commitidna

Commitidna is a proposed framework that links software version control identifiers, especially Git commit hashes, with DNA sequences to enable durable archival and provenance for software artifacts. By encoding a commit’s identity into DNA, commitidna aims to preserve a verifiable record of code states alongside data and experiments, supporting reproducibility in collaborative research and long-term preservation.

Implementation centers on converting the binary form of a commit hash into a DNA sequence using a robust encoding scheme. This typically involves a two-bit nucleotide mapping, aided by error-correcting codes and metadata to detect and correct synthesis and sequencing errors. The method also considers constraints such as avoiding homopolymers and balancing GC content to improve reliability, as well as compression steps to optimize storage density.

Applications of commitidna include storing code provenance in DNA storage workflows, linking datasets to exact code versions in studies, and augmenting software bill of materials with immutable DNA-backed identifiers. When needed, sequencing reads can be decoded to retrieve the matching commit hash, enabling verification of software state used in a given run or experiment.

Challenges remain before widespread adoption. Costs, encoding efficiency, and error rates in DNA storage limit practicality for routine use. Reversibility and standardized mappings from DNA back to commits are required, and privacy or licensing considerations may arise for proprietary code. Ongoing research seeks to improve density, error resilience, and interoperability with existing version control systems and reproducibility tools.