Object

An object represents unique content identified by its SHA-256 hash. Objects are content-addressed: two files with identical bytes will have the same hash and thus reference the same object.

Objects enable:

• Deduplication: Multiple sources can point to the same object
• Archive tracking: When content exists in an archive, all sources with that hash are marked as archived
• Fact sharing: Metadata attached to an object is available on all sources with that content

Objects are created automatically when sources are hashed during scanning or enrichment.

Empty files are contentless

A zero-byte file has shape but no content. Every empty file shares the one empty-content object, so its hash identifies nothing. Canon treats such sources as contentless: they never count as covered or archived (any empty file anywhere would otherwise cover them all), never count as unresolved (there is no content to lose), and never block a retirement. They are still ordinary files: ls finds them, they can be excluded, and archive operations carry them with their folders, so a verbatim folder copy keeps its empty files. Reports that mention them say empty files and state the count; they are never silently omitted.