mediagit init

Initialize a new MediaGit repository in the current directory.

Synopsis

mediagit init [OPTIONS] [PATH]

Creates a new MediaGit repository by setting up the .mediagit directory structure with configuration files, object database, and references. This command prepares a directory for version control of media files.

If PATH is not specified, initializes the repository in the current directory.

Options

`--storage-backend <BACKEND>`

Storage backend to use for the object database.

Values: local, s3, azure, gcs, minio, b2, spaces
Default: local

`--compression <ALGORITHM>`

Compression algorithm for storing objects.

Values: zstd, brotli, none
Default: zstd

`--compression-level <LEVEL>`

Compression level to use.

Values: fast, default, best
Default: default

`-b, --initial-branch <BRANCH>`

Name of the initial branch.

Default: main

`--bare`

Create a bare repository without a working directory.

Examples

Initialize in current directory

$ mediagit init
✓ Initialized empty MediaGit repository in .mediagit/

Initialize with specific path

$ mediagit init my-media-project
✓ Initialized empty MediaGit repository in my-media-project/.mediagit/

Initialize with S3 backend

$ mediagit init --storage-backend s3
✓ Initialized empty MediaGit repository in .mediagit/
✓ Configured AWS S3 storage backend

Initialize with custom initial branch

$ mediagit init --initial-branch develop
✓ Initialized empty MediaGit repository in .mediagit/
✓ Created initial branch: develop

Initialize bare repository

$ mediagit init --bare repo.git
✓ Initialized bare MediaGit repository in repo.git/

Repository Structure

After initialization, the .mediagit directory contains:

.mediagit/
├── config.toml          # Repository configuration
├── HEAD                 # Current branch reference
├── objects/             # Object database
├── refs/
│   ├── heads/          # Branch references
│   └── tags/           # Tag references
└── index               # Staging area

Configuration File

The generated config.toml contains the full default configuration. Key sections:

[app]
name = "mediagit"
version = "0.2.1"   # matches current binary version
environment = "development"
port = 8080

[storage]
backend = "filesystem"
base_path = "/absolute/path/to/repo/.mediagit/objects"
create_dirs = true
sync = false
file_permissions = "0644"

# [compression] values below are informational — SmartCompressor selects
# algorithm and level automatically per file type and ignores these settings.
[compression]
enabled = true
algorithm = "zstd"
level = 3
min_size = 1024

[author]
# Set with: mediagit config author.name "Your Name"
#            mediagit config author.email "you@example.com"
# Or via env: MEDIAGIT_AUTHOR_NAME, MEDIAGIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL

[remotes]
# Added by: mediagit remote add origin http://server/repo

All backend fields are at the same level as backend in [storage] (no nested [storage.filesystem] subsection).

The [compression] section is written for reference but is not read at runtime. MediaGit’s SmartCompressor automatically chooses the optimal algorithm and level based on file type (e.g., Zstd Best for PSD/3D models, Store for already-compressed formats like JPEG/MP4).

Exit Status

0: Successful initialization
1: Directory already contains a repository
2: Invalid options or configuration

MediaGit-Core Documentation