The MIDX is stored in a file named multi-pack-index in the .git/objects/pack directory. This could be stored in the pack directory of an alternate. It refers only to packfiles in that same directory.

The core.multiPackIndex config setting must be on to consume MIDX files.

The file format includes parameters for the object ID hash function, so a future change of hash algorithm does not require a change in format.

The MIDX keeps only one record per object ID. If an object appears in multiple packfiles, then the MIDX selects the copy in the most- recently modified packfile.

If there exist packfiles in the pack directory not registered in the MIDX, then those packfiles are loaded into the packed_git list and packed_git_mru cache.

The pack-indexes (.idx files) remain in the pack directory so we can delete the MIDX file, set core.midx to false, or downgrade without any loss of information.

The MIDX file format uses a chunk-based approach (similar to the commit-graph file) that allows optional data to be added.

Add a verify subcommand to the git midx builtin to verify the contents of the multi-pack-index file match the offsets listed in the corresponding pack-indexes.

The multi-pack-index allows many packfiles, especially in a context where repacking is expensive (such as a very large repo), or unexpected maintenance time is unacceptable (such as a high-demand build machine). However, the multi-pack-index needs to be rewritten in full every time. We can extend the format to be incremental, so writes are fast. By storing a small "tip" multi-pack-index that points to large "base" MIDX files, we can keep writes fast while still reducing the number of binary searches required for object lookups.

The reachability bitmap is currently paired directly with a single packfile, using the pack-order as the object order to hopefully compress the bitmaps well using run-length encoding. This could be extended to pair a reachability bitmap with a multi-pack-index. If the multi-pack-index is extended to store a "stable object order" (a function Order(hash) = integer that is constant for a given hash, even as the multi-pack-index is updated) then a reachability bitmap could point to a multi-pack-index and be updated independently.

Packfiles can be marked as "special" using empty files that share the initial name but replace ".pack" with ".keep" or ".promisor". We can add an optional chunk of data to the multi-pack-index that records flags of information about the packfiles. This allows new states, such as repacked or redeltified, that can help with pack maintenance in a multi-pack environment. It may also be helpful to organize packfiles by object type (commit, tree, blob, etc.) and use this metadata to help that maintenance.

The partial clone feature records special "promisor" packs that may point to objects that are not stored locally, but available on request to a server. The multi-pack-index does not currently track these promisor packs.