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-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/mod.rs4
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/mod.rs173
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/read.rs69
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/test.rs310
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/mod.rs477
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/read.rs141
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/test.rs278
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/complicated.narbin0 -> 840 bytes
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/helloworld.narbin0 -> 128 bytes
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/symlink.narbin0 -> 136 bytes
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/mod.rs150
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/tag.rs166
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/async.rs235
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/mod.rs9
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/sync.rs224
-rw-r--r--tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/test.rs128
16 files changed, 2364 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/mod.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c678d26ffb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+pub(crate) mod wire;
+
+pub mod reader;
+pub mod writer;
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/mod.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0808fba38c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+use std::{
+    mem::MaybeUninit,
+    pin::Pin,
+    task::{self, Poll},
+};
+
+use tokio::io::{self, AsyncBufRead, AsyncRead, ErrorKind::InvalidData};
+
+// Required reading for understanding this module.
+use crate::{
+    nar::{self, wire::PadPar},
+    wire::{self, BytesReader},
+};
+
+mod read;
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test;
+
+pub type Reader<'a> = dyn AsyncBufRead + Unpin + Send + 'a;
+
+/// Start reading a NAR file from `reader`.
+pub async fn open<'a, 'r>(reader: &'a mut Reader<'r>) -> io::Result<Node<'a, 'r>> {
+    read::token(reader, &nar::wire::TOK_NAR).await?;
+    Node::new(reader).await
+}
+
+pub enum Node<'a, 'r: 'a> {
+    Symlink {
+        target: Vec<u8>,
+    },
+    File {
+        executable: bool,
+        reader: FileReader<'a, 'r>,
+    },
+    Directory(DirReader<'a, 'r>),
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r: 'a> Node<'a, 'r> {
+    /// Start reading a [Node], matching the next [wire::Node].
+    ///
+    /// Reading the terminating [wire::TOK_PAR] is done immediately for [Node::Symlink],
+    /// but is otherwise left to [DirReader] or [BytesReader].
+    async fn new(reader: &'a mut Reader<'r>) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        Ok(match read::tag(reader).await? {
+            nar::wire::Node::Sym => {
+                let target = wire::read_bytes(reader, 1..=nar::wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN).await?;
+
+                if target.contains(&0) {
+                    return Err(InvalidData.into());
+                }
+
+                read::token(reader, &nar::wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+
+                Node::Symlink { target }
+            }
+            tag @ (nar::wire::Node::Reg | nar::wire::Node::Exe) => Node::File {
+                executable: tag == nar::wire::Node::Exe,
+                reader: FileReader {
+                    inner: BytesReader::new_internal(reader, ..).await?,
+                },
+            },
+            nar::wire::Node::Dir => Node::Directory(DirReader::new(reader)),
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+/// File contents, readable through the [AsyncRead] trait.
+///
+/// It comes with some caveats:
+///  * You must always read the entire file, unless you intend to abandon the entire archive reader.
+///  * You must abandon the entire archive reader upon the first error.
+///
+/// It's fine to read exactly `reader.len()` bytes without ever seeing an explicit EOF.
+pub struct FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    inner: BytesReader<&'a mut Reader<'r>, PadPar>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.len() == 0
+    }
+
+    pub fn len(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.inner.len()
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> AsyncRead for FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    fn poll_read(
+        self: Pin<&mut Self>,
+        cx: &mut task::Context,
+        buf: &mut io::ReadBuf,
+    ) -> Poll<io::Result<()>> {
+        Pin::new(&mut self.get_mut().inner).poll_read(cx, buf)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> AsyncBufRead for FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    fn poll_fill_buf(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut task::Context) -> Poll<io::Result<&[u8]>> {
+        Pin::new(&mut self.get_mut().inner).poll_fill_buf(cx)
+    }
+
+    fn consume(self: Pin<&mut Self>, amt: usize) {
+        Pin::new(&mut self.get_mut().inner).consume(amt)
+    }
+}
+
+/// A directory iterator, yielding a sequence of [Node]s.
+/// It must be fully consumed before reading further from the [DirReader] that produced it, if any.
+pub struct DirReader<'a, 'r> {
+    reader: &'a mut Reader<'r>,
+    /// Previous directory entry name.
+    /// We have to hang onto this to enforce name monotonicity.
+    prev_name: Vec<u8>,
+}
+
+pub struct Entry<'a, 'r> {
+    pub name: &'a [u8],
+    pub node: Node<'a, 'r>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> DirReader<'a, 'r> {
+    fn new(reader: &'a mut Reader<'r>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            reader,
+            prev_name: vec![],
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Read the next [Entry] from the directory.
+    ///
+    /// We explicitly don't implement [Iterator], since treating this as
+    /// a regular Rust iterator will surely lead you astray.
+    ///
+    ///  * You must always consume the entire iterator, unless you abandon the entire archive reader.
+    ///  * You must abandon the entire archive reader on the first error.
+    ///  * You must abandon the directory reader upon the first [None].
+    ///  * Even if you know the amount of elements up front, you must keep reading until you encounter [None].
+    pub async fn next(&mut self) -> io::Result<Option<Entry<'_, 'r>>> {
+        // COME FROM the previous iteration: if we've already read an entry,
+        // read its terminating TOK_PAR here.
+        if !self.prev_name.is_empty() {
+            read::token(self.reader, &nar::wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+        }
+
+        if let nar::wire::Entry::None = read::tag(self.reader).await? {
+            return Ok(None);
+        }
+
+        let mut name = [MaybeUninit::uninit(); nar::wire::MAX_NAME_LEN + 1];
+        let name =
+            wire::read_bytes_buf(self.reader, &mut name, 1..=nar::wire::MAX_NAME_LEN).await?;
+
+        if name.contains(&0) || name.contains(&b'/') || name == b"." || name == b".." {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+
+        // Enforce strict monotonicity of directory entry names.
+        if &self.prev_name[..] >= name {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+
+        self.prev_name.clear();
+        self.prev_name.extend_from_slice(name);
+
+        read::token(self.reader, &nar::wire::TOK_NOD).await?;
+
+        Ok(Some(Entry {
+            name: &self.prev_name,
+            node: Node::new(self.reader).await?,
+        }))
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/read.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/read.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2adf894922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/read.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+use tokio::io::{
+    self, AsyncReadExt,
+    ErrorKind::{InvalidData, UnexpectedEof},
+};
+
+use crate::nar::wire::Tag;
+
+use super::Reader;
+
+/// Consume a known token from the reader.
+pub async fn token<const N: usize>(reader: &mut Reader<'_>, token: &[u8; N]) -> io::Result<()> {
+    let mut buf = [0u8; N];
+
+    // This implements something similar to [AsyncReadExt::read_exact], but verifies that
+    // the input data matches the token while we read it. These two slices respectively
+    // represent the remaining token to be verified, and the remaining input buffer.
+    let mut token = &token[..];
+    let mut buf = &mut buf[..];
+
+    while !token.is_empty() {
+        match reader.read(buf).await? {
+            0 => {
+                return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+            }
+            n => {
+                let (t, b);
+                (t, token) = token.split_at(n);
+                (b, buf) = buf.split_at_mut(n);
+
+                if t != b {
+                    return Err(InvalidData.into());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Consume a [Tag] from the reader.
+pub async fn tag<T: Tag>(reader: &mut Reader<'_>) -> io::Result<T> {
+    let mut buf = T::make_buf();
+    let buf = buf.as_mut();
+
+    // first read the known minimum length…
+    reader.read_exact(&mut buf[..T::MIN]).await?;
+
+    // then decide which tag we're expecting
+    let tag = T::from_u8(buf[T::OFF]).ok_or(InvalidData)?;
+    let (head, tail) = tag.as_bytes().split_at(T::MIN);
+
+    // make sure what we've read so far is valid
+    if buf[..T::MIN] != *head {
+        return Err(InvalidData.into());
+    }
+
+    // …then read the rest, if any
+    if !tail.is_empty() {
+        let rest = tail.len();
+        reader.read_exact(&mut buf[..rest]).await?;
+
+        // and make sure it's what we expect
+        if buf[..rest] != *tail {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(tag)
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/test.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bc1f8942f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/async/test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,310 @@
+use tokio::io::AsyncReadExt;
+
+mod nar {
+    pub use crate::nar::reader::r#async as reader;
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn symlink() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/symlink.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Symlink { target } => {
+            assert_eq!(
+                &b"/nix/store/somewhereelse"[..],
+                &target,
+                "target must match"
+            );
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn file() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/helloworld.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::File {
+            executable,
+            mut reader,
+        } => {
+            assert!(!executable);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            reader
+                .read_to_end(&mut buf)
+                .await
+                .expect("read must succeed");
+            assert_eq!(&b"Hello World!"[..], &buf);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn complicated() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            )
+            .await;
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut subdir_reader) => {
+                        {
+                            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+                            let entry = subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .await
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .expect("must be some");
+
+                            must_read_file(".keep", entry).await;
+                        }
+
+                        // we must read the None
+                        assert!(
+                            subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .await
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .is_none(),
+                            "keep directory contains only .keep"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // reading more entries yields None (and we actually must read until this)
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().await.expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[should_panic]
+#[ignore = "TODO: async poisoning"]
+async fn file_read_abandoned() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            {
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b".keep", entry.name);
+                // don't bother to finish reading it.
+            };
+
+            // this should panic (not return an error), because we are meant to abandon the archive reader now.
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().await.expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[should_panic]
+#[ignore = "TODO: async poisoning"]
+async fn dir_read_abandoned() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            )
+            .await;
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(_) => {
+                        // don't finish using it, which poisons the archive reader
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // this should panic, because we didn't finish reading the child subdirectory
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().await.expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+#[should_panic]
+#[ignore = "TODO: async poisoning"]
+async fn dir_read_after_none() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).await.unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            )
+            .await;
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .await
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut subdir_reader) => {
+                        // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+                        must_read_file(
+                            ".keep",
+                            subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .await
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .expect("must be some"),
+                        )
+                        .await;
+
+                        // we must read the None
+                        assert!(
+                            subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .await
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .is_none(),
+                            "keep directory contains only .keep"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // reading more entries yields None (and we actually must read until this)
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().await.expect("must succeed").is_none());
+
+            // this should panic, because we already got a none so we're meant to stop.
+            dir_reader.next().await.unwrap();
+            unreachable!()
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+async fn must_read_file(name: &'static str, entry: nar::reader::Entry<'_, '_>) {
+    assert_eq!(name.as_bytes(), entry.name);
+
+    match entry.node {
+        nar::reader::Node::File {
+            executable,
+            mut reader,
+        } => {
+            assert!(!executable);
+            assert_eq!(reader.read(&mut [0]).await.unwrap(), 0);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type for {}", name),
+    }
+}
+
+fn must_be_symlink(
+    name: &'static str,
+    exp_target: &'static str,
+    entry: nar::reader::Entry<'_, '_>,
+) {
+    assert_eq!(name.as_bytes(), entry.name);
+
+    match entry.node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Symlink { target } => {
+            assert_eq!(exp_target.as_bytes(), &target);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type for {}", name),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/mod.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7e9143c8f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,477 @@
+//! Parser for the Nix archive format, aka NAR.
+//!
+//! NAR files (and their hashed representations) are used in C++ Nix for
+//! a variety of things, including addressing fixed-output derivations
+//! and transferring store paths between Nix stores.
+
+use std::io::{
+    self, BufRead,
+    ErrorKind::{InvalidData, UnexpectedEof},
+    Read, Write,
+};
+
+#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+use std::marker::PhantomData;
+
+// Required reading for understanding this module.
+use crate::nar::wire;
+
+#[cfg(all(feature = "async", feature = "wire"))]
+pub mod r#async;
+
+mod read;
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test;
+
+pub type Reader<'a> = dyn BufRead + Send + 'a;
+
+struct ArchiveReader<'a, 'r> {
+    inner: &'a mut Reader<'r>,
+
+    /// In debug mode, also track when we need to abandon this archive reader.
+    /// The archive reader must be abandoned when:
+    ///   * An error is encountered at any point
+    ///   * A file or directory reader is dropped before being read entirely.
+    /// All of these checks vanish in release mode.
+    status: ArchiveReaderStatus<'a>,
+}
+
+macro_rules! try_or_poison {
+    ($it:expr, $ex:expr) => {
+        match $ex {
+            Ok(x) => x,
+            Err(e) => {
+                $it.status.poison();
+                return Err(e.into());
+            }
+        }
+    };
+}
+/// Start reading a NAR file from `reader`.
+pub fn open<'a, 'r>(reader: &'a mut Reader<'r>) -> io::Result<Node<'a, 'r>> {
+    read::token(reader, &wire::TOK_NAR)?;
+    Node::new(ArchiveReader {
+        inner: reader,
+        status: ArchiveReaderStatus::top(),
+    })
+}
+
+pub enum Node<'a, 'r> {
+    Symlink {
+        target: Vec<u8>,
+    },
+    File {
+        executable: bool,
+        reader: FileReader<'a, 'r>,
+    },
+    Directory(DirReader<'a, 'r>),
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> Node<'a, 'r> {
+    /// Start reading a [Node], matching the next [wire::Node].
+    ///
+    /// Reading the terminating [wire::TOK_PAR] is done immediately for [Node::Symlink],
+    /// but is otherwise left to [DirReader] or [FileReader].
+    fn new(mut reader: ArchiveReader<'a, 'r>) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        Ok(match read::tag(reader.inner)? {
+            wire::Node::Sym => {
+                let target =
+                    try_or_poison!(reader, read::bytes(reader.inner, wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN));
+
+                if target.is_empty() || target.contains(&0) {
+                    reader.status.poison();
+                    return Err(InvalidData.into());
+                }
+
+                try_or_poison!(reader, read::token(reader.inner, &wire::TOK_PAR));
+                reader.status.ready_parent(); // Immediately allow reading from parent again
+
+                Node::Symlink { target }
+            }
+            tag @ (wire::Node::Reg | wire::Node::Exe) => {
+                let len = try_or_poison!(&mut reader, read::u64(reader.inner));
+
+                Node::File {
+                    executable: tag == wire::Node::Exe,
+                    reader: FileReader::new(reader, len)?,
+                }
+            }
+            wire::Node::Dir => Node::Directory(DirReader::new(reader)),
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+/// File contents, readable through the [Read] trait.
+///
+/// It comes with some caveats:
+///  * You must always read the entire file, unless you intend to abandon the entire archive reader.
+///  * You must abandon the entire archive reader upon the first error.
+///
+/// It's fine to read exactly `reader.len()` bytes without ever seeing an explicit EOF.
+pub struct FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    reader: ArchiveReader<'a, 'r>,
+    len: u64,
+    /// Truncated original file length for padding computation.
+    /// We only care about the 3 least significant bits; semantically, this is a u3.
+    pad: u8,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> FileReader<'a, 'r> {
+    /// Instantiate a new reader, starting after [wire::TOK_REG] or [wire::TOK_EXE].
+    /// We handle the terminating [wire::TOK_PAR] on semantic EOF.
+    fn new(mut reader: ArchiveReader<'a, 'r>, len: u64) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        // For zero-length files, we have to read the terminating TOK_PAR
+        // immediately, since FileReader::read may never be called; we've
+        // already reached semantic EOF by definition.
+        if len == 0 {
+            read::token(reader.inner, &wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+            reader.status.ready_parent();
+        }
+
+        Ok(Self {
+            reader,
+            len,
+            pad: len as u8,
+        })
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.len == 0
+    }
+
+    pub fn len(&self) -> u64 {
+        self.len
+    }
+}
+
+impl FileReader<'_, '_> {
+    /// Equivalent to [BufRead::fill_buf]
+    ///
+    /// We can't directly implement [BufRead], because [FileReader::consume] needs
+    /// to perform fallible I/O.
+    pub fn fill_buf(&mut self) -> io::Result<&[u8]> {
+        if self.is_empty() {
+            return Ok(&[]);
+        }
+
+        self.reader.check_correct();
+
+        let mut buf = try_or_poison!(self.reader, self.reader.inner.fill_buf());
+
+        if buf.is_empty() {
+            self.reader.status.poison();
+            return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+        }
+
+        if buf.len() as u64 > self.len {
+            buf = &buf[..self.len as usize];
+        }
+
+        Ok(buf)
+    }
+
+    /// Analogous to [BufRead::consume], differing only in that it needs
+    /// to perform I/O in order to read padding and terminators.
+    pub fn consume(&mut self, n: usize) -> io::Result<()> {
+        if n == 0 {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        self.reader.check_correct();
+
+        self.len = self
+            .len
+            .checked_sub(n as u64)
+            .expect("consumed bytes past EOF");
+
+        self.reader.inner.consume(n);
+
+        if self.is_empty() {
+            self.finish()?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Copy the (remaining) contents of the file into `dst`.
+    pub fn copy(&mut self, mut dst: impl Write) -> io::Result<()> {
+        while !self.is_empty() {
+            let buf = self.fill_buf()?;
+            let n = try_or_poison!(self.reader, dst.write(buf));
+            self.consume(n)?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+impl Read for FileReader<'_, '_> {
+    fn read(&mut self, mut buf: &mut [u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+        if buf.is_empty() || self.is_empty() {
+            return Ok(0);
+        }
+
+        self.reader.check_correct();
+
+        if buf.len() as u64 > self.len {
+            buf = &mut buf[..self.len as usize];
+        }
+
+        let n = try_or_poison!(self.reader, self.reader.inner.read(buf));
+        self.len -= n as u64;
+
+        if n == 0 {
+            self.reader.status.poison();
+            return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+        }
+
+        if self.is_empty() {
+            self.finish()?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(n)
+    }
+}
+
+impl FileReader<'_, '_> {
+    /// We've reached semantic EOF, consume and verify the padding and terminating TOK_PAR.
+    /// Files are padded to 64 bits (8 bytes), just like any other byte string in the wire format.
+    fn finish(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        let pad = (self.pad & 7) as usize;
+
+        if pad != 0 {
+            let mut buf = [0; 8];
+            try_or_poison!(self.reader, self.reader.inner.read_exact(&mut buf[pad..]));
+
+            if buf != [0; 8] {
+                self.reader.status.poison();
+                return Err(InvalidData.into());
+            }
+        }
+
+        try_or_poison!(self.reader, read::token(self.reader.inner, &wire::TOK_PAR));
+
+        // Done with reading this file, allow going back up the chain of readers
+        self.reader.status.ready_parent();
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+/// A directory iterator, yielding a sequence of [Node]s.
+/// It must be fully consumed before reading further from the [DirReader] that produced it, if any.
+pub struct DirReader<'a, 'r> {
+    reader: ArchiveReader<'a, 'r>,
+    /// Previous directory entry name.
+    /// We have to hang onto this to enforce name monotonicity.
+    prev_name: Vec<u8>,
+}
+
+pub struct Entry<'a, 'r> {
+    pub name: &'a [u8],
+    pub node: Node<'a, 'r>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> DirReader<'a, 'r> {
+    fn new(reader: ArchiveReader<'a, 'r>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            reader,
+            prev_name: vec![],
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Read the next [Entry] from the directory.
+    ///
+    /// We explicitly don't implement [Iterator], since treating this as
+    /// a regular Rust iterator will surely lead you astray.
+    ///
+    ///  * You must always consume the entire iterator, unless you abandon the entire archive reader.
+    ///  * You must abandon the entire archive reader on the first error.
+    ///  * You must abandon the directory reader upon the first [None].
+    ///  * Even if you know the amount of elements up front, you must keep reading until you encounter [None].
+    #[allow(clippy::should_implement_trait)]
+    pub fn next(&mut self) -> io::Result<Option<Entry<'_, 'r>>> {
+        self.reader.check_correct();
+
+        // COME FROM the previous iteration: if we've already read an entry,
+        // read its terminating TOK_PAR here.
+        if !self.prev_name.is_empty() {
+            try_or_poison!(self.reader, read::token(self.reader.inner, &wire::TOK_PAR));
+        }
+
+        // Determine if there are more entries to follow
+        if let wire::Entry::None = try_or_poison!(self.reader, read::tag(self.reader.inner)) {
+            // We've reached the end of this directory.
+            self.reader.status.ready_parent();
+            return Ok(None);
+        }
+
+        let mut name = [0; wire::MAX_NAME_LEN + 1];
+        let name = try_or_poison!(
+            self.reader,
+            read::bytes_buf(self.reader.inner, &mut name, wire::MAX_NAME_LEN)
+        );
+
+        if name.is_empty()
+            || name.contains(&0)
+            || name.contains(&b'/')
+            || name == b"."
+            || name == b".."
+        {
+            self.reader.status.poison();
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+
+        // Enforce strict monotonicity of directory entry names.
+        if &self.prev_name[..] >= name {
+            self.reader.status.poison();
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+
+        self.prev_name.clear();
+        self.prev_name.extend_from_slice(name);
+
+        try_or_poison!(self.reader, read::token(self.reader.inner, &wire::TOK_NOD));
+
+        Ok(Some(Entry {
+            name: &self.prev_name,
+            // Don't need to worry about poisoning here: Node::new will do it for us if needed
+            node: Node::new(self.reader.child())?,
+        }))
+    }
+}
+
+/// We use a stack of statuses to:
+///   * Share poisoned state across all objects from the same underlying reader,
+///     so we can check they are abandoned when an error occurs
+///   * Make sure only the most recently created object is read from, and is fully exhausted
+///     before anything it was created from is used again.
+enum ArchiveReaderStatus<'a> {
+    #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+    None(PhantomData<&'a ()>),
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    StackTop { poisoned: bool, ready: bool },
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    StackChild {
+        poisoned: &'a mut bool,
+        parent_ready: &'a mut bool,
+        ready: bool,
+    },
+}
+
+impl ArchiveReaderStatus<'_> {
+    fn top() -> Self {
+        #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+        {
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop {
+                poisoned: false,
+                ready: true,
+            }
+        }
+
+        #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+        ArchiveReaderStatus::None(PhantomData)
+    }
+
+    /// Poison all the objects sharing the same reader, to be used when an error occurs
+    fn poison(&mut self) {
+        match self {
+            #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::None(_) => {}
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop { poisoned: x, .. } => *x = true,
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild { poisoned: x, .. } => **x = true,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Mark the parent as ready, allowing it to be used again and preventing this reference to the reader being used again.
+    fn ready_parent(&mut self) {
+        match self {
+            #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::None(_) => {}
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop { ready, .. } => {
+                *ready = false;
+            }
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild {
+                ready,
+                parent_ready,
+                ..
+            } => {
+                *ready = false;
+                **parent_ready = true;
+            }
+        };
+    }
+
+    fn poisoned(&self) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::None(_) => false,
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop { poisoned, .. } => *poisoned,
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild { poisoned, .. } => **poisoned,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn ready(&self) -> bool {
+        match self {
+            #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::None(_) => true,
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop { ready, .. } => *ready,
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild { ready, .. } => *ready,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'r> ArchiveReader<'a, 'r> {
+    /// Create a new child reader from this one.
+    /// In debug mode, this reader will panic if called before the new child is exhausted / calls `ready_parent`
+    fn child(&mut self) -> ArchiveReader<'_, 'r> {
+        ArchiveReader {
+            inner: self.inner,
+            #[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+            status: ArchiveReaderStatus::None(PhantomData),
+            #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+            status: match &mut self.status {
+                ArchiveReaderStatus::StackTop { poisoned, ready } => {
+                    *ready = false;
+                    ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild {
+                        poisoned,
+                        parent_ready: ready,
+                        ready: true,
+                    }
+                }
+                ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild {
+                    poisoned, ready, ..
+                } => {
+                    *ready = false;
+                    ArchiveReaderStatus::StackChild {
+                        poisoned,
+                        parent_ready: ready,
+                        ready: true,
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Check the reader is in the correct status.
+    /// Only does anything when debug assertions are on.
+    #[inline(always)]
+    fn check_correct(&self) {
+        assert!(
+            !self.status.poisoned(),
+            "Archive reader used after it was meant to be abandoned!"
+        );
+        assert!(
+            self.status.ready(),
+            "Non-ready archive reader used! (Should've been reading from something else)"
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/read.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/read.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9938581f2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/read.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+//! Helpers for reading [crate::nar::wire] format.
+
+use std::io::{
+    self,
+    ErrorKind::{Interrupted, InvalidData, UnexpectedEof},
+};
+
+use super::Reader;
+use crate::nar::wire::Tag;
+
+/// Consume a little-endian [prim@u64] from the reader.
+pub fn u64(reader: &mut Reader) -> io::Result<u64> {
+    let mut buf = [0; 8];
+    reader.read_exact(&mut buf)?;
+    Ok(u64::from_le_bytes(buf))
+}
+
+/// Consume a byte string from the reader into a provided buffer,
+/// returning the data bytes.
+pub fn bytes_buf<'a, const N: usize>(
+    reader: &mut Reader,
+    buf: &'a mut [u8; N],
+    max_len: usize,
+) -> io::Result<&'a [u8]> {
+    assert_eq!(N % 8, 0);
+    assert!(max_len <= N);
+
+    // read the length, and reject excessively large values
+    let len = self::u64(reader)?;
+    if len > max_len as u64 {
+        return Err(InvalidData.into());
+    }
+    // we know the length fits in a usize now
+    let len = len as usize;
+
+    // read the data and padding into a buffer
+    let buf_len = (len + 7) & !7;
+    reader.read_exact(&mut buf[..buf_len])?;
+
+    // verify that the padding is all zeroes
+    for &b in &buf[len..buf_len] {
+        if b != 0 {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(&buf[..len])
+}
+
+/// Consume a byte string of up to `max_len` bytes from the reader.
+pub fn bytes(reader: &mut Reader, max_len: usize) -> io::Result<Vec<u8>> {
+    assert!(max_len <= isize::MAX as usize);
+
+    // read the length, and reject excessively large values
+    let len = self::u64(reader)?;
+    if len > max_len as u64 {
+        return Err(InvalidData.into());
+    }
+    // we know the length fits in a usize now
+    let len = len as usize;
+
+    // read the data and padding into a buffer
+    let buf_len = (len + 7) & !7;
+    let mut buf = vec![0; buf_len];
+    reader.read_exact(&mut buf)?;
+
+    // verify that the padding is all zeroes
+    for b in buf.drain(len..) {
+        if b != 0 {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(buf)
+}
+
+/// Consume a known token from the reader.
+pub fn token<const N: usize>(reader: &mut Reader, token: &[u8; N]) -> io::Result<()> {
+    let mut buf = [0u8; N];
+
+    // This implements something similar to [Read::read_exact], but verifies that
+    // the input data matches the token while we read it. These two slices respectively
+    // represent the remaining token to be verified, and the remaining input buffer.
+    let mut token = &token[..];
+    let mut buf = &mut buf[..];
+
+    while !token.is_empty() {
+        match reader.read(buf) {
+            Ok(0) => {
+                return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+            }
+            Ok(n) => {
+                let (t, b);
+                (t, token) = token.split_at(n);
+                (b, buf) = buf.split_at_mut(n);
+
+                if t != b {
+                    return Err(InvalidData.into());
+                }
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                if e.kind() != Interrupted {
+                    return Err(e);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Consume a [Tag] from the reader.
+pub fn tag<T: Tag>(reader: &mut Reader) -> io::Result<T> {
+    let mut buf = T::make_buf();
+    let buf = buf.as_mut();
+
+    // first read the known minimum length…
+    reader.read_exact(&mut buf[..T::MIN])?;
+
+    // then decide which tag we're expecting
+    let tag = T::from_u8(buf[T::OFF]).ok_or(InvalidData)?;
+    let (head, tail) = tag.as_bytes().split_at(T::MIN);
+
+    // make sure what we've read so far is valid
+    if buf[..T::MIN] != *head {
+        return Err(InvalidData.into());
+    }
+
+    // …then read the rest, if any
+    if !tail.is_empty() {
+        let rest = tail.len();
+        reader.read_exact(&mut buf[..rest])?;
+
+        // and make sure it's what we expect
+        if buf[..rest] != *tail {
+            return Err(InvalidData.into());
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(tag)
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/test.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..63e4fb289f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/reader/test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+use std::io::Read;
+
+use crate::nar;
+
+#[test]
+fn symlink() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/symlink.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Symlink { target } => {
+            assert_eq!(
+                &b"/nix/store/somewhereelse"[..],
+                &target,
+                "target must match"
+            );
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn file() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/helloworld.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::File {
+            executable,
+            mut reader,
+        } => {
+            assert!(!executable);
+            let mut buf = vec![];
+            reader.read_to_end(&mut buf).expect("read must succeed");
+            assert_eq!(&b"Hello World!"[..], &buf);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn complicated() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut subdir_reader) => {
+                        {
+                            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+                            let entry = subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .expect("must be some");
+
+                            must_read_file(".keep", entry);
+                        }
+
+                        // we must read the None
+                        assert!(
+                            subdir_reader.next().expect("next must succeed").is_none(),
+                            "keep directory contains only .keep"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // reading more entries yields None (and we actually must read until this)
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[should_panic]
+fn file_read_abandoned() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            {
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b".keep", entry.name);
+                // don't bother to finish reading it.
+            };
+
+            // this should panic (not return an error), because we are meant to abandon the archive reader now.
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[should_panic]
+fn dir_read_abandoned() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(_) => {
+                        // don't finish using it, which poisons the archive reader
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // this should panic, because we didn't finish reading the child subdirectory
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().expect("must succeed").is_none());
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[should_panic]
+fn dir_read_after_none() {
+    let mut f = std::io::Cursor::new(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"));
+    let node = nar::reader::open(&mut f).unwrap();
+
+    match node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut dir_reader) => {
+            // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+            must_read_file(
+                ".keep",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must succeed")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            // second entry is aa, a symlink to /nix/store/somewhereelse
+            must_be_symlink(
+                "aa",
+                "/nix/store/somewhereelse",
+                dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some"),
+            );
+
+            {
+                // third entry is a directory called "keep"
+                let entry = dir_reader
+                    .next()
+                    .expect("next must be some")
+                    .expect("must be some");
+
+                assert_eq!(b"keep", entry.name);
+
+                match entry.node {
+                    nar::reader::Node::Directory(mut subdir_reader) => {
+                        // first entry is .keep, an empty regular file.
+                        must_read_file(
+                            ".keep",
+                            subdir_reader
+                                .next()
+                                .expect("next must succeed")
+                                .expect("must be some"),
+                        );
+
+                        // we must read the None
+                        assert!(
+                            subdir_reader.next().expect("next must succeed").is_none(),
+                            "keep directory contains only .keep"
+                        );
+                    }
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected type for keep/.keep"),
+                }
+            };
+
+            // reading more entries yields None (and we actually must read until this)
+            assert!(dir_reader.next().expect("must succeed").is_none());
+
+            // this should panic, because we already got a none so we're meant to stop.
+            dir_reader.next().unwrap();
+            unreachable!()
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type"),
+    }
+}
+
+fn must_read_file(name: &'static str, entry: nar::reader::Entry<'_, '_>) {
+    assert_eq!(name.as_bytes(), entry.name);
+
+    match entry.node {
+        nar::reader::Node::File {
+            executable,
+            mut reader,
+        } => {
+            assert!(!executable);
+            assert_eq!(reader.read(&mut [0]).unwrap(), 0);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type for {}", name),
+    }
+}
+
+fn must_be_symlink(
+    name: &'static str,
+    exp_target: &'static str,
+    entry: nar::reader::Entry<'_, '_>,
+) {
+    assert_eq!(name.as_bytes(), entry.name);
+
+    match entry.node {
+        nar::reader::Node::Symlink { target } => {
+            assert_eq!(exp_target.as_bytes(), &target);
+        }
+        _ => panic!("unexpected type for {}", name),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/complicated.nar b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/complicated.nar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a137f5fbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/complicated.nar
Binary files differdiff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/helloworld.nar b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/helloworld.nar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2e12681152
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/helloworld.nar
Binary files differdiff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/symlink.nar b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/symlink.nar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7990e4ad5b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/tests/symlink.nar
Binary files differdiff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/mod.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26da04e67c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+//! NAR wire format, without I/O details, since those differ between
+//! the synchronous and asynchronous implementations.
+//!
+//! The wire format is an S-expression format, encoded onto the wire
+//! using simple encoding rules.
+//!
+//! # Encoding
+//!
+//! Lengths are represented as 64-bit unsigned integers in little-endian
+//! format. Byte strings, including file contents and syntactic strings
+//! part of the grammar, are prefixed by their 64-bit length, and padded
+//! to 8-byte (64-bit) alignment with zero bytes. The zero-length string
+//! is therefore encoded as eight zero bytes representing its length.
+//!
+//! # Grammar
+//!
+//! The NAR grammar is as follows:
+//! ```plain
+//! archive ::= "nix-archive-1" node
+//!
+//! node ::= "(" "type" "symlink" "target" string ")"
+//!      ||= "(" "type" "regular" ("executable" "")? "contents" string ")"
+//!      ||= "(" "type" "directory" entry* ")"
+//!
+//! entry ::= "entry" "(" "name" string "node" node ")"
+//! ```
+//!
+//! We rewrite it to pull together the purely syntactic elements into
+//! unified tokens, producing an equivalent grammar that can be parsed
+//! and serialized more elegantly:
+//! ```plain
+//! archive ::= TOK_NAR node
+//! node ::= TOK_SYM string             TOK_PAR
+//!      ||= (TOK_REG | TOK_EXE) string TOK_PAR
+//!      ||= TOK_DIR entry*             TOK_PAR
+//!
+//! entry ::= TOK_ENT string TOK_NOD node TOK_PAR
+//!
+//! TOK_NAR ::= "nix-archive-1" "(" "type"
+//! TOK_SYM ::= "symlink" "target"
+//! TOK_REG ::= "regular" "contents"
+//! TOK_EXE ::= "regular" "executable" ""
+//! TOK_DIR ::= "directory"
+//! TOK_ENT ::= "entry" "(" "name"
+//! TOK_NOD ::= "node" "(" "type"
+//! TOK_PAR ::= ")"
+//! ```
+//!
+//! # Restrictions
+//!
+//! NOTE: These restrictions are not (and cannot be) enforced by this module,
+//! but must be enforced by its consumers, [super::reader] and [super::writer].
+//!
+//! Directory entry names cannot have the reserved names `.` and `..`, nor contain
+//! forward slashes. They must appear in strictly ascending lexicographic order
+//! within a directory, and can be at most [MAX_NAME_LEN] bytes in length.
+//!
+//! Symlink targets can be at most [MAX_TARGET_LEN] bytes in length.
+//!
+//! Neither is permitted to be empty, or contain null bytes.
+
+// These values are the standard Linux length limits
+/// Maximum length of a directory entry name
+pub const MAX_NAME_LEN: usize = 255;
+/// Maximum length of a symlink target
+pub const MAX_TARGET_LEN: usize = 4095;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+fn token(xs: &[&str]) -> Vec<u8> {
+    let mut out = vec![];
+    for x in xs {
+        let len = x.len() as u64;
+        out.extend_from_slice(&len.to_le_bytes());
+        out.extend_from_slice(x.as_bytes());
+
+        let n = x.len() & 7;
+        if n != 0 {
+            const ZERO: [u8; 8] = [0; 8];
+            out.extend_from_slice(&ZERO[n..]);
+        }
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+pub const TOK_NAR: [u8; 56] = *b"\x0d\0\0\0\0\0\0\0nix-archive-1\0\0\0\x01\0\0\0\0\0\0\0(\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x04\0\0\0\0\0\0\0type\0\0\0\0";
+pub const TOK_SYM: [u8; 32] = *b"\x07\0\0\0\0\0\0\0symlink\0\x06\0\0\0\0\0\0\0target\0\0";
+pub const TOK_REG: [u8; 32] = *b"\x07\0\0\0\0\0\0\0regular\0\x08\0\0\0\0\0\0\0contents";
+pub const TOK_EXE: [u8; 64] = *b"\x07\0\0\0\0\0\0\0regular\0\x0a\0\0\0\0\0\0\0executable\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x08\0\0\0\0\0\0\0contents";
+pub const TOK_DIR: [u8; 24] = *b"\x09\0\0\0\0\0\0\0directory\0\0\0\0\0\0\0";
+pub const TOK_ENT: [u8; 48] = *b"\x05\0\0\0\0\0\0\0entry\0\0\0\x01\0\0\0\0\0\0\0(\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x04\0\0\0\0\0\0\0name\0\0\0\0";
+pub const TOK_NOD: [u8; 48] = *b"\x04\0\0\0\0\0\0\0node\0\0\0\0\x01\0\0\0\0\0\0\0(\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x04\0\0\0\0\0\0\0type\0\0\0\0";
+pub const TOK_PAR: [u8; 16] = *b"\x01\0\0\0\0\0\0\0)\0\0\0\0\0\0\0";
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+const TOK_PAD_PAR: [u8; 24] = *b"\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x01\0\0\0\0\0\0\0)\0\0\0\0\0\0\0";
+
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub(crate) enum PadPar {}
+
+#[cfg(all(feature = "async", feature = "wire"))]
+impl crate::wire::reader::Tag for PadPar {
+    const PATTERN: &'static [u8] = &TOK_PAD_PAR;
+
+    type Buf = [u8; 24];
+
+    fn make_buf() -> Self::Buf {
+        [0; 24]
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn tokens() {
+    let cases: &[(&[u8], &[&str])] = &[
+        (&TOK_NAR, &["nix-archive-1", "(", "type"]),
+        (&TOK_SYM, &["symlink", "target"]),
+        (&TOK_REG, &["regular", "contents"]),
+        (&TOK_EXE, &["regular", "executable", "", "contents"]),
+        (&TOK_DIR, &["directory"]),
+        (&TOK_ENT, &["entry", "(", "name"]),
+        (&TOK_NOD, &["node", "(", "type"]),
+        (&TOK_PAR, &[")"]),
+    ];
+
+    for &(tok, xs) in cases {
+        assert_eq!(tok, token(xs));
+    }
+}
+
+pub use tag::Tag;
+mod tag;
+
+tag::make! {
+    /// These are the node tokens, succeeding [TOK_NAR] or [TOK_NOD],
+    /// and preceding the next variable-length element.
+    pub enum Node[16] {
+        Sym = TOK_SYM,
+        Reg = TOK_REG,
+        Exe = TOK_EXE,
+        Dir = TOK_DIR,
+    }
+
+    /// Directory entry or terminator
+    pub enum Entry[0] {
+        /// End of directory
+        None = TOK_PAR,
+        /// Directory entry
+        /// Followed by a name string, [TOK_NOD], and a [Node].
+        Some = TOK_ENT,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/tag.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/tag.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4982a0d707
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/wire/tag.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+/// A type implementing Tag represents a static hash set of byte strings,
+/// with a very simple perfect hash function: every element has a unique
+/// discriminant at a common byte offset. The values of the type represent
+/// the members by this single discriminant byte; they are indices into the
+/// hash set.
+pub trait Tag: Sized {
+    /// Discriminant offset
+    const OFF: usize;
+    /// Minimum variant length
+    const MIN: usize;
+
+    /// Minimal suitably sized buffer for reading the wire representation
+    ///
+    /// HACK: This is a workaround for const generics limitations.
+    type Buf: AsMut<[u8]> + Send;
+
+    /// Make an instance of [Self::Buf]
+    fn make_buf() -> Self::Buf;
+
+    /// Convert a discriminant into the corresponding variant
+    fn from_u8(x: u8) -> Option<Self>;
+
+    /// Convert a variant back into the wire representation
+    fn as_bytes(&self) -> &'static [u8];
+}
+
+/// Generate an enum implementing [Tag], enforcing at compile time that
+/// the discriminant values are distinct.
+macro_rules! make {
+    (
+        $(
+            $(#[doc = $doc:expr])*
+            $vis:vis enum $Enum:ident[$off:expr] {
+                $(
+                    $(#[doc = $var_doc:expr])*
+                    $Var:ident = $TOK:ident,
+                )+
+            }
+        )*
+    ) => {
+        $(
+            $(#[doc = $doc])*
+            #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+            #[repr(u8)]
+            $vis enum $Enum {
+                $(
+                    $(#[doc = $var_doc])*
+                    $Var = $TOK[$Enum::OFF]
+                ),+
+            }
+
+            impl Tag for $Enum {
+                /// Discriminant offset
+                const OFF: usize = $off;
+                /// Minimum variant length
+                const MIN: usize = tag::min_of(&[$($TOK.len()),+]);
+
+                /// Minimal suitably sized buffer for reading the wire representation
+                type Buf = [u8; tag::buf_of(&[$($TOK.len()),+])];
+
+                /// Make an instance of [Self::Buf]
+                #[inline(always)]
+                fn make_buf() -> Self::Buf {
+                    [0u8; tag::buf_of(&[$($TOK.len()),+])]
+                }
+
+                /// Convert a discriminant into the corresponding variant
+                #[inline(always)]
+                fn from_u8(x: u8) -> Option<Self> {
+                    #[allow(non_upper_case_globals)]
+                    mod __variant {
+                        $(
+                            pub const $Var: u8 = super::$Enum::$Var as u8;
+                        )+
+                    }
+
+                    match x {
+                        $(__variant::$Var => Some(Self::$Var),)+
+                        _ => None
+                    }
+                }
+
+                /// Convert a variant back into the wire representation
+                #[inline(always)]
+                fn as_bytes(&self) -> &'static [u8] {
+                    match self {
+                        $(Self::$Var => &$TOK,)+
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        )*
+    };
+}
+
+// The following functions are written somewhat unusually,
+// since they're const functions that cannot use iterators.
+
+/// Maximum element of a slice
+const fn max_of(mut xs: &[usize]) -> usize {
+    let mut y = usize::MIN;
+    while let &[x, ref tail @ ..] = xs {
+        y = if x > y { x } else { y };
+        xs = tail;
+    }
+    y
+}
+
+/// Minimum element of a slice
+pub const fn min_of(mut xs: &[usize]) -> usize {
+    let mut y = usize::MAX;
+    while let &[x, ref tail @ ..] = xs {
+        y = if x < y { x } else { y };
+        xs = tail;
+    }
+    y
+}
+
+/// Minimum buffer size to contain either of `0..Tag::MIN` and `Tag::MIN..`
+/// at a particular time, for all possible tag wire representations, given
+/// the sizes of all wire representations.
+///
+/// # Example
+///
+/// ```plain
+/// OFF = 16
+/// MIN = 24
+/// MAX = 64
+///
+/// BUF = max(MIN, MAX-MIN)
+///     = max(24, 64-24)
+///     = max(24, 40)
+///     = 40
+/// ```
+pub const fn buf_of(xs: &[usize]) -> usize {
+    max_of(&[min_of(xs), max_of(xs) - min_of(xs)])
+}
+
+pub(crate) use make;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::super::tag::{self, Tag};
+
+    const TOK_A: [u8; 3] = [0xed, 0xef, 0x1c];
+    const TOK_B: [u8; 3] = [0xed, 0xf0, 0x1c];
+
+    const OFFSET: usize = 1;
+
+    make! {
+        enum Token[OFFSET] {
+            A = TOK_A,
+            B = TOK_B,
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn example() {
+        assert_eq!(Token::from_u8(0xed), None);
+
+        let tag = Token::from_u8(0xef).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tag.as_bytes(), &TOK_A[..]);
+
+        let tag = Token::from_u8(0xf0).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tag.as_bytes(), &TOK_B[..]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/async.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/async.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2ce68fc3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/async.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+//! Implements an interface for writing the Nix archive format (NAR).
+//!
+//! NAR files (and their hashed representations) are used in C++ Nix for
+//! addressing fixed-output derivations and a variety of other things.
+//!
+//! NAR files can be output to any type that implements [`AsyncWrite`], and content
+//! can be read from any type that implementes [`AsyncBufRead`].
+//!
+//! Writing a single file might look like this:
+//!
+//! ```rust
+//! # futures::executor::block_on(async {
+//! # use tokio::io::BufReader;
+//! # let some_file: Vec<u8> = vec![0, 1, 2, 3, 4];
+//!
+//! // Output location to write the NAR to.
+//! let mut sink: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+//!
+//! // Instantiate writer for this output location.
+//! let mut nar = nix_compat::nar::writer::r#async::open(&mut sink).await?;
+//!
+//! // Acquire metadata for the single file to output, and pass it in a
+//! // `BufRead`-implementing type.
+//!
+//! let executable = false;
+//! let size = some_file.len() as u64;
+//! let mut reader = BufReader::new(some_file.as_slice());
+//! nar.file(executable, size, &mut reader).await?;
+//! # Ok::<(), std::io::Error>(())
+//! # });
+//! ```
+
+use crate::nar::wire;
+use std::{
+    io::{
+        self,
+        ErrorKind::{InvalidInput, UnexpectedEof},
+    },
+    pin::Pin,
+};
+use tokio::io::{AsyncBufRead, AsyncBufReadExt, AsyncWrite, AsyncWriteExt};
+
+/// Convenience type alias for types implementing [`AsyncWrite`].
+pub type Writer<'a> = dyn AsyncWrite + Unpin + Send + 'a;
+
+/// Create a new NAR, writing the output to the specified writer.
+pub async fn open<'a, 'w: 'a>(writer: &'a mut Writer<'w>) -> io::Result<Node<'a, 'w>> {
+    let mut node = Node { writer };
+    node.write(&wire::TOK_NAR).await?;
+    Ok(node)
+}
+
+/// Single node in a NAR file.
+///
+/// A NAR can be thought of as a tree of nodes represented by this type. Each
+/// node can be a file, a symlink or a directory containing other nodes.
+pub struct Node<'a, 'w: 'a> {
+    writer: &'a mut Writer<'w>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'w> Node<'a, 'w> {
+    async fn write(&mut self, data: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.writer.write_all(data).await
+    }
+
+    async fn pad(&mut self, n: u64) -> io::Result<()> {
+        match (n & 7) as usize {
+            0 => Ok(()),
+            n => self.write(&[0; 8][n..]).await,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a symlink.
+    pub async fn symlink(mut self, target: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        debug_assert!(
+            target.len() <= wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN,
+            "target.len() > {}",
+            wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN
+        );
+        debug_assert!(!target.is_empty(), "target is empty");
+        debug_assert!(!target.contains(&0), "target contains null byte");
+
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_SYM).await?;
+        self.write(&target.len().to_le_bytes()).await?;
+        self.write(target).await?;
+        self.pad(target.len() as u64).await?;
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a single file.
+    pub async fn file(
+        mut self,
+        executable: bool,
+        size: u64,
+        reader: &mut (dyn AsyncBufRead + Unpin + Send),
+    ) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.write(if executable {
+            &wire::TOK_EXE
+        } else {
+            &wire::TOK_REG
+        })
+        .await?;
+
+        self.write(&size.to_le_bytes()).await?;
+
+        let mut need = size;
+        while need != 0 {
+            let data = reader.fill_buf().await?;
+
+            if data.is_empty() {
+                return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+            }
+
+            let n = need.min(data.len() as u64) as usize;
+            self.write(&data[..n]).await?;
+
+            need -= n as u64;
+            Pin::new(&mut *reader).consume(n);
+        }
+
+        // bail if there's still data left in the passed reader.
+        // This uses the same code as [BufRead::has_data_left] (unstable).
+        if reader.fill_buf().await.map(|b| !b.is_empty())? {
+            return Err(io::Error::new(
+                InvalidInput,
+                "reader contained more data than specified size",
+            ));
+        }
+
+        self.pad(size).await?;
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a directory, the content of which is set using the
+    /// resulting [`Directory`] value.
+    ///
+    /// It is the caller's responsibility to invoke [`Directory::close`],
+    /// or invalid archives will be produced silently.
+    pub async fn directory(mut self) -> io::Result<Directory<'a, 'w>> {
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_DIR).await?;
+        Ok(Directory::new(self))
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+type Name = Vec<u8>;
+#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+type Name = ();
+
+fn into_name(_name: &[u8]) -> Name {
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    _name.to_owned()
+}
+
+/// Content of a NAR node that represents a directory.
+pub struct Directory<'a, 'w> {
+    node: Node<'a, 'w>,
+    prev_name: Option<Name>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'w> Directory<'a, 'w> {
+    fn new(node: Node<'a, 'w>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            node,
+            prev_name: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Add an entry to the directory.
+    ///
+    /// The entry is simply another [`Node`], which can then be filled like the
+    /// root of a NAR (including, of course, by nesting directories).
+    ///
+    /// It is the caller's responsibility to ensure that directory entries are
+    /// written in order of ascending name. If this is not ensured, this method
+    /// may panic or silently produce invalid archives.
+    pub async fn entry(&mut self, name: &[u8]) -> io::Result<Node<'_, 'w>> {
+        debug_assert!(
+            name.len() <= wire::MAX_NAME_LEN,
+            "name.len() > {}",
+            wire::MAX_NAME_LEN
+        );
+        debug_assert!(!name.is_empty(), "name is empty");
+        debug_assert!(!name.contains(&0), "name contains null byte");
+        debug_assert!(!name.contains(&b'/'), "name contains {:?}", '/');
+        debug_assert!(name != b".", "name == {:?}", ".");
+        debug_assert!(name != b"..", "name == {:?}", "..");
+
+        match self.prev_name {
+            None => {
+                self.prev_name = Some(into_name(name));
+            }
+            Some(ref mut _prev_name) => {
+                #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+                {
+                    use bstr::ByteSlice;
+                    assert!(
+                        &**_prev_name < name,
+                        "misordered names: {:?} >= {:?}",
+                        _prev_name.as_bstr(),
+                        name.as_bstr()
+                    );
+                    name.clone_into(_prev_name);
+                }
+                self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+            }
+        }
+
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_ENT).await?;
+        self.node.write(&name.len().to_le_bytes()).await?;
+        self.node.write(name).await?;
+        self.node.pad(name.len() as u64).await?;
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_NOD).await?;
+
+        Ok(Node {
+            writer: &mut *self.node.writer,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Close a directory and write terminators for the directory to the NAR.
+    ///
+    /// **Important:** This *must* be called when all entries have been written
+    /// in a directory, otherwise the resulting NAR file will be invalid.
+    pub async fn close(mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        if self.prev_name.is_some() {
+            self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+        }
+
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR).await?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/mod.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fe8ccccb37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+pub use sync::*;
+
+pub mod sync;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+pub mod r#async;
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/sync.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/sync.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6270129028
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/sync.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+//! Implements an interface for writing the Nix archive format (NAR).
+//!
+//! NAR files (and their hashed representations) are used in C++ Nix for
+//! addressing fixed-output derivations and a variety of other things.
+//!
+//! NAR files can be output to any type that implements [`Write`], and content
+//! can be read from any type that implementes [`BufRead`].
+//!
+//! Writing a single file might look like this:
+//!
+//! ```rust
+//! # use std::io::BufReader;
+//! # let some_file: Vec<u8> = vec![0, 1, 2, 3, 4];
+//!
+//! // Output location to write the NAR to.
+//! let mut sink: Vec<u8> = Vec::new();
+//!
+//! // Instantiate writer for this output location.
+//! let mut nar = nix_compat::nar::writer::open(&mut sink)?;
+//!
+//! // Acquire metadata for the single file to output, and pass it in a
+//! // `BufRead`-implementing type.
+//!
+//! let executable = false;
+//! let size = some_file.len() as u64;
+//! let mut reader = BufReader::new(some_file.as_slice());
+//! nar.file(executable, size, &mut reader)?;
+//! # Ok::<(), std::io::Error>(())
+//! ```
+
+use crate::nar::wire;
+use std::io::{
+    self, BufRead,
+    ErrorKind::{InvalidInput, UnexpectedEof},
+    Write,
+};
+
+/// Convenience type alias for types implementing [`Write`].
+pub type Writer<'a> = dyn Write + Send + 'a;
+
+/// Create a new NAR, writing the output to the specified writer.
+pub fn open<'a, 'w: 'a>(writer: &'a mut Writer<'w>) -> io::Result<Node<'a, 'w>> {
+    let mut node = Node { writer };
+    node.write(&wire::TOK_NAR)?;
+    Ok(node)
+}
+
+/// Single node in a NAR file.
+///
+/// A NAR can be thought of as a tree of nodes represented by this type. Each
+/// node can be a file, a symlink or a directory containing other nodes.
+pub struct Node<'a, 'w: 'a> {
+    writer: &'a mut Writer<'w>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'w> Node<'a, 'w> {
+    fn write(&mut self, data: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.writer.write_all(data)
+    }
+
+    fn pad(&mut self, n: u64) -> io::Result<()> {
+        match (n & 7) as usize {
+            0 => Ok(()),
+            n => self.write(&[0; 8][n..]),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a symlink.
+    pub fn symlink(mut self, target: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        debug_assert!(
+            target.len() <= wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN,
+            "target.len() > {}",
+            wire::MAX_TARGET_LEN
+        );
+        debug_assert!(!target.is_empty(), "target is empty");
+        debug_assert!(!target.contains(&0), "target contains null byte");
+
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_SYM)?;
+        self.write(&target.len().to_le_bytes())?;
+        self.write(target)?;
+        self.pad(target.len() as u64)?;
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a single file.
+    pub fn file(mut self, executable: bool, size: u64, reader: &mut dyn BufRead) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.write(if executable {
+            &wire::TOK_EXE
+        } else {
+            &wire::TOK_REG
+        })?;
+
+        self.write(&size.to_le_bytes())?;
+
+        let mut need = size;
+        while need != 0 {
+            let data = reader.fill_buf()?;
+
+            if data.is_empty() {
+                return Err(UnexpectedEof.into());
+            }
+
+            let n = need.min(data.len() as u64) as usize;
+            self.write(&data[..n])?;
+
+            need -= n as u64;
+            reader.consume(n);
+        }
+
+        // bail if there's still data left in the passed reader.
+        // This uses the same code as [BufRead::has_data_left] (unstable).
+        if reader.fill_buf().map(|b| !b.is_empty())? {
+            return Err(io::Error::new(
+                InvalidInput,
+                "reader contained more data than specified size",
+            ));
+        }
+
+        self.pad(size)?;
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    /// Make this node a directory, the content of which is set using the
+    /// resulting [`Directory`] value.
+    ///
+    /// It is the caller's responsibility to invoke [`Directory::close`],
+    /// or invalid archives will be produced silently.
+    pub fn directory(mut self) -> io::Result<Directory<'a, 'w>> {
+        self.write(&wire::TOK_DIR)?;
+        Ok(Directory::new(self))
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+type Name = Vec<u8>;
+#[cfg(not(debug_assertions))]
+type Name = ();
+
+fn into_name(_name: &[u8]) -> Name {
+    #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+    _name.to_owned()
+}
+
+/// Content of a NAR node that represents a directory.
+pub struct Directory<'a, 'w> {
+    node: Node<'a, 'w>,
+    prev_name: Option<Name>,
+}
+
+impl<'a, 'w> Directory<'a, 'w> {
+    fn new(node: Node<'a, 'w>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            node,
+            prev_name: None,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Add an entry to the directory.
+    ///
+    /// The entry is simply another [`Node`], which can then be filled like the
+    /// root of a NAR (including, of course, by nesting directories).
+    ///
+    /// It is the caller's responsibility to ensure that directory entries are
+    /// written in order of ascending name. If this is not ensured, this method
+    /// may panic or silently produce invalid archives.
+    pub fn entry(&mut self, name: &[u8]) -> io::Result<Node<'_, 'w>> {
+        debug_assert!(
+            name.len() <= wire::MAX_NAME_LEN,
+            "name.len() > {}",
+            wire::MAX_NAME_LEN
+        );
+        debug_assert!(!name.is_empty(), "name is empty");
+        debug_assert!(!name.contains(&0), "name contains null byte");
+        debug_assert!(!name.contains(&b'/'), "name contains {:?}", '/');
+        debug_assert!(name != b".", "name == {:?}", ".");
+        debug_assert!(name != b"..", "name == {:?}", "..");
+
+        match self.prev_name {
+            None => {
+                self.prev_name = Some(into_name(name));
+            }
+            Some(ref mut _prev_name) => {
+                #[cfg(debug_assertions)]
+                {
+                    use bstr::ByteSlice;
+                    assert!(
+                        &**_prev_name < name,
+                        "misordered names: {:?} >= {:?}",
+                        _prev_name.as_bstr(),
+                        name.as_bstr()
+                    );
+                    name.clone_into(_prev_name);
+                }
+                self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+            }
+        }
+
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_ENT)?;
+        self.node.write(&name.len().to_le_bytes())?;
+        self.node.write(name)?;
+        self.node.pad(name.len() as u64)?;
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_NOD)?;
+
+        Ok(Node {
+            writer: &mut *self.node.writer,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Close a directory and write terminators for the directory to the NAR.
+    ///
+    /// **Important:** This *must* be called when all entries have been written
+    /// in a directory, otherwise the resulting NAR file will be invalid.
+    pub fn close(mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+        if self.prev_name.is_some() {
+            self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+        }
+
+        self.node.write(&wire::TOK_PAR)?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/test.rs b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d7f18a49af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tvix/nix-compat/src/nar/writer/test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+use crate::nar;
+
+#[test]
+fn symlink() {
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+    let node = nar::writer::open(&mut buf).unwrap();
+
+    node.symlink("/nix/store/somewhereelse".as_bytes()).unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/symlink.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn symlink_async() {
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+
+    let node = nar::writer::r#async::open(&mut buf).await.unwrap();
+    node.symlink("/nix/store/somewhereelse".as_bytes())
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/symlink.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn file() {
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+    let node = nar::writer::open(&mut buf).unwrap();
+
+    let file_contents = "Hello World!".to_string();
+    node.file(
+        false,
+        file_contents.len() as u64,
+        &mut std::io::Cursor::new(file_contents),
+    )
+    .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/helloworld.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn file_async() {
+    use std::io::Cursor;
+
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+
+    let node = nar::writer::r#async::open(&mut buf).await.unwrap();
+
+    let file_contents = "Hello World!".to_string();
+    node.file(
+        false,
+        file_contents.len() as u64,
+        &mut Cursor::new(file_contents),
+    )
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/helloworld.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn complicated() {
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+    let node = nar::writer::open(&mut buf).unwrap();
+
+    let mut dir_node = node.directory().unwrap();
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry(".keep".as_bytes()).unwrap();
+    e.file(false, 0, &mut std::io::Cursor::new([]))
+        .expect("read .keep must succeed");
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry("aa".as_bytes()).unwrap();
+    e.symlink("/nix/store/somewhereelse".as_bytes())
+        .expect("symlink must succeed");
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry("keep".as_bytes()).unwrap();
+    let mut subdir_node = e.directory().expect("directory must succeed");
+
+    let e_sub = subdir_node
+        .entry(".keep".as_bytes())
+        .expect("subdir entry must succeed");
+    e_sub.file(false, 0, &mut std::io::Cursor::new([])).unwrap();
+
+    // close the subdir, and then the dir, which is required.
+    subdir_node.close().unwrap();
+    dir_node.close().unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "async")]
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn complicated_async() {
+    use std::io::Cursor;
+
+    let mut buf = vec![];
+
+    let node = nar::writer::r#async::open(&mut buf).await.unwrap();
+
+    let mut dir_node = node.directory().await.unwrap();
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry(".keep".as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
+    e.file(false, 0, &mut Cursor::new([]))
+        .await
+        .expect("read .keep must succeed");
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry("aa".as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
+    e.symlink("/nix/store/somewhereelse".as_bytes())
+        .await
+        .expect("symlink must succeed");
+
+    let e = dir_node.entry("keep".as_bytes()).await.unwrap();
+    let mut subdir_node = e.directory().await.expect("directory must succeed");
+
+    let e_sub = subdir_node
+        .entry(".keep".as_bytes())
+        .await
+        .expect("subdir entry must succeed");
+    e_sub.file(false, 0, &mut Cursor::new([])).await.unwrap();
+
+    // close the subdir, and then the dir, which is required.
+    subdir_node.close().await.unwrap();
+    dir_node.close().await.unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(include_bytes!("../tests/complicated.nar"), buf.as_slice());
+}