# Git maintainers weigh Git 3.0 switch to SHA-256 and reftable defaults

_Published Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 4:22 AM EDT · Infrastructure · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

Git maintainers are considering whether the release after Git 2.56 should become Git 3.0, introducing compatibility changes that would affect repository creation and software builds. Proposed defaults include SHA-256 object identifiers instead of SHA-1, reftable storage for branches and tags, lowercase-only object IDs, and a mandatory Rust compiler.

GitLab and Forgejo support SHA-256 repositories, while GitHub support remained unresolved in the report. Maintainer Junio Hamano has not announced a decision, and existing SHA-1 repositories and repositories without reftables would remain supported.

## Sources

- [lwn.net](https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1094575/2385e98583715c2b/)

---
Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/FMKO9vNrDBjsS3yct3OuQZ
Published: 2026-09-22T08:22:06.389Z
Story chronology: 2026-09-21T23:16:51.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-09-22T10:05:59.630Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)