Repository and workspace

Dirigible stores all user content in a single on-disk repository (also called the "registry" in older docs). The repository has two canonical roots: one for artefacts the runtime reconciles, and one for IDE workspaces where users edit.

Canonical layout

/registry/public/<project>/...          # published artefacts (reconciled)
/users/<user>/workspace/<project>/...   # IDE workspaces (drafts)

Both roots are defined in IRepositoryStructure (modules/repository/repository-api/). Synchronizers scan only /registry/public/...; user edits in /users/.../workspace/... are invisible to the runtime until published.

Storage backend

The default backend is the local filesystem, rooted at ./target/ (override via DIRIGIBLE_REPOSITORY_LOCAL_ROOT_FOLDER). Other backends are pluggable via IRepository implementations in modules/repository/:

• repository-local - filesystem (default)
• repository-master - read-only mirror of an upstream repository
• repository-cache - optional caching layer
• repository-search - Lucene-backed search
• repository-zip - import / export as zip

All of them expose the same IRepository / ICollection / IResource API, so user code reaches them uniformly through @aerokit/sdk/platform/repository-client.

How a path resolves

A file authored at MyProject/api/hello.ts ends up at:

• In the IDE workspace: /users/admin/workspace/MyProject/api/hello.ts
• After publishing: /registry/public/MyProject/api/hello.ts
• Served at: /services/ts/MyProject/api/hello.ts

Publishing copies the file from the workspace to the registry; the synchronizer cycle then reconciles whatever it finds under /registry/public/... into runtime state.

Multi-tenancy

With DIRIGIBLE_MULTI_TENANT_MODE=true (the default), tenant-scoped artefacts are reconciled per tenant - see Multi-tenancy. The repository layout itself is shared (one /registry/public/... tree), but the synchronizer infrastructure walks artefacts on behalf of each tenant.

Programmatic access

From client code:

• JS / TS: @aerokit/sdk/platform/repository-client, @aerokit/sdk/platform/workspace-client.
• Java: BeanProvider.getBean(IRepository.class) then repository.getResource(path) / getCollection(path) / createResource(...).

In HTTP-only integration tests, write fixture files directly via IRepository.createResource(...) and then call SynchronizationProcessor.forceProcessSynchronizers() to trigger reconciliation synchronously.

Reference

• IRepository / IRepositoryStructure - modules/repository/repository-api/
• WorkspaceEndpoint, TransportEndpoint, PublisherEndpoint - components/ide/ide-workspace/