Read repositories through a mount

The Crab virtual filesystem lets you browse and read a repository without downloading every file first. Directory listings appear immediately, and file content is fetched from cloud storage when an application actually reads it.

Decide whether a mount fits

Use a mount when you need to:

• Inspect a large repository before deciding what to hydrate.
• Run tools that expect a normal filesystem path.
• Open another branch or remote repository without changing your working tree.
• Keep local disk usage low while still making files available on demand.

Verify one local mount

Mount the current repository, read one managed file, then inspect mount state:

crab mount --repo . --mountpoint /tmp/crab-view --read-only
head -c 64 /tmp/crab-view/models/weights.safetensors >/dev/null
crab mount status --mountpoint /tmp/crab-view --live-only
crab unmount --mountpoint /tmp/crab-view

The first read may fetch remote ranges. A repeated read can use verified cache entries when they remain available.

Choose the next mount topic

• Virtual Filesystem Mount — choose NFS or FUSE and mount a Crab repository.
• Mount Modes — choose between default coordinator-style mounts and DaemonService mode.
• Local Mount — expose an existing local repository through the virtual filesystem.
• Mount Management — list, refresh, switch, and unmount active mounts.
• LFS Compatibility — work with repositories that still contain Git LFS pointers.
• Complete mount workflow — operate reads, concurrent writes, publishing, and recovery end to end.

Keep mount and hydration responsibilities separate

The virtual filesystem is a view over a Crab repository. It does not replace normal clone, push, or hydrate workflows; it gives you another way to access large repositories when selective, on-demand reads are more convenient.

For repeatable development workflows, keep using crab clone, crab fetch, and crab hydrate. Use a mount for exploration, review, notebooks, model inspection, and large read-only datasets that do not require a fully materialized checkout.

For most interactive use, start with crab mount. For persistent multi-repo service workflows, use crab daemon. The Mount Modes guide compares both paths in detail.