Git 2.38 Adds Microsoft's "Scalar" Repository Management Tool

Git 2.38 was released on Sunday and most notable with this feature release is the inclusion of scalar as a Microsoft-developed repository management tool to make it easier dealing with very large Git reposotories.

Git has been working to improve its handling for very lage repositories and now with the Scalar tool it provides a curated and configured set of features designed to be pre-configured for optimal large repo handling. Scalar by default enables the built-in file-system monitor, multi-pack index, commit graphs, scheduled background maintenance, partial cloning, and clone mode sparse-checkout.

Microsoft had been maintaining Scalar out-of-tree for better large repository integration with Git while now with Git 2.38 it's part of mainline.

Microsoft originally announced Scalar back in 2020 as a .NET Core application for Git. It's since been rewritten in C code.

Git 2.38 also has an assortment of other smaller features, fixes, and optimizations. More details on Git 2.38 via the GitHub blog and release notes on git-scm.com.