{ "label": "Content Fingerprint", "summary": "Deterministic content-hash fingerprinting and a per-key skip index for idempotent, selective regeneration.", "maturity": "stable", "domains": [ {"meta": "developer-tooling", "sub": "build-tooling"}, {"meta": "data", "sub": "caching"} ], "capabilities": [ "content-hash-fingerprint", "deterministic-file-set-hash", "per-key-skip-index", "regeneration-guard" ], "overlaps": [], "incompatibleWith": [], "supersedes": [], "governedBy": [ "type-safety", "separation-of-concerns", "immutability" ], "visibility": {"private": false, "hidden": false}, "ecosystem": "typescript", "docs": { "overview": "A dependency-free leaf that answers one question deterministically: have a generator's inputs changed since it last ran? It content-hashes a set of files (SHA-256 of bytes, order-independent), folds those hashes into a composite fingerprint, and persists a per-key index so a generator can skip the units whose inputs are unchanged and regenerate only those that moved.", "whenToUse": [ "A code or doc generator that should skip regenerating an output whose precise inputs have not changed since the last run.", "Per-unit selective regeneration: hash each unit's own inputs plus a shared-input hash, so a shared change invalidates every unit while a single-unit change invalidates only that unit.", "Any build step wanting a deterministic, content-based (not mtime-based) up-to-date check with an ephemeral on-disk index." ], "whenNotToUse": [ "Cryptographic integrity or tamper-evidence. The package is a change-detection fingerprint, not a security primitive.", "Detecting change in a live, in-memory object graph. The package hashes files on disk, so an in-memory hash cache fits better.", "A hybrid generated-and-authored output whose file must never be overwritten. The index says what changed, and preserving authored content stays with the caller." ], "quickStart": [ { "intent": "Skip a unit whose inputs are unchanged", "lang": "js", "code": "import { collectFiles, fingerprint, fingerprintOf, createFingerprintIndex, cacheFile } from \"@govlab/content-fingerprint\";\nimport { existsSync } from \"node:fs\";\n\nconst index = createFingerprintIndex({ file: cacheFile(\"module-docs\"), force: process.env.GOVLAB_NO_CACHE === \"1\" });\nconst shared = fingerprint([canonicalIndexPath, allRulesPath, govlabConfigPath]);\nfor (const unit of units) {\n const own = fingerprint([...collectFiles(unit.dir, { include: (n) => n.endsWith(\".ts\") }), unit.manifest]);\n const key = fingerprintOf([own, shared, GENERATOR_SOURCE]);\n if (index.unchanged(unit.id, key) && existsSync(unit.output)) { continue; }\n render(unit);\n index.update(unit.id, key);\n}\nindex.flush();" } ], "configuration": "No constructor options beyond the index file path and a `force` flag. Scalar knobs (hash algorithm, separators, index indent, default ignored directories, cache path segments) are package constants. The caller injects the cache file location through `cacheFile(name)`, which resolves the index under the consumer's `node_modules/.cache` (a govlab/fingerprint subfolder created on first write).", "disposal": [ "Remove `govlab.root/govlab.utils/content-fingerprint/`.", "Drop `\"@govlab/content-fingerprint\": \"*\"` from the `govlab.quality`, `govlab.patterns`, and `govlab.docs` package manifests.", "Remove every `import … from \"@govlab/content-fingerprint\"` and inline or drop the skip check where still needed." ], "aiContext": [ "The fingerprint is content-based (SHA-256 of file bytes), never mtime-based, so it is deterministic across machines and reruns.", "`fingerprint(files)` is order-independent (it sorts), while `fingerprintOf(parts)` is order-sensitive. The latter composes an own-hash, a shared-hash and the generator's own source hash into one key.", "The index lives under `node_modules/.cache` and is ephemeral: a fresh checkout has no index, so every unit regenerates and the result is authoritative.", "A correct per-unit key folds in every shared input (a change there must invalidate all units) and the generator's own source (a generator change must invalidate its outputs).", "A pure leaf: zero `@govlab/*` sibling dependencies." ], "apiNotes": [ { "name": "hashFile", "note": "SHA-256 hex of a file's bytes, or the `absent` sentinel if the file does not exist. Any other read failure throws." }, { "name": "fingerprint", "note": "the order-independent composite hash of a file set (path and content per file). A missing file hashes to the sentinel." }, { "name": "fingerprintOf", "note": "the order-sensitive composite of already-computed hash strings, which folds the own, shared and generator-source hashes into one key." }, { "name": "digestOf", "note": "SHA-256 hex of one string's exact bytes, with no separator added, so a reader can recompute it from the served body." }, { "name": "collectFiles", "note": "deterministic sorted file list under a root, skipping the directories the caller names, with an optional name filter. An unreadable root yields an empty list." }, { "name": "createFingerprintIndex", "note": "opens a per-key on-disk index exposing `unchanged`, `update` and `flush`, where `force` makes every key report changed." }, { "name": "cacheFile", "note": "resolves an ephemeral index path under the consumer's node_modules/.cache/govlab/fingerprint/." } ] } }