[PATCH v3 3/9] docs: reflect actual double signature for tags

From: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
Date: Oct 9, 2025, 21:56 UTC
Message-ID: <20251009215626.3089287-4-sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
In-Reply-To: <20251009215626.3089287-1-sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>

The documentation for the hash function transition reflects the original design where the SHA-256 signature would always be placed in a header. However, due to a missed patch in Git 2.29, we shipped SHA-256 support such that the signature for the current algorithm is always an in-body signature and the opposite algorithm is always in a header. Since the documentation is inaccurate, update it to reflect the correct information.

Signed-off-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
---
 .../technical/hash-function-transition.adoc   | 20 ++++++++++---------
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/technical/hash-function-transition.adoc b/Documentation/technical/hash-function-transition.adoc
index adb0c61e53..2359d7d106 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/hash-function-transition.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/technical/hash-function-transition.adoc
@@ -429,17 +429,19 @@ ordinary unsigned commit.
 
 Signed Tags
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
-We add a new field "gpgsig-sha256" to the tag object format to allow
-signing tags without relying on SHA-1. Its signed payload is the
-SHA-256 content of the tag with its gpgsig-sha256 field and "-----BEGIN PGP
-SIGNATURE-----" delimited in-body signature removed.
+We add new fields "gpgsig" and "gpgsig-sha256" to the tag object format to
+allow signing tags in both formats.  The in-body signature is used for the
+signature in the current hash algorithm and the header is used for the
+signature in the other algorithm.  Thus, a dual-signature tag will contain both
+an in-body signature and a gpgsig-sha256 header for the SHA-1 format of an
+object or both an in-body signature and a gpgsig header for the SHA-256 format
+of and object.
 
-This means tags can be signed
+The signed payload of the tag is the content of the tag in the current
+algorithm with both its gpgsig and gpgsig-sha256 fields and
+"-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----" delimited in-body signature removed.
 
-1. using SHA-1 only, as in existing signed tag objects
-2. using both SHA-1 and SHA-256, by using gpgsig-sha256 and an in-body
-   signature.
-3. using only SHA-256, by only using the gpgsig-sha256 field.
+This means tags can be signed using one or both algorithms.
 
 Mergetag embedding
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~