	}
+
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/commondir", sb_repo.buf);
 	write_file(sb.buf, "../..");
 
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index e986cf4ea9c..545d2b72607 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -627,9 +627,10 @@  int path_inside_repo(const char *prefix, const char *path);
 #define INIT_DB_EXIST_OK 0x0002
 
 int init_db(const char *git_dir, const char *real_git_dir,
-	    const char *template_dir, int hash_algo,
-	    const char *initial_branch, unsigned int flags);
-void initialize_repository_version(int hash_algo, int reinit);
+	    const char *template_dir, int hash_algo, const char *initial_branch,
+	    const char *ref_storage_format, unsigned int flags);
+void initialize_repository_version(int hash_algo, int reinit,
+				   const char *ref_storage_format);
 
 void sanitize_stdfds(void);
 int daemonize(void);
@@ -1043,6 +1044,7 @@  struct repository_format {
 	int is_bare;
 	int hash_algo;
 	char *work_tree;
+	char *ref_storage;
 	struct string_list unknown_extensions;
 	struct string_list v1_only_extensions;
 };
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index 5b30a9154ac..4ab0191f5e6 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@  vcxproj:
 	# Make .vcxproj files and add them
 	unset QUIET_GEN QUIET_BUILT_IN; \
 	perl contrib/buildsystems/generate -g Vcxproj
-	git add -f git.sln {*,*/lib,t/helper/*}/*.vcxproj
+	git add -f git.sln {*,*/lib,*/libreftable,t/helper/*}/*.vcxproj
 
 	# Generate the LinkOrCopyBuiltins.targets and LinkOrCopyRemoteHttp.targets file
 	(echo '<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">' && \
diff --git a/contrib/buildsystems/Generators/Vcxproj.pm b/contrib/buildsystems/Generators/Vcxproj.pm
index d2584450ba1..1a25789d285 100644
--- a/contrib/buildsystems/Generators/Vcxproj.pm
+++ b/contrib/buildsystems/Generators/Vcxproj.pm
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@  sub createProject {
     my $libs_release = "\n    ";
     my $libs_debug = "\n    ";
     if (!$static_library) {
-      $libs_release = join(";", sort(grep /^(?!libgit\.lib|xdiff\/lib\.lib|vcs-svn\/lib\.lib)/, @{$$build_structure{"$prefix${name}_LIBS"}}));
+      $libs_release = join(";", sort(grep /^(?!libgit\.lib|xdiff\/lib\.lib|vcs-svn\/lib\.lib|reftable\/libreftable\.lib)/, @{$$build_structure{"$prefix${name}_LIBS"}}));
       $libs_debug = $libs_release;
       $libs_debug =~ s/zlib\.lib/zlibd\.lib/g;
       $libs_debug =~ s/libexpat\.lib/libexpatd\.lib/g;
@@ -232,6 +232,7 @@  sub createProject {
 EOM
     if (!$static_library || $target =~ 'vcs-svn' || $target =~ 'xdiff') {
       my $uuid_libgit = $$build_structure{"LIBS_libgit_GUID"};
+      my $uuid_libreftable = $$build_structure{"LIBS_reftable/libreftable_GUID"};
       my $uuid_xdiff_lib = $$build_structure{"LIBS_xdiff/lib_GUID"};
 
       print F << "EOM";
@@ -241,6 +242,14 @@  sub createProject {
       <ReferenceOutputAssembly>false</ReferenceOutputAssembly>
     </ProjectReference>
 EOM
+      if (!($name =~ /xdiff|libreftable/)) {
+        print F << "EOM";
+    <ProjectReference Include="$cdup\\reftable\\libreftable\\libreftable.vcxproj">
+      <Project>$uuid_libreftable</Project>
+      <ReferenceOutputAssembly>false</ReferenceOutputAssembly>
+    </ProjectReference>
+EOM
+      }
       if (!($name =~ 'xdiff')) {
         print F << "EOM";
     <ProjectReference Include="$cdup\\xdiff\\lib\\xdiff_lib.vcxproj">
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 392f0bbf68b..1b874db3345 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -19,10 +19,16 @@ 
 #include "repository.h"
 #include "sigchain.h"
 
+const char *default_ref_storage(void)
+{
+	const char *test = getenv("GIT_TEST_REFTABLE");
+	return test ? "reftable" : "files";
+}
+
 /*
  * List of all available backends
  */
-static struct ref_storage_be *refs_backends = &refs_be_files;
+static struct ref_storage_be *refs_backends = &refs_be_reftable;
 
 static struct ref_storage_be *find_ref_storage_backend(const char *name)
 {
@@ -1754,13 +1760,13 @@  static struct ref_store *lookup_ref_store_map(struct hashmap *map,
  * Create, record, and return a ref_store instance for the specified
  * gitdir.
  */
-static struct ref_store *ref_store_init(const char *gitdir,
+static struct ref_store *ref_store_init(const char *gitdir, const char *be_name,
 					unsigned int flags)
 {
-	const char *be_name = "files";
-	struct ref_storage_be *be = find_ref_storage_backend(be_name);
+	struct ref_storage_be *be;
 	struct ref_store *refs;
 
+	be = find_ref_storage_backend(be_name);
 	if (!be)
 		BUG("reference backend %s is unknown", be_name);
 
@@ -1776,7 +1782,11 @@  struct ref_store *get_main_ref_store(struct repository *r)
 	if (!r->gitdir)
 		BUG("attempting to get main_ref_store outside of repository");
 
-	r->refs_private = ref_store_init(r->gitdir, REF_STORE_ALL_CAPS);
+	r->refs_private = ref_store_init(r->gitdir,
+					 r->ref_storage_format ?
+						       r->ref_storage_format :
+						       default_ref_storage(),
+					 REF_STORE_ALL_CAPS);
 	r->refs_private = maybe_debug_wrap_ref_store(r->gitdir, r->refs_private);
 	return r->refs_private;
 }
@@ -1832,7 +1842,7 @@  struct ref_store *get_submodule_ref_store(const char *submodule)
 		goto done;
 
 	/* assume that add_submodule_odb() has been called */
-	refs = ref_store_init(submodule_sb.buf,
+	refs = ref_store_init(submodule_sb.buf, default_ref_storage(),
 			      REF_STORE_READ | REF_STORE_ODB);
 	register_ref_store_map(&submodule_ref_stores, "submodule",
 			       refs, submodule);
@@ -1846,6 +1856,7 @@  struct ref_store *get_submodule_ref_store(const char *submodule)
 
 struct ref_store *get_worktree_ref_store(const struct worktree *wt)
 {
+	const char *format = default_ref_storage();
 	struct ref_store *refs;
 	const char *id;
 
@@ -1859,9 +1870,9 @@  struct ref_store *get_worktree_ref_store(const struct worktree *wt)
 
 	if (wt->id)
 		refs = ref_store_init(git_common_path("worktrees/%s", wt->id),
-				      REF_STORE_ALL_CAPS);
+				      format, REF_STORE_ALL_CAPS);
 	else
-		refs = ref_store_init(get_git_common_dir(),
+		refs = ref_store_init(get_git_common_dir(), format,
 				      REF_STORE_ALL_CAPS);
 
 	if (refs)
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index 66955181569..7dc60472c96 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@  struct string_list;
 struct string_list_item;
 struct worktree;
 
+/* Returns the ref storage backend to use by default. */
+const char *default_ref_storage(void);
+
 /*
  * Resolve a reference, recursively following symbolic refererences.
  *
diff --git a/refs/refs-internal.h b/refs/refs-internal.h
index 467f4b3c936..28166bf1f82 100644
--- a/refs/refs-internal.h
+++ b/refs/refs-internal.h
@@ -669,6 +669,7 @@  struct ref_storage_be {
 };
 
 extern struct ref_storage_be refs_be_files;
+extern struct ref_storage_be refs_be_reftable;
 extern struct ref_storage_be refs_be_packed;
 
 /*
diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b7d12ca91de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -0,0 +1,1435 @@ 
+#include "../cache.h"
+#include "../chdir-notify.h"
+#include "../config.h"
+#include "../iterator.h"
+#include "../lockfile.h"
+#include "../refs.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-stack.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-record.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-error.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-blocksource.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-reader.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-iterator.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-merged.h"
+#include "../reftable/reftable-generic.h"
+#include "../worktree.h"
+#include "refs-internal.h"
+
+extern struct ref_storage_be refs_be_reftable;
+
+struct git_reftable_ref_store {
+	struct ref_store base;
+	unsigned int store_flags;
+
+	int err;
+	char *repo_dir;
+
+	char *reftable_dir;
+	char *worktree_reftable_dir;
+
+	struct reftable_stack *main_stack;
+	struct reftable_stack *worktree_stack;
+};
+
+static struct reftable_stack *stack_for(struct git_reftable_ref_store *store,
+					const char *refname)
+{
+	if (store->worktree_stack == NULL)
+		return store->main_stack;
+
+	switch (ref_type(refname)) {
+	case REF_TYPE_PER_WORKTREE:
+	case REF_TYPE_PSEUDOREF:
+	case REF_TYPE_OTHER_PSEUDOREF:
+		return store->worktree_stack;
+	default:
+	case REF_TYPE_MAIN_PSEUDOREF:
+	case REF_TYPE_NORMAL:
+		return store->main_stack;
+	}
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_read_raw_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				     const char *refname, struct object_id *oid,
+				     struct strbuf *referent,
+				     unsigned int *type);
+
+static void clear_reftable_log_record(struct reftable_log_record *log)
+{
+	log->old_hash = NULL;
+	log->new_hash = NULL;
+	log->message = NULL;
+	log->refname = NULL;
+	reftable_log_record_release(log);
+}
+
+static void fill_reftable_log_record(struct reftable_log_record *log)
+{
+	const char *info = git_committer_info(0);
+	struct ident_split split = { NULL };
+	int result = split_ident_line(&split, info, strlen(info));
+	int sign = 1;
+	assert(0 == result);
+
+	reftable_log_record_release(log);
+	log->name =
+		xstrndup(split.name_begin, split.name_end - split.name_begin);
+	log->email =
+		xstrndup(split.mail_begin, split.mail_end - split.mail_begin);
+	log->time = atol(split.date_begin);
+	if (*split.tz_begin == '-') {
+		sign = -1;
+		split.tz_begin++;
+	}
+	if (*split.tz_begin == '+') {
+		sign = 1;
+		split.tz_begin++;
+	}
+
+	log->tz_offset = sign * atoi(split.tz_begin);
+}
+
+static int has_suffix(struct strbuf *b, const char *suffix)
+{
+	size_t len = strlen(suffix);
+
+	if (len > b->len) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	return 0 == strncmp(b->buf + b->len - len, suffix, len);
+}
+
+/* trims the last path component of b. Returns -1 if it is not
+ * present, or 0 on success
+ */
+static int trim_component(struct strbuf *b)
+{
+	char *last;
+	last = strrchr(b->buf, '/');
+	if (!last)
+		return -1;
+	strbuf_setlen(b, last - b->buf);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/* Returns whether `b` is a worktree path, trimming it to the gitdir
+ */
+static int is_worktree(struct strbuf *b)
+{
+	if (trim_component(b) < 0) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	if (!has_suffix(b, "/worktrees")) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	trim_component(b);
+	return 1;
+}
+
+static struct ref_store *git_reftable_ref_store_create(const char *path,
+						       unsigned int store_flags)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*refs));
+	struct ref_store *ref_store = (struct ref_store *)refs;
+	struct reftable_write_options cfg = {
+		.block_size = 4096,
+		.hash_id = the_hash_algo->format_id,
+	};
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+	const char *gitdir = path;
+	struct strbuf wt_buf = STRBUF_INIT;
+	int wt = 0;
+
+	strbuf_addstr(&wt_buf, path);
+
+	/* this is clumsy, but the official worktree functions (eg.
+	 * get_worktrees()) function will try to initialize a ref storage
+	 * backend, leading to infinite recursion.  */
+	wt = is_worktree(&wt_buf);
+	if (wt) {
+		gitdir = wt_buf.buf;
+	}
+
+	base_ref_store_init(ref_store, &refs_be_reftable);
+	ref_store->gitdir = xstrdup(gitdir);
+	refs->store_flags = store_flags;
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/reftable", gitdir);
+	refs->reftable_dir = xstrdup(sb.buf);
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+	refs->err =
+		reftable_new_stack(&refs->main_stack, refs->reftable_dir, cfg);
+	assert(refs->err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+
+	if (refs->err == 0 && wt) {
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/reftable", path);
+		refs->worktree_reftable_dir = xstrdup(sb.buf);
+
+		refs->err = reftable_new_stack(&refs->worktree_stack,
+					       refs->worktree_reftable_dir,
+					       cfg);
+		assert(refs->err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	}
+
+	strbuf_release(&sb);
+	strbuf_release(&wt_buf);
+	return ref_store;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_init_db(struct ref_store *ref_store, struct strbuf *err)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	safe_create_dir(refs->reftable_dir, 1);
+	assert(refs->worktree_reftable_dir == NULL);
+
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/HEAD", refs->base.gitdir);
+	write_file(sb.buf, "ref: refs/heads/.invalid");
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs", refs->base.gitdir);
+	safe_create_dir(sb.buf, 1);
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/refs/heads", refs->base.gitdir);
+	write_file(sb.buf, "this repository uses the reftable format");
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+struct git_reftable_iterator {
+	struct ref_iterator base;
+	struct reftable_iterator iter;
+	struct reftable_ref_record ref;
+	struct object_id oid;
+	struct ref_store *ref_store;
+
+	/* In case we must iterate over 2 stacks, this is non-null. */
+	struct reftable_merged_table *merged;
+	unsigned int flags;
+	int err;
+	const char *prefix;
+};
+
+static int reftable_ref_iterator_advance(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_iterator *ri =
+		(struct git_reftable_iterator *)ref_iterator;
+	while (ri->err == 0) {
+		ri->err = reftable_iterator_next_ref(&ri->iter, &ri->ref);
+		if (ri->err) {
+			break;
+		}
+
+		if (ref_type(ri->ref.refname) == REF_TYPE_PSEUDOREF) {
+			/*
+			  pseudorefs, eg. HEAD, FETCH_HEAD should not be
+			  produced, by default.
+			 */
+			continue;
+		}
+		ri->base.refname = ri->ref.refname;
+		if (ri->prefix != NULL &&
+		    strncmp(ri->prefix, ri->ref.refname, strlen(ri->prefix))) {
+			ri->err = 1;
+			break;
+		}
+		if (ri->flags & DO_FOR_EACH_PER_WORKTREE_ONLY &&
+		    ref_type(ri->base.refname) != REF_TYPE_PER_WORKTREE)
+			continue;
+
+		ri->base.flags = 0;
+		switch (ri->ref.value_type) {
+		case REFTABLE_REF_VAL1:
+			hashcpy(ri->oid.hash, ri->ref.value.val1);
+			break;
+		case REFTABLE_REF_VAL2:
+			hashcpy(ri->oid.hash, ri->ref.value.val2.value);
+			break;
+		case REFTABLE_REF_SYMREF: {
+			int out_flags = 0;
+			const char *resolved = refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(
+				ri->ref_store, ri->ref.refname,
+				RESOLVE_REF_READING, &ri->oid, &out_flags);
+			ri->base.flags = out_flags;
+			if (resolved == NULL &&
+			    !(ri->flags & DO_FOR_EACH_INCLUDE_BROKEN) &&
+			    (ri->base.flags & REF_ISBROKEN)) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+		default:
+			abort();
+		}
+
+		ri->base.oid = &ri->oid;
+		if (!(ri->flags & DO_FOR_EACH_INCLUDE_BROKEN) &&
+		    !ref_resolves_to_object(ri->base.refname, ri->base.oid,
+					    ri->base.flags)) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		break;
+	}
+
+	if (ri->err > 0) {
+		return ITER_DONE;
+	}
+	if (ri->err < 0) {
+		return ITER_ERROR;
+	}
+
+	return ITER_OK;
+}
+
+static int reftable_ref_iterator_peel(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator,
+				      struct object_id *peeled)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_iterator *ri =
+		(struct git_reftable_iterator *)ref_iterator;
+	if (ri->ref.value_type == REFTABLE_REF_VAL2) {
+		hashcpy(peeled->hash, ri->ref.value.val2.target_value);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static int reftable_ref_iterator_abort(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_iterator *ri =
+		(struct git_reftable_iterator *)ref_iterator;
+	reftable_ref_record_release(&ri->ref);
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&ri->iter);
+	if (ri->merged) {
+		reftable_merged_table_free(ri->merged);
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static struct ref_iterator_vtable reftable_ref_iterator_vtable = {
+	reftable_ref_iterator_advance, reftable_ref_iterator_peel,
+	reftable_ref_iterator_abort
+};
+
+static struct ref_iterator *
+git_reftable_ref_iterator_begin(struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *prefix,
+				unsigned int flags)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct git_reftable_iterator *ri = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*ri));
+
+	if (refs->err < 0) {
+		ri->err = refs->err;
+	} else if (refs->worktree_stack == NULL) {
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(refs->main_stack);
+		ri->err = reftable_merged_table_seek_ref(mt, &ri->iter, prefix);
+	} else {
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt1 =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(refs->main_stack);
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt2 =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(refs->worktree_stack);
+		struct reftable_table *tabs =
+			xcalloc(2, sizeof(struct reftable_table));
+		reftable_table_from_merged_table(&tabs[0], mt1);
+		reftable_table_from_merged_table(&tabs[1], mt2);
+		ri->err = reftable_new_merged_table(&ri->merged, tabs, 2,
+						    the_hash_algo->format_id);
+		if (ri->err == 0)
+			ri->err = reftable_merged_table_seek_ref(
+				ri->merged, &ri->iter, prefix);
+	}
+
+	base_ref_iterator_init(&ri->base, &reftable_ref_iterator_vtable, 1);
+	ri->prefix = prefix;
+	ri->base.oid = &ri->oid;
+	ri->flags = flags;
+	ri->ref_store = ref_store;
+	return &ri->base;
+}
+
+static int fixup_symrefs(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+			 struct ref_transaction *transaction)
+{
+	struct strbuf referent = STRBUF_INIT;
+	int i = 0;
+	int err = 0;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < transaction->nr; i++) {
+		struct ref_update *update = transaction->updates[i];
+		struct object_id old_oid;
+
+		err = git_reftable_read_raw_ref(ref_store, update->refname,
+						&old_oid, &referent,
+						/* mutate input, like
+						   files-backend.c */
+						&update->type);
+		if (err < 0 && errno == ENOENT &&
+		    is_null_oid(&update->old_oid)) {
+			err = 0;
+		}
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto done;
+
+		if (!(update->type & REF_ISSYMREF))
+			continue;
+
+		if (update->flags & REF_NO_DEREF) {
+			/* what should happen here? See files-backend.c
+			 * lock_ref_for_update. */
+		} else {
+			/*
+			  If we are updating a symref (eg. HEAD), we should also
+			  update the branch that the symref points to.
+
+			  This is generic functionality, and would be better
+			  done in refs.c, but the current implementation is
+			  intertwined with the locking in files-backend.c.
+			*/
+			int new_flags = update->flags;
+			struct ref_update *new_update = NULL;
+
+			/* if this is an update for HEAD, should also record a
+			   log entry for HEAD? See files-backend.c,
+			   split_head_update()
+			*/
+			new_update = ref_transaction_add_update(
+				transaction, referent.buf, new_flags,
+				&update->new_oid, &update->old_oid,
+				update->msg);
+			new_update->parent_update = update;
+
+			/* files-backend sets REF_LOG_ONLY here. */
+			update->flags |= REF_NO_DEREF | REF_LOG_ONLY;
+			update->flags &= ~REF_HAVE_OLD;
+		}
+	}
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	strbuf_release(&referent);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_transaction_prepare(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+					    struct ref_transaction *transaction,
+					    struct strbuf *errbuf)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_addition *add = NULL;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack =
+		transaction->nr ?
+			      stack_for(refs, transaction->updates[0]->refname) :
+			      refs->main_stack;
+	int err = refs->err;
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	err = reftable_stack_new_addition(&add, stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	err = fixup_symrefs(ref_store, transaction);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	transaction->backend_data = add;
+	transaction->state = REF_TRANSACTION_PREPARED;
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	if (err < 0) {
+		transaction->state = REF_TRANSACTION_CLOSED;
+		strbuf_addf(errbuf, "reftable: transaction prepare: %s",
+			    reftable_error_str(err));
+	}
+
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_transaction_abort(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+					  struct ref_transaction *transaction,
+					  struct strbuf *err)
+{
+	struct reftable_addition *add =
+		(struct reftable_addition *)transaction->backend_data;
+	reftable_addition_destroy(add);
+	transaction->backend_data = NULL;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int reftable_check_old_oid(struct ref_store *refs, const char *refname,
+				  struct object_id *want_oid)
+{
+	struct object_id out_oid;
+	int out_flags = 0;
+	const char *resolved = refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(
+		refs, refname, RESOLVE_REF_READING, &out_oid, &out_flags);
+	if (is_null_oid(want_oid) != (resolved == NULL)) {
+		return REFTABLE_LOCK_ERROR;
+	}
+
+	if (resolved != NULL && !oideq(&out_oid, want_oid)) {
+		return REFTABLE_LOCK_ERROR;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int ref_update_cmp(const void *a, const void *b)
+{
+	return strcmp((*(struct ref_update **)a)->refname,
+		      (*(struct ref_update **)b)->refname);
+}
+
+static int write_transaction_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *arg)
+{
+	struct ref_transaction *transaction = (struct ref_transaction *)arg;
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)transaction->ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack =
+		stack_for(refs, transaction->updates[0]->refname);
+	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(stack);
+	int err = 0;
+	int i = 0;
+	struct reftable_log_record *logs =
+		calloc(transaction->nr, sizeof(*logs));
+	struct ref_update **sorted =
+		malloc(transaction->nr * sizeof(struct ref_update *));
+	COPY_ARRAY(sorted, transaction->updates, transaction->nr);
+	QSORT(sorted, transaction->nr, ref_update_cmp);
+	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < transaction->nr; i++) {
+		struct ref_update *u = sorted[i];
+		struct reftable_log_record *log = &logs[i];
+		fill_reftable_log_record(log);
+		log->refname = (char *)u->refname;
+		log->old_hash = u->old_oid.hash;
+		log->new_hash = u->new_oid.hash;
+		log->update_index = ts;
+		log->message = u->msg;
+
+		if (u->flags & REF_LOG_ONLY) {
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		if (u->flags & REF_HAVE_NEW) {
+			struct reftable_ref_record ref = { NULL };
+			struct object_id peeled;
+
+			int peel_error = peel_object(&u->new_oid, &peeled);
+			ref.refname = (char *)u->refname;
+			ref.update_index = ts;
+
+			if (!peel_error) {
+				ref.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_VAL2;
+				ref.value.val2.target_value = peeled.hash;
+				ref.value.val2.value = u->new_oid.hash;
+			} else if (!is_null_oid(&u->new_oid)) {
+				ref.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_VAL1;
+				ref.value.val1 = u->new_oid.hash;
+			}
+
+			err = reftable_writer_add_ref(writer, &ref);
+			if (err < 0) {
+				goto done;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < transaction->nr; i++) {
+		err = reftable_writer_add_log(writer, &logs[i]);
+		clear_reftable_log_record(&logs[i]);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			goto done;
+		}
+	}
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	free(logs);
+	free(sorted);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_transaction_finish(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+					   struct ref_transaction *transaction,
+					   struct strbuf *errmsg)
+{
+	struct reftable_addition *add =
+		(struct reftable_addition *)transaction->backend_data;
+	int err = 0;
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < transaction->nr; i++) {
+		struct ref_update *u = transaction->updates[i];
+		if (u->flags & REF_HAVE_OLD) {
+			err = reftable_check_old_oid(transaction->ref_store,
+						     u->refname, &u->old_oid);
+			if (err < 0) {
+				goto done;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if (transaction->nr) {
+		err = reftable_addition_add(add, &write_transaction_table,
+					    transaction);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			goto done;
+		}
+	}
+
+	err = reftable_addition_commit(add);
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	reftable_addition_destroy(add);
+	transaction->state = REF_TRANSACTION_CLOSED;
+	transaction->backend_data = NULL;
+	if (err) {
+		strbuf_addf(errmsg, "reftable: transaction failure: %s",
+			    reftable_error_str(err));
+		return -1;
+	}
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int
+git_reftable_transaction_initial_commit(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+					struct ref_transaction *transaction,
+					struct strbuf *errmsg)
+{
+	int err = git_reftable_transaction_prepare(ref_store, transaction,
+						   errmsg);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+
+	return git_reftable_transaction_finish(ref_store, transaction, errmsg);
+}
+
+struct write_delete_refs_arg {
+	struct reftable_stack *stack;
+	struct string_list *refnames;
+	const char *logmsg;
+	unsigned int flags;
+};
+
+static int write_delete_refs_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *argv)
+{
+	struct write_delete_refs_arg *arg =
+		(struct write_delete_refs_arg *)argv;
+	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(arg->stack);
+	int err = 0;
+	int i = 0;
+
+	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	for (i = 0; i < arg->refnames->nr; i++) {
+		struct reftable_ref_record ref = {
+			.refname = (char *)arg->refnames->items[i].string,
+			.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_DELETION,
+			.update_index = ts,
+		};
+		err = reftable_writer_add_ref(writer, &ref);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			return err;
+		}
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < arg->refnames->nr; i++) {
+		struct reftable_log_record log = {
+			.update_index = ts,
+		};
+		struct reftable_ref_record current = { NULL };
+		fill_reftable_log_record(&log);
+		log.message = xstrdup(arg->logmsg);
+		log.new_hash = NULL;
+		log.old_hash = NULL;
+		log.update_index = ts;
+		log.refname = (char *)arg->refnames->items[i].string;
+
+		if (reftable_stack_read_ref(arg->stack, log.refname,
+					    &current) == 0) {
+			log.old_hash = reftable_ref_record_val1(&current);
+		}
+		err = reftable_writer_add_log(writer, &log);
+		log.old_hash = NULL;
+		reftable_ref_record_release(&current);
+
+		clear_reftable_log_record(&log);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			return err;
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_delete_refs(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				    const char *msg,
+				    struct string_list *refnames,
+				    unsigned int flags)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack =
+		stack_for(refs, refnames->items[0].string);
+	struct write_delete_refs_arg arg = {
+		.stack = stack,
+		.refnames = refnames,
+		.logmsg = msg,
+		.flags = flags,
+	};
+	int err = refs->err;
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	string_list_sort(refnames);
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_add(stack, &write_delete_refs_table, &arg);
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_pack_refs(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				  unsigned int flags)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	int err = refs->err;
+	if (err < 0) {
+		return err;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_compact_all(refs->main_stack, NULL);
+	if (err == 0 && refs->worktree_stack != NULL)
+		err = reftable_stack_compact_all(refs->worktree_stack, NULL);
+	return err;
+}
+
+struct write_create_symref_arg {
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack;
+	const char *refname;
+	const char *target;
+	const char *logmsg;
+};
+
+static int write_create_symref_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *arg)
+{
+	struct write_create_symref_arg *create =
+		(struct write_create_symref_arg *)arg;
+	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(create->stack);
+	int err = 0;
+
+	struct reftable_ref_record ref = {
+		.refname = (char *)create->refname,
+		.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_SYMREF,
+		.value.symref = (char *)create->target,
+		.update_index = ts,
+	};
+	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	err = reftable_writer_add_ref(writer, &ref);
+	if (err == 0) {
+		struct reftable_log_record log = { NULL };
+		struct object_id new_oid;
+		struct object_id old_oid;
+
+		fill_reftable_log_record(&log);
+		log.refname = (char *)create->refname;
+		log.message = (char *)create->logmsg;
+		log.update_index = ts;
+		if (refs_resolve_ref_unsafe(
+			    (struct ref_store *)create->refs, create->refname,
+			    RESOLVE_REF_READING, &old_oid, NULL) != NULL) {
+			log.old_hash = old_oid.hash;
+		}
+
+		if (refs_resolve_ref_unsafe((struct ref_store *)create->refs,
+					    create->target, RESOLVE_REF_READING,
+					    &new_oid, NULL) != NULL) {
+			log.new_hash = new_oid.hash;
+		}
+
+		if (log.old_hash != NULL || log.new_hash != NULL) {
+			err = reftable_writer_add_log(writer, &log);
+		}
+		log.refname = NULL;
+		log.message = NULL;
+		log.old_hash = NULL;
+		log.new_hash = NULL;
+		clear_reftable_log_record(&log);
+	}
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_create_symref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				      const char *refname, const char *target,
+				      const char *logmsg)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+	struct write_create_symref_arg arg = { .refs = refs,
+					       .stack = stack,
+					       .refname = refname,
+					       .target = target,
+					       .logmsg = logmsg };
+	int err = refs->err;
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_add(stack, &write_create_symref_table, &arg);
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	return err;
+}
+
+struct write_rename_arg {
+	struct reftable_stack *stack;
+	const char *oldname;
+	const char *newname;
+	const char *logmsg;
+};
+
+static int write_rename_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *argv)
+{
+	struct write_rename_arg *arg = (struct write_rename_arg *)argv;
+	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(arg->stack);
+	struct reftable_ref_record ref = { NULL };
+	int err = reftable_stack_read_ref(arg->stack, arg->oldname, &ref);
+
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	/* XXX do ref renames overwrite the target? */
+	if (reftable_stack_read_ref(arg->stack, arg->newname, &ref) == 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+
+	{
+		struct reftable_ref_record todo[2] = {
+			{
+				.refname = (char *)arg->oldname,
+				.update_index = ts,
+				.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_DELETION,
+			},
+			ref,
+		};
+		todo[1].update_index = ts;
+		free(todo[1].refname);
+		todo[1].refname = strdup(arg->newname);
+
+		err = reftable_writer_add_refs(writer, todo, 2);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			goto done;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref)) {
+		uint8_t *val1 = reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref);
+		struct reftable_log_record todo[2] = { { NULL } };
+		fill_reftable_log_record(&todo[0]);
+		fill_reftable_log_record(&todo[1]);
+
+		todo[0].refname = (char *)arg->oldname;
+		todo[0].update_index = ts;
+		todo[0].message = (char *)arg->logmsg;
+		todo[0].old_hash = val1;
+		todo[0].new_hash = NULL;
+
+		todo[1].refname = (char *)arg->newname;
+		todo[1].update_index = ts;
+		todo[1].old_hash = NULL;
+		todo[1].new_hash = val1;
+		todo[1].message = (char *)arg->logmsg;
+
+		err = reftable_writer_add_logs(writer, todo, 2);
+
+		clear_reftable_log_record(&todo[0]);
+		clear_reftable_log_record(&todo[1]);
+
+		if (err < 0) {
+			goto done;
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		/* XXX symrefs? */
+	}
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	reftable_ref_record_release(&ref);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_rename_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				   const char *oldrefname,
+				   const char *newrefname, const char *logmsg)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, newrefname);
+	struct write_rename_arg arg = {
+		.stack = stack,
+		.oldname = oldrefname,
+		.newname = newrefname,
+		.logmsg = logmsg,
+	};
+	int err = refs->err;
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	err = reftable_stack_add(stack, &write_rename_table, &arg);
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_copy_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				 const char *oldrefname, const char *newrefname,
+				 const char *logmsg)
+{
+	BUG("reftable reference store does not support copying references");
+}
+
+struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator {
+	struct ref_iterator base;
+	struct reftable_iterator iter;
+	struct reftable_log_record log;
+	struct object_id oid;
+
+	/* Used when iterating over worktree & main */
+	struct reftable_merged_table *merged;
+	char *last_name;
+};
+
+static int
+git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_advance(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator *ri =
+		(struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator *)ref_iterator;
+
+	while (1) {
+		int err = reftable_iterator_next_log(&ri->iter, &ri->log);
+		if (err > 0) {
+			return ITER_DONE;
+		}
+		if (err < 0) {
+			return ITER_ERROR;
+		}
+
+		ri->base.refname = ri->log.refname;
+		if (ri->last_name != NULL &&
+		    !strcmp(ri->log.refname, ri->last_name)) {
+			/* we want the refnames that we have reflogs for, so we
+			 * skip if we've already produced this name. This could
+			 * be faster by seeking directly to
+			 * reflog@update_index==0.
+			 */
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		free(ri->last_name);
+		ri->last_name = xstrdup(ri->log.refname);
+		hashcpy(ri->oid.hash, ri->log.new_hash);
+		return ITER_OK;
+	}
+}
+
+static int
+git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_peel(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator,
+				      struct object_id *peeled)
+{
+	BUG("not supported.");
+	return -1;
+}
+
+static int
+git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_abort(struct ref_iterator *ref_iterator)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator *ri =
+		(struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator *)ref_iterator;
+	reftable_log_record_release(&ri->log);
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&ri->iter);
+	if (ri->merged)
+		reftable_merged_table_free(ri->merged);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static struct ref_iterator_vtable git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_vtable = {
+	git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_advance,
+	git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_peel,
+	git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_abort
+};
+
+static struct ref_iterator *
+git_reftable_reflog_iterator_begin(struct ref_store *ref_store)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator *ri = xcalloc(sizeof(*ri), 1);
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+
+	if (refs->worktree_stack == NULL) {
+		struct reftable_stack *stack = refs->main_stack;
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(stack);
+		int err = reftable_merged_table_seek_log(mt, &ri->iter, "");
+		if (err < 0) {
+			free(ri);
+			/* XXX is this allowed? */
+			return NULL;
+		}
+	} else {
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt1 =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(refs->main_stack);
+		struct reftable_merged_table *mt2 =
+			reftable_stack_merged_table(refs->worktree_stack);
+		struct reftable_table *tabs =
+			xcalloc(2, sizeof(struct reftable_table));
+		int err = 0;
+		reftable_table_from_merged_table(&tabs[0], mt1);
+		reftable_table_from_merged_table(&tabs[1], mt2);
+		err = reftable_new_merged_table(&ri->merged, tabs, 2,
+						the_hash_algo->format_id);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			free(tabs);
+			/* XXX see above */
+			return NULL;
+		}
+		err = reftable_merged_table_seek_ref(ri->merged, &ri->iter, "");
+		if (err < 0) {
+			return NULL;
+		}
+	}
+	base_ref_iterator_init(&ri->base,
+			       &git_reftable_reflog_ref_iterator_vtable, 1);
+	ri->base.oid = &ri->oid;
+
+	return (struct ref_iterator *)ri;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_for_each_reflog_ent_newest_first(
+	struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *refname, each_reflog_ent_fn fn,
+	void *cb_data)
+{
+	struct reftable_iterator it = { NULL };
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+	struct reftable_merged_table *mt = NULL;
+	int err = 0;
+	struct reftable_log_record log = { NULL };
+
+	if (refs->err < 0) {
+		return refs->err;
+	}
+
+	mt = reftable_stack_merged_table(stack);
+	err = reftable_merged_table_seek_log(mt, &it, refname);
+	while (err == 0) {
+		struct object_id old_oid;
+		struct object_id new_oid;
+		const char *full_committer = "";
+
+		err = reftable_iterator_next_log(&it, &log);
+		if (err > 0) {
+			err = 0;
+			break;
+		}
+		if (err < 0) {
+			break;
+		}
+
+		if (strcmp(log.refname, refname)) {
+			break;
+		}
+
+		hashcpy(old_oid.hash, log.old_hash);
+		hashcpy(new_oid.hash, log.new_hash);
+
+		full_committer = fmt_ident(log.name, log.email,
+					   WANT_COMMITTER_IDENT,
+					   /*date*/ NULL, IDENT_NO_DATE);
+		err = fn(&old_oid, &new_oid, full_committer, log.time,
+			 log.tz_offset, log.message, cb_data);
+		if (err)
+			break;
+	}
+
+	reftable_log_record_release(&log);
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&it);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_for_each_reflog_ent_oldest_first(
+	struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *refname, each_reflog_ent_fn fn,
+	void *cb_data)
+{
+	struct reftable_iterator it = { NULL };
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+	struct reftable_merged_table *mt = NULL;
+	struct reftable_log_record *logs = NULL;
+	int cap = 0;
+	int len = 0;
+	int err = 0;
+	int i = 0;
+
+	if (refs->err < 0) {
+		return refs->err;
+	}
+	mt = reftable_stack_merged_table(stack);
+	err = reftable_merged_table_seek_log(mt, &it, refname);
+
+	while (err == 0) {
+		struct reftable_log_record log = { NULL };
+		err = reftable_iterator_next_log(&it, &log);
+		if (err > 0) {
+			err = 0;
+			break;
+		}
+		if (err < 0) {
+			break;
+		}
+
+		if (strcmp(log.refname, refname)) {
+			break;
+		}
+
+		if (len == cap) {
+			cap = 2 * cap + 1;
+			logs = realloc(logs, cap * sizeof(*logs));
+		}
+
+		logs[len++] = log;
+	}
+
+	for (i = len; i--;) {
+		struct reftable_log_record *log = &logs[i];
+		struct object_id old_oid;
+		struct object_id new_oid;
+		const char *full_committer = "";
+
+		hashcpy(old_oid.hash, log->old_hash);
+		hashcpy(new_oid.hash, log->new_hash);
+
+		full_committer = fmt_ident(log->name, log->email,
+					   WANT_COMMITTER_IDENT, NULL,
+					   IDENT_NO_DATE);
+		err = fn(&old_oid, &new_oid, full_committer, log->time,
+			 log->tz_offset, log->message, cb_data);
+		if (err) {
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+		reftable_log_record_release(&logs[i]);
+	}
+	free(logs);
+
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&it);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_reflog_exists(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				      const char *refname)
+{
+	struct reftable_iterator it = { NULL };
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+	struct reftable_merged_table *mt = reftable_stack_merged_table(stack);
+	struct reftable_log_record log = { NULL };
+	int err = refs->err;
+
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_merged_table_seek_log(mt, &it, refname);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	err = reftable_iterator_next_log(&it, &log);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	if (strcmp(log.refname, refname)) {
+		err = 1;
+	}
+
+done:
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&it);
+	reftable_log_record_release(&log);
+	return !err;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_create_reflog(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				      const char *refname, int force_create,
+				      struct strbuf *err)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_delete_reflog(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				      const char *refname)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
+struct reflog_expiry_arg {
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack;
+	struct reftable_log_record *tombstones;
+	int len;
+	int cap;
+};
+
+static void clear_log_tombstones(struct reflog_expiry_arg *arg)
+{
+	int i = 0;
+	for (; i < arg->len; i++) {
+		reftable_log_record_release(&arg->tombstones[i]);
+	}
+
+	FREE_AND_NULL(arg->tombstones);
+}
+
+static void add_log_tombstone(struct reflog_expiry_arg *arg,
+			      const char *refname, uint64_t ts)
+{
+	struct reftable_log_record tombstone = {
+		.refname = xstrdup(refname),
+		.update_index = ts,
+	};
+	if (arg->len == arg->cap) {
+		arg->cap = 2 * arg->cap + 1;
+		arg->tombstones =
+			realloc(arg->tombstones, arg->cap * sizeof(tombstone));
+	}
+	arg->tombstones[arg->len++] = tombstone;
+}
+
+static int write_reflog_expiry_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *argv)
+{
+	struct reflog_expiry_arg *arg = (struct reflog_expiry_arg *)argv;
+	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(arg->stack);
+	int i = 0;
+	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	for (i = 0; i < arg->len; i++) {
+		int err = reftable_writer_add_log(writer, &arg->tombstones[i]);
+		if (err) {
+			return err;
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+git_reftable_reflog_expire(struct ref_store *ref_store, const char *refname,
+			   const struct object_id *oid, unsigned int flags,
+			   reflog_expiry_prepare_fn prepare_fn,
+			   reflog_expiry_should_prune_fn should_prune_fn,
+			   reflog_expiry_cleanup_fn cleanup_fn,
+			   void *policy_cb_data)
+{
+	/*
+	  For log expiry, we write tombstones in place of the expired entries,
+	  This means that the entries are still retrievable by delving into the
+	  stack, and expiring entries paradoxically takes extra memory.
+
+	  This memory is only reclaimed when some operation issues a
+	  git_reftable_pack_refs(), which will compact the entire stack and get
+	  rid of deletion entries.
+
+	  It would be better if the refs backend supported an API that sets a
+	  criterion for all refs, passing the criterion to pack_refs().
+	*/
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+	struct reftable_merged_table *mt = NULL;
+	struct reflog_expiry_arg arg = {
+		.stack = stack,
+		.refs = refs,
+	};
+	struct reftable_log_record log = { NULL };
+	struct reftable_iterator it = { NULL };
+	int err = 0;
+	if (refs->err < 0) {
+		return refs->err;
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	mt = reftable_stack_merged_table(stack);
+	err = reftable_merged_table_seek_log(mt, &it, refname);
+	if (err < 0) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	while (1) {
+		struct object_id ooid;
+		struct object_id noid;
+
+		int err = reftable_iterator_next_log(&it, &log);
+		if (err < 0) {
+			goto done;
+		}
+
+		if (err > 0 || strcmp(log.refname, refname)) {
+			break;
+		}
+		hashcpy(ooid.hash, log.old_hash);
+		hashcpy(noid.hash, log.new_hash);
+
+		if (should_prune_fn(&ooid, &noid, log.email,
+				    (timestamp_t)log.time, log.tz_offset,
+				    log.message, policy_cb_data)) {
+			add_log_tombstone(&arg, refname, log.update_index);
+		}
+	}
+	err = reftable_stack_add(stack, &write_reflog_expiry_table, &arg);
+
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	reftable_log_record_release(&log);
+	reftable_iterator_destroy(&it);
+	clear_log_tombstones(&arg);
+	return err;
+}
+
+static int reftable_error_to_errno(int err)
+{
+	switch (err) {
+	case REFTABLE_IO_ERROR:
+		return EIO;
+	case REFTABLE_FORMAT_ERROR:
+		return EFAULT;
+	case REFTABLE_NOT_EXIST_ERROR:
+		return ENOENT;
+	case REFTABLE_LOCK_ERROR:
+		return EBUSY;
+	case REFTABLE_API_ERROR:
+		return EINVAL;
+	case REFTABLE_ZLIB_ERROR:
+		return EDOM;
+	default:
+		return ERANGE;
+	}
+}
+
+static int git_reftable_read_raw_ref(struct ref_store *ref_store,
+				     const char *refname, struct object_id *oid,
+				     struct strbuf *referent,
+				     unsigned int *type)
+{
+	struct git_reftable_ref_store *refs =
+		(struct git_reftable_ref_store *)ref_store;
+	struct reftable_stack *stack = stack_for(refs, refname);
+
+	struct reftable_ref_record ref = { NULL };
+	int err = 0;
+	if (refs->err < 0) {
+		return refs->err;
+	}
+
+	/* This is usually not needed, but Git doesn't signal to ref backend if
+	   a subprocess updated the ref DB.  So we always check.
+	*/
+	err = reftable_stack_reload(stack);
+	if (err) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	err = reftable_stack_read_ref(stack, refname, &ref);
+	if (err > 0) {
+		errno = ENOENT;
+		err = -1;
+		goto done;
+	}
+	if (err < 0) {
+		errno = reftable_error_to_errno(err);
+		err = -1;
+		goto done;
+	}
+
+	if (ref.value_type == REFTABLE_REF_SYMREF) {
+		strbuf_reset(referent);
+		strbuf_addstr(referent, ref.value.symref);
+		*type |= REF_ISSYMREF;
+	} else if (reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref) != NULL) {
+		hashcpy(oid->hash, reftable_ref_record_val1(&ref));
+	} else {
+		*type |= REF_ISBROKEN;
+		errno = EINVAL;
+		err = -1;
+	}
+done:
+	assert(err != REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+	reftable_ref_record_release(&ref);
+	return err;
+}
+
+struct ref_storage_be refs_be_reftable = {
+	&refs_be_files,
+	"reftable",
+	git_reftable_ref_store_create,
+	git_reftable_init_db,
+	git_reftable_transaction_prepare,
+	git_reftable_transaction_finish,
+	git_reftable_transaction_abort,
+	git_reftable_transaction_initial_commit,
+
+	git_reftable_pack_refs,
+	git_reftable_create_symref,
+	git_reftable_delete_refs,
+	git_reftable_rename_ref,
+	git_reftable_copy_ref,
+
+	git_reftable_ref_iterator_begin,
+	git_reftable_read_raw_ref,
+
+	git_reftable_reflog_iterator_begin,
+	git_reftable_for_each_reflog_ent_oldest_first,
+	git_reftable_for_each_reflog_ent_newest_first,
+	git_reftable_reflog_exists,
+	git_reftable_create_reflog,
+	git_reftable_delete_reflog,
+	git_reftable_reflog_expire,
+};
diff --git a/repository.c b/repository.c
index a4174ddb062..ff0988dac84 100644
--- a/repository.c
+++ b/repository.c
@@ -174,6 +174,8 @@  int repo_init(struct repository *repo,
 	if (worktree)
 		repo_set_worktree(repo, worktree);
 
+	repo->ref_storage_format = xstrdup_or_null(format.ref_storage);
+
 	clear_repository_format(&format);
 	return 0;
 
diff --git a/repository.h b/repository.h
index b385ca3c94b..8019a7d0a1f 100644
--- a/repository.h
+++ b/repository.h
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@  struct repository {
 	 */
 	struct ref_store *refs_private;
 
+	/* The format to use for the ref database. */
+	char *ref_storage_format;
+
 	/*
 	 * Contains path to often used file names.
 	 */
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index c04cd25a30d..c6b57efd031 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -500,6 +500,9 @@  static enum extension_result handle_extension(const char *var,
 			return error("invalid value for 'extensions.objectformat'");
 		data->hash_algo = format;
 		return EXTENSION_OK;
+	} else if (!strcmp(ext, "refstorage")) {
+		data->ref_storage = xstrdup(value);
+		return EXTENSION_OK;
 	}
 	return EXTENSION_UNKNOWN;
 }
@@ -651,6 +654,7 @@  void clear_repository_format(struct repository_format *format)
 	string_list_clear(&format->v1_only_extensions, 0);
 	free(format->work_tree);
 	free(format->partial_clone);
+	free(format->ref_storage);
 	init_repository_format(format);
 }
 
@@ -1308,8 +1312,11 @@  const char *setup_git_directory_gently(int *nongit_ok)
 				gitdir = DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT;
 			setup_git_env(gitdir);
 		}
-		if (startup_info->have_repository)
+		if (startup_info->have_repository) {
 			repo_set_hash_algo(the_repository, repo_fmt.hash_algo);
+			the_repository->ref_storage_format =
+				xstrdup_or_null(repo_fmt.ref_storage);
+		}
 	}
 
 	strbuf_release(&dir);
diff --git a/t/t0031-reftable.sh b/t/t0031-reftable.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..58c7d5d4bcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t0031-reftable.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@ 
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2020 Google LLC
+#
+
+test_description='reftable basics'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+INVALID_SHA1=aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
+
+initialize ()  {
+	rm -rf .git &&
+	git init --ref-storage=reftable &&
+	mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'SHA256 support, env' '
+	rm -rf .git &&
+	GIT_DEFAULT_HASH=sha256 && export GIT_DEFAULT_HASH &&
+	git init --ref-storage=reftable &&
+	mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled &&
+	test_commit file
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'SHA256 support, option' '
+	rm -rf .git &&
+	git init --ref-storage=reftable --object-format=sha256 &&
+	mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled &&
+	test_commit file
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'delete ref' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file &&
+	SHA=$(git show-ref -s --verify HEAD) &&
+	test_write_lines "$SHA refs/heads/master" "$SHA refs/tags/file" >expect &&
+	git show-ref > actual &&
+	! git update-ref -d refs/tags/file $INVALID_SHA1 &&
+	test_cmp expect actual &&
+	git update-ref -d refs/tags/file $SHA  &&
+	test_write_lines "$SHA refs/heads/master" >expect &&
+	git show-ref > actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+
+test_expect_success 'clone calls transaction_initial_commit' '
+	test_commit message1 file1 &&
+	git clone . cloned &&
+	(test  -f cloned/file1 || echo "Fixme.")
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'basic operation of reftable storage: commit, show-ref' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file &&
+	test_write_lines refs/heads/master refs/tags/file >expect &&
+	git show-ref &&
+	git show-ref | cut -f2 -d" " > actual &&
+	test_cmp actual expect
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'reflog, repack' '
+	initialize &&
+	for count in $(test_seq 1 10)
+	do
+		test_commit "number $count" file.t $count number-$count ||
+		return 1
+	done &&
+	git pack-refs &&
+	ls -1 .git/reftable >table-files &&
+	test_line_count = 2 table-files &&
+	git reflog refs/heads/master >output &&
+	test_line_count = 10 output &&
+	grep "commit (initial): number 1" output &&
+	grep "commit: number 10" output &&
+	git gc &&
+	git reflog refs/heads/master >output &&
+	test_line_count = 0 output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'branch switch in reflog output' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file1 &&
+	git checkout -b branch1 &&
+	test_commit file2 &&
+	git checkout -b branch2 &&
+	git switch - &&
+	git rev-parse --symbolic-full-name HEAD > actual &&
+	echo refs/heads/branch1 > expect &&
+	test_cmp actual expect
+'
+
+
+# This matches show-ref's output
+print_ref() {
+	echo "$(git rev-parse "$1") $1"
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'peeled tags are stored' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file &&
+	git tag -m "annotated tag" test_tag HEAD &&
+	{
+		print_ref "refs/heads/master" &&
+		print_ref "refs/tags/file" &&
+		print_ref "refs/tags/test_tag" &&
+		print_ref "refs/tags/test_tag^{}"
+	} >expect &&
+	git show-ref -d >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'show-ref works on fresh repo' '
+	initialize &&
+	rm -rf .git &&
+	git init --ref-storage=reftable &&
+	>expect &&
+	! git show-ref > actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'checkout unborn branch' '
+	initialize &&
+	git checkout -b master
+'
+
+
+test_expect_success 'dir/file conflict' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file &&
+	! git branch master/forbidden
+'
+
+
+test_expect_success 'do not clobber existing repo' '
+	rm -rf .git &&
+	git init --ref-storage=files &&
+	cat .git/HEAD > expect &&
+	test_commit file &&
+	(git init --ref-storage=reftable || true) &&
+	cat .git/HEAD > actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+# cherry-pick uses a pseudo ref.
+test_expect_success 'pseudo refs' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit message1 file1 &&
+	test_commit message2 file2 &&
+	git branch source &&
+	git checkout HEAD^ &&
+	test_commit message3 file3 &&
+	git cherry-pick source &&
+	test -f file2
+'
+
+# cherry-pick uses a pseudo ref.
+test_expect_success 'rebase' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit message1 file1 &&
+	test_commit message2 file2 &&
+	git branch source &&
+	git checkout HEAD^ &&
+	test_commit message3 file3 &&
+	git rebase source &&
+	test -f file2
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'worktrees' '
+	git init --ref-storage=reftable start &&
+	(cd start && test_commit file1 && git checkout -b branch1 &&
+	git checkout -b branch2 &&
+	git worktree add  ../wt
+	) &&
+	cd wt &&
+	git checkout branch1 &&
+	git branch
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'worktrees 2' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit file1 &&
+	mkdir existing_empty &&
+	git worktree add --detach existing_empty master
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'FETCH_HEAD' '
+	initialize &&
+	test_commit one &&
+	(git init sub && cd sub && test_commit two) &&
+	git --git-dir sub/.git rev-parse HEAD >expect &&
+	git fetch sub &&
+	git checkout FETCH_HEAD &&
+	git rev-parse HEAD >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done
diff --git a/t/t1409-avoid-packing-refs.sh b/t/t1409-avoid-packing-refs.sh
index be12fb63506..c6f78325563 100755
--- a/t/t1409-avoid-packing-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t1409-avoid-packing-refs.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@  test_description='avoid rewriting packed-refs unnecessarily'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+if test_have_prereq REFTABLE
+then
+  skip_all='skipping pack-refs tests; incompatible with reftable'
+  test_done
+fi
+
 # Add an identifying mark to the packed-refs file header line. This
 # shouldn't upset readers, and it should be omitted if the file is
 # ever rewritten.
diff --git a/t/t1450-fsck.sh b/t/t1450-fsck.sh
index b17f5c21fbc..cc5d01571a4 100755
--- a/t/t1450-fsck.sh
+++ b/t/t1450-fsck.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@  test_description='git fsck random collection of tests
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+if test_have_prereq REFTABLE
+then
+  skip_all='skipping tests; incompatible with reftable'
+  test_done
+fi
+
 test_expect_success setup '
 	git config gc.auto 0 &&
 	git config i18n.commitencoding ISO-8859-1 &&
diff --git a/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh b/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
index f41b2afb996..edaef2c175a 100755
--- a/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
+++ b/t/t3210-pack-refs.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@  semantic is still the same.
 '
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+if test_have_prereq REFTABLE
+then
+  skip_all='skipping pack-refs tests; incompatible with reftable'
+  test_done
+fi
+
 test_expect_success 'enable reflogs' '
 	git config core.logallrefupdates true
 '
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index a863ccee7e9..7b638e0b8c8 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -1520,6 +1520,11 @@  parisc* | hppa*)
 	;;
 esac
 
+if test -n "$GIT_TEST_REFTABLE"
+then
+  test_set_prereq REFTABLE
+fi
+
 ( COLUMNS=1 && test $COLUMNS = 1 ) && test_set_prereq COLUMNS_CAN_BE_1
 test -z "$NO_PERL" && test_set_prereq PERL
 test -z "$NO_PTHREADS" && test_set_prereq PTHREADS