Flowchart: Content Acquisition Layer
This flowchart details the critical transformation step where a ContentManifest with artifact references is processed, downloaded, and stored in the Content-Addressable Storage (CAS) system.
Acquisition Workflow:
| Phase | Process | Details | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download | Artifact retrieval | Downloads files from publisher-hosted URLs with progress tracking | Supports any hosting provider |
| Verification | Hash validation | Verifies SHA256 hashes match catalog metadata | Ensures file integrity |
| Extraction | Archive processing | Extracts ZIP/RAR archives to temporary directory | Handles compressed content |
| CAS Storage | Content-addressable storage | Stores files by SHA256 hash, deduplicates automatically | Saves disk space, enables sharing |
| Dependency Resolution | Recursive acquisition | Resolves and acquires dependencies (same-catalog and cross-publisher) | Ensures complete installation |
Content-Addressable Storage (CAS) Benefits:
- Deduplication: Files shared across multiple mods are stored only once
- Integrity: Files are verified by hash and immutable once stored
- Efficiency: Workspace strategies (symlink/hardlink) reference CAS files without duplication
- Reliability: Corrupted files are automatically detected and re-downloaded
Cross-Publisher Dependencies:
The acquisition phase handles dependencies that reference content from other publishers:
- Check if dependency is already installed in ManifestPool
- If missing, check if user is subscribed to the dependency's publisher
- If not subscribed, prompt user to subscribe via genhub:// link
- Recursively acquire dependency content before continuing with main content