`cargo install crate1 crate2 ..` updates index repeatedly for every crate in list. about cargo HOT 3 CLOSED

For shallow clone, we have -Zgitoxide and -Zgit currently experimenting that. For sparse checkouts, see #11165.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway :)

from cargo.

@weihanglo Thanks. TIL about the sparse registry protocol. I haven't changed the defaults, so according to this page, I suppose sparse is indeed being used. That is a relief to know.

Seeing the results of benchmarking the protocol implementation here, I am satisfied and shall be staying with sparse.

Out of curiosity, though, I cloned the git index manually on my machine (with --depth=1). And while the download was small enough ~100M, I didn't realise it'd be so huge checked out ~1.9G ! That indicates to me that this route might be optimised though (by shallow cloning the git index and sparse checking out only the necessary files). But this may be out of scope for the issue. So please feel free to close. :)

from cargo.

Are you using sparse registry protocol?

I believe the Updating crates.io index fetches index files on demand for each crate, so it is necessary for sparse index protocol. And in fact it is more efficient. Have you spotted anything that is really redundant?

If you switch to git index protocol, that index update could be down to one pass. Instead you'll need to download the entire crates.io index upfront, and that will kill your docker container.

from cargo.