Go vs Node.js Cache Comparison

Systematic comparison of Go pipeline output (_cache/) vs Node.js production cache (LIVE_cache/). Generated by cmd/comparecache.

Key Observations

1. Classification Timing

The Node.js cache stores assets with empty os/arch/ext fields — normalize.js fills those at serve time. The Go pipeline classifies at write time. This means the Go cache has richer data per-asset, but the comparison must be done at the filename level, not the classified fields.

2. Meta-Asset Filtering

Go's isMetaAsset() filters out checksums, signatures, SBOMs, etc. Node.js includes them. This accounts for 43 packages showing live-has-meta differences. This is correct behavior — Go is more aggressive about filtering non-installable files.

3. Source Tarballs

Go includes GitHub source tarballs (tarball_url/zipball_url) for releases with no binary assets. Node.js does not. Affects 18 packages. Decision needed: should these be included?

4. Previously Unsupported Sources (NOW FIXED)

All custom source types are now wired into webicached. The only remaining go-missing packages are: dashd (alias), macos (no releases.conf), pg-essentials (meta-package), zig.vim (gittag with no raw data).

5. Version Depth

Go has deeper version history for most GitHub-sourced packages because it fetches all pages. Node.js limits to 30 releases per API call. This is a feature — Go provides complete histories.

Category	Count	Meaning
match	9	Identical asset filenames
go-missing	4	Go produces no output (alias, meta-package, or no config)
live-missing	16	Package exists in Go but not in live cache
go-extra-versions	52	Go has more version history (deeper fetch)
live-extra-versions	15	Live has newer data or uses a different source
go-extra-assets	64	Go includes assets that Node.js filters out
live-extra-assets	20	Node.js includes assets that Go filters out
live-has-meta	43	Node.js includes meta-assets (checksums, sigs)
go-has-source-tarballs	18	Go includes source tarballs for no-binary releases

Per-Package Checklist

Status: [x] reviewed, [-] known difference (acceptable), [ ] needs review

Exact Matches (8)

atomicparsley — match
awless — match
dotenv-linter — match
hexyl — match
koji — match
lf — match
sd — match
zoxide — match

Go Missing — Unsupported Source (4)

[-] dashd — alias_of=dashcore, skipped (correct)
[-] macos — no releases.conf
[-] pg-essentials — meta-package
[-] zig.vim — gittag source, 0 raw data?

Live Missing — Go-Only Packages (16)

[-] node-official — Go split, not in live cache
[-] node-unofficial — Go split, not in live cache
[-] pg — Go name, live uses postgres
[-] ripgrep — Go name, live uses rg
[-] rust.vim — symlink to vim-rust
[-] vim-airline — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-airline-themes — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-ale — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-devicons — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-go — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-nerdtree — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-prettier — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-rust — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-sensible — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-shfmt — gittag packages not in live cache
[-] vim-syntastic — gittag packages not in live cache

Meta-Asset Only Differences (Go filters, Node.js keeps)

These packages differ only because Go strips checksums/sigs/SBOMs:

[-] curlie — live-has-meta(21)
[-] dashmsg — live-has-meta(1)
[-] dotenv — live-has-meta(1)
[-] ffuf — live-has-meta(50)
[-] gitdeploy — live-has-meta(1)
[-] gprox — live-has-meta(7)
[-] keypairs — live-has-meta(1)
[-] monorel — live-has-meta(3)
[-] ots — live-has-meta(28)
[-] runzip — live-has-meta(1)
[-] sclient — live-has-meta(1)
[-] sqlpkg — live-has-meta(7)
[-] xz — live-has-meta(1)

Custom Source Types (now wired, needs detailed review)

chromedriver — chromedist, live-extra-versions(1), go-extra-assets(5)
flutter — flutterdist, live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(2082)
go — golang, version overlap differences
[-] gpg — gpgdist, match
iterm2 — iterm2dist, live-extra-versions(20), go-extra-assets(262)
julia — juliadist, live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(1783)
mariadb — mariadbdist, go-extra-assets(11)
terraform — hashicorp, live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(5550)
zig — zigdist, version differences

Version Depth + Extra Assets (needs detailed review)

These have real asset selection differences beyond version depth and meta filtering.

aliasman — go-has-source-tarballs(8), live-extra-assets(8), go-extra-assets(8)
arc — go-extra-versions(9), go-has-source-tarballs(18), go-extra-assets(18)
bat — go-extra-versions(13), go-extra-assets(85)
bun — go-extra-versions(210), live-extra-versions(30), go-extra-assets(85)
caddy — go-extra-versions(104), live-has-meta(3415), live-extra-assets(30), go-extra-assets(1180)
cilium — go-extra-versions(97), go-extra-assets(5)
cmake — go-extra-versions(280), go-extra-assets(4352)
comrak — go-extra-versions(60), live-extra-versions(1), live-extra-assets(6), go-extra-assets(194)
crabz — go-extra-assets(4)
dashcore — go-extra-versions(101), live-has-meta(327), go-extra-assets(896)
delta — go-extra-versions(29), go-extra-assets(304)
deno — go-extra-versions(338), live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(4)
duckdns.sh — go-has-source-tarballs(6), live-extra-assets(6), go-extra-assets(6)
fd — go-extra-versions(15), live-extra-versions(1), live-extra-assets(21), go-extra-assets(66)
ffmpeg — go-extra-versions(11), live-extra-versions(2), go-extra-assets(68)
fish — go-extra-versions(35), go-extra-assets(182)
fzf — go-extra-versions(46), go-extra-assets(669)
gh — go-extra-versions(159), go-extra-assets(2644)
git — go-extra-versions(339), go-extra-assets(3724)
gitea — go-extra-versions(194), live-has-meta(1968), go-extra-assets(4600)
goreleaser — go-extra-versions(556), go-extra-assets(1657)
grype — go-extra-versions(161), live-has-meta(90), go-extra-assets(1840)
hugo — go-extra-versions(335), live-has-meta(30), go-extra-assets(8176)
hugo-extended — go-extra-versions(335), go-extra-assets(8206)
jq — go-extra-versions(15), live-extra-versions(12), go-extra-assets(7)
k9s — go-extra-versions(227), go-extra-assets(749)
kind — go-extra-versions(7), live-has-meta(7)
kubectx — go-extra-versions(15), go-has-source-tarballs(30), go-extra-assets(78)
kubens — go-extra-versions(15), go-has-source-tarballs(30), go-extra-assets(78)
lsd — go-extra-versions(2), go-extra-assets(188)
mutagen — go-extra-versions(82), go-has-source-tarballs(4), go-extra-assets(2478)
node — go-extra-versions(713), live-extra-assets(431), go-extra-assets(15208)
ollama — go-extra-versions(160), live-extra-assets(8), go-extra-assets(15)
pandoc — go-extra-versions(123), go-extra-assets(698)
pathman — go-extra-assets(1)
postgres — go-extra-versions(4), live-extra-versions(8), live-extra-assets(6), go-extra-assets(24)
psql — go-extra-versions(4), live-extra-versions(4), go-extra-assets(28)
pwsh — go-extra-versions(163), go-extra-assets(3407)
rclone — go-extra-versions(92), go-extra-assets(2548)
rg — go-extra-versions(44), live-has-meta(100), go-extra-assets(282)
sass — go-extra-versions(283), go-extra-assets(2194)
serviceman — live-extra-versions(1), live-extra-assets(18), go-extra-assets(12)
shellcheck — go-extra-versions(17), go-has-source-tarballs(34), go-extra-assets(34)
shfmt — go-extra-versions(22), go-extra-assets(360)
sqlc — go-extra-versions(7), go-has-source-tarballs(2), go-extra-assets(19)
sttr — go-extra-versions(4), live-has-meta(42), go-extra-assets(20)
syncthing — go-extra-versions(431), live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(11983)
terramate — go-extra-versions(193), live-has-meta(421), go-extra-assets(1744)
tinygo — go-extra-versions(19), go-extra-assets(84)
trip — go-extra-versions(6), go-extra-assets(12)
uuidv7 — go-extra-assets(16)
vim-commentary — go-extra-versions(5), live-extra-versions(5), live-extra-assets(5), go-extra-assets(5)
vim-zig — go-extra-versions(1), live-extra-versions(1), live-extra-assets(1), go-extra-assets(1)
watchexec — go-extra-versions(83), live-extra-versions(2), live-has-meta(1407), go-extra-assets(671)
xcaddy — go-extra-assets(123)
xsv — go-extra-versions(35), go-extra-assets(36)
yq — go-extra-versions(134), go-extra-assets(17)

8.9 KiB Raw Blame History