arc/docs/getting-started.md

Getting Started

Arc is a delta-based version control system written in Rust. It builds exclusively through Nix.

Building

Arc uses a Nix flake (nixpkgs-unstable, flake-parts, fenix, crane):

nix build

Enter a dev shell with nix develop (provides rustc, cargo, clippy, rustfmt, git, pkg-config, cmake, perl).

Run Arc with nix run or result/bin/arc after building.

Configuration

arc config set user.name "yourname"
arc config set user.email "you@example.com"

Global config lives at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/arc/config.yml (or ~/.config/arc/config.yml).

Creating a Repository

arc init [path]

This creates a .arc/ directory containing:

• commits/ — commit storage
• bookmarks/ — branches (default: main)
• tags/ — tagged commits
• stashes/ — stashed changes
• config.yml — repository config
• HEAD — current position

The default remote is origin.

Tracking Changes

Arc tracks changes automatically — there is no staging area.

arc status          # see what changed
arc commit <message> # commit all changes
arc log             # view history
arc diff            # see diffs

Ignoring Files

Create a .arcignore or .ignore file with gitignore-like glob syntax. Prefix a pattern with ! to negate it.

Working with Git Repositories

Clone a git repo:

arc clone <url> [path]

Migrate an existing git repo (run inside the repo):

arc migrate