"$schema": http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#
"$id": https://nix.dev/manual/nix/latest/protocols/json/schema/content-address-v1.json
title: Pesudo Content Address
description: |
  This schema describes the JSON representation of Nix's `ContentAddress` type.

  This data type is not a simple as a looks, and therefore called a *pseudo* content address.
  See the description of the `hash` field for why this is.

  When creating the store path of a content-addressed store object, the `hash` from this will be combined with the references of the store object in order to create a content-address that is properly sensitive to the entirety of the store object — file system objects and references alike.
  So it is that store path that is arguably the *true* content-address for content-addressed store paths, not this data type.

  The only problem with that is that store paths are truncated in various ways from the underlying hashes, so their cryptographic strength can be reasonably doubted.
  Given that uncertain cryptographic strength, we do need something else.
  Currently this in conjunction with the reference list captures all the content securely, more concisely.
  (Though the reference list is still arbitrarily-sized, it is presumably in practice still way smaller than the file system object data).
  
  > **Note**
  >
  > A hypothetical hash of both of those which is *not* so truncated would be even better, as it would be secure and fixed-size.
  > A hypothetical new method content-addressing store objects where we compute the store paths just from such a hash, so we don't need to "dereference" the hash to get the underlying reference list and rehash it, would be better still.
type: object
properties:
  method:
    "$ref": "#/$defs/method"
  hash:
    title: Content Address
    description: |
      This would be the content-address itself.

      For all current methods, this is just a content address of the file system object of the store object, [as described in the store chapter](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md), and not of the store object as a whole.
      In particular, the references of the store object are *not* taken into account with this hash (and currently-supported methods).
    "$ref": "./hash-v1.yaml"
required:
- method
- hash
additionalProperties: false
"$defs":
  method:
    type: string
    enum: [flat, nar, text, git]
    title: Content-Addressing Method
    description: |
      A string representing the [method](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md) of content addressing that is chosen.

      Valid method strings are:

      - [`flat`](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md#method-flat) (provided the contents are a single file)
      - [`nar`](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md#method-nix-archive)
      - [`text`](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md#method-text)
      - [`git`](@docroot@/store/store-object/content-address.md#method-git)