bindle-file

bindle is a fast/efficient, binary archive format.

The format uses memory-mapped I/O for fast reads, optional zstd compression, and supports append-only writes with shadowing for updates. Files can be added incrementally without rewriting the entire archive.

Installation

The CLI can be installed by running:

cargo install bindle-file

Rust

use bindle_file::{Bindle, Compress};

// Create or open an archive
let mut archive = Bindle::open("data.bndl")?;

// Add files
archive.add("config.json", data, Compress::None)?;
archive.save()?;

// Read files
let data = archive.read("config.json").unwrap();

// Update by shadowing (old data remains until vacuum)
archive.add("config.json", new_data, Compress::None)?;
archive.save()?;

// Reclaim space from shadowed entries
archive.vacuum()?;

C

#include "bindle.h"

Bindle* bindle = bindle_open("data.bndl");
bindle_add(bindle, "file.txt", data, len, BindleCompressNone);
bindle_save(bindle);

size_t len = bindle_entry_size(bindle, "file.txt");
uint8_t *data = malloc(len);
assert(bindle_read(bindle, "file.txt", data) == len);
// Or for uncompressed entries, read directly without decompression
uint8_t* raw = bindle_read_uncompressed_direct(bindle, "file.txt", &size);

free(data);
bindle_close(bindle);

Run:

make build

To build libbindle and copy in to the root of repository

CLI

The bindle command provides basic operations:

bindle add archive.bndl file.txt
bindle read archive.bndl file.txt
bindle pack archive.bndl /some/dir
bindle unpack archive.bndl /unpack/to/dir
bindle list archive.bndl
bindle vacuum archive.bndl

Format

See SPEC.md for the binary format specification.