Adding Files

Use crab add when a file should be stored by Crab instead of directly in Git. It chunks matching files, deduplicates the content, stores new chunks in .crab/staging/, and stages pointer blobs in Git.

crab add models/checkpoint.safetensors
crab add 'data/*.parquet'
crab add .

When to Use It

Run crab track <glob> first for reusable patterns, then commit the resulting .gitattributes change so collaborators use the same rules.

After Adding

crab status
crab ls-files --size
git diff --cached
git commit -m "Add dataset"
crab push origin main

crab add stages Crab pointer blobs for Git. Keep using normal Git commands for review and commits.

Common Pitfalls

• Shell globs can expand before Crab sees them. Quote patterns like crab add '*.bin' when you want Crab to match them.
• crab add is local until you push. The staged chunks stay in .crab/staging/ until crab push uploads them.
• If a file is not matched, check .gitattributes and crab track --list.
• Re-run crab add after changing a large file before committing.

For complete syntax, flags, path matching details, and JSON/JSONL output, see the crab add reference.