{
  "slug": "inode",
  "term": "Inode",
  "aliases": [
    "index node"
  ],
  "definition": "An inode is a filesystem object that holds a file's metadata and has a filesystem-local number, distinct from the directory names and open file descriptions that refer to the file.",
  "note": "On Linux, stat() exposes the inode number as st_ino, the containing device as st_dev, and the hard-link count as st_nlink. Inode numbers alone are not unique across filesystems. A pathname replacement can select a different inode while an existing descriptor still refers to the previous file; inode identity is therefore different from pathname identity and from a content version.",
  "advantages": [
    "Separates file metadata and identity from the names used to reach a file."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "An inode number alone is not a globally unique or permanent content identifier.",
    "Matching inode identity does not imply unchanged file contents or a shared open file description."
  ],
  "related": [
    "hard-link",
    "unlink",
    "atomic-rename",
    "open-file-description"
  ],
  "status": "shipping",
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "updated": "2026-10-15",
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "linux-inode-7",
      "title": "Linux man-pages 6.19: inode(7)",
      "url": "https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/inode.7.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-15"
    },
    {
      "id": "linux-stat-3type",
      "title": "Linux man-pages 6.19: stat(3type)",
      "url": "https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/stat.3type.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-15"
    },
    {
      "id": "linux-open-2",
      "title": "Linux man-pages 6.19: open(2)",
      "url": "https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/open.2.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-15"
    },
    {
      "id": "hesela-namespace",
      "title": "Hesela: The name changes; existing readers do not",
      "url": "https://hesela.com/analyses/atomic-rename-directory-durability/#namespace-identity",
      "accessed": "2026-10-15"
    }
  ]
}