diff --git a/docs/persistent-identifiers.rst b/docs/persistent-identifiers.rst --- a/docs/persistent-identifiers.rst +++ b/docs/persistent-identifiers.rst @@ -338,6 +338,25 @@ archival on Software Heritage +Choosing what type of SWHID to use +---------------------------------- + +``swh:1:dir:`` SWHIDs are the most robust SWHIDs, as they can be recomputed from +the simplest objects (a directory structure on a filesystem), even when all +metadata is lost, without relying on the Software Heritage archive. + +Therefore, we advise implementers and users to prefer this type of SWHIDs +over ``swh:1:rev:`` and ``swh:1:rel:`` to reference a source code artifacts. + +However, since keeping the metadata is also important, you should add an anchor +qualifier to ``swh:1:dir:`` SWHIDs whenever possible, so the metadata stored +in the Software Heritage archive can be retrieved when needed. + +This means, for example, that you should prefer +``swh:1:dir:a8eded6a2d062c998ba2dcc3dcb0ce68a4e15a58;anchor=swh:1:rel:22ece559cc7cc2364edc5e5593d63ae8bd229f9f`` +over ``swh:1:rel:22ece559cc7cc2364edc5e5593d63ae8bd229f9f``. + + Resolvers ---------