diff --git a/rhodecode/__init__.py b/rhodecode/__init__.py
index 4a06569f..732b082b 100644
--- a/rhodecode/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/__init__.py
@@ -45,13 +45,20 @@ CELERY_EAGER = False
 # link to config for pyramid
 CONFIG = {}
 
+class NotGivenMeta:
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return 'NotGivenObject()'
+    __str__ = __repr__
+
+NotGiven = NotGivenMeta()
 
 class ConfigGet:
-    NotGiven = object()
 
-    def _get_val_or_missing(self, key, missing):
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_val_or_missing(cls, key, missing):
         if key not in CONFIG:
-            if missing == self.NotGiven:
+            if missing != NotGiven:
                 return missing
             # we don't get key, we don't get missing value, return nothing similar as config.get(key)
             return None
@@ -74,6 +81,12 @@ class ConfigGet:
         val = self._get_val_or_missing(key, missing)
         return str2bool(val)
 
+    def get_list(self, key, missing=NotGiven):
+        from rhodecode.lib.type_utils import aslist
+        val = self._get_val_or_missing(key, missing)
+        return aslist(val, sep=',')
+
+
 # Populated with the settings dictionary from application init in
 # rhodecode.conf.environment.load_pyramid_environment
 PYRAMID_SETTINGS = {}
diff --git a/rhodecode/api/tests/test_get_repo_comments.py b/rhodecode/api/tests/test_get_repo_comments.py
index a5d5d44e..09375f4c 100644
--- a/rhodecode/api/tests/test_get_repo_comments.py
+++ b/rhodecode/api/tests/test_get_repo_comments.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.model.db import User, ChangesetComment
 from rhodecode.model.meta import Session
 from rhodecode.model.comment import CommentsModel
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ def make_repo_comments_factory(request):
             commit = repo.scm_instance()[0]
 
             commit_id = commit.raw_id
-            file_0 = commit.affected_files[0]
+            file_0 = safe_str(commit.affected_files[0])
             comments = []
 
             # general
diff --git a/rhodecode/api/views/repo_api.py b/rhodecode/api/views/repo_api.py
index f4fac27e..60ee6b64 100644
--- a/rhodecode/api/views/repo_api.py
+++ b/rhodecode/api/views/repo_api.py
@@ -317,8 +317,7 @@ def get_repo_changeset(request, apiuser, repoid, revision,
                 ','.join(_changes_details_types)))
 
     vcs_repo = repo.scm_instance()
-    pre_load = ['author', 'branch', 'date', 'message', 'parents',
-                'status', '_commit', '_file_paths']
+    pre_load = ['author', 'branch', 'date', 'message', 'parents', 'status', '_commit']
 
     try:
         commit = repo.get_commit(commit_id=revision, pre_load=pre_load)
@@ -376,8 +375,7 @@ def get_repo_changesets(request, apiuser, repoid, start_rev, limit,
                 ','.join(_changes_details_types)))
 
     limit = int(limit)
-    pre_load = ['author', 'branch', 'date', 'message', 'parents',
-                'status', '_commit', '_file_paths']
+    pre_load = ['author', 'branch', 'date', 'message', 'parents', 'status', '_commit']
 
     vcs_repo = repo.scm_instance()
     # SVN needs a special case to distinguish its index and commit id
diff --git a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_changelog.py b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_changelog.py
index 3c82f5ad..d5878a25 100644
--- a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_changelog.py
+++ b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_changelog.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.auth import (
 from rhodecode.lib.graphmod import _colored, _dagwalker
 from rhodecode.lib.helpers import RepoPage
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import str2bool
-from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_int, safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_int, safe_str, safe_bytes
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
     RepositoryError, CommitDoesNotExistError,
     CommitError, NodeDoesNotExistError, EmptyRepositoryError)
@@ -204,10 +204,9 @@ class RepoChangelogView(RepoAppView):
                 log.debug('generating changelog for path %s', f_path)
                 # get the history for the file !
                 base_commit = self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id)
-
+                bytes_path = safe_bytes(f_path)
                 try:
-                    collection = base_commit.get_path_history(
-                        f_path, limit=hist_limit, pre_load=pre_load)
+                    collection = base_commit.get_path_history(bytes_path, limit=hist_limit, pre_load=pre_load)
                     if collection and partial_xhr:
                         # for ajax call we remove first one since we're looking
                         # at it right now in the context of a file commit
@@ -216,7 +215,7 @@ class RepoChangelogView(RepoAppView):
                     # this node is not present at tip!
                     try:
                         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-                        collection = commit.get_path_history(f_path)
+                        collection = commit.get_path_history(bytes_path)
                     except RepositoryError as e:
                         h.flash(safe_str(e), category='warning')
                         redirect_url = h.route_path(
@@ -310,9 +309,8 @@ class RepoChangelogView(RepoAppView):
                 log.exception(safe_str(e))
                 raise HTTPFound(
                     h.route_path('repo_commits', repo_name=self.db_repo_name))
-
-            collection = base_commit.get_path_history(
-                f_path, limit=hist_limit, pre_load=pre_load)
+            bytes_path = safe_bytes(f_path)
+            collection = base_commit.get_path_history(bytes_path, limit=hist_limit, pre_load=pre_load)
             collection = list(reversed(collection))
         else:
             collection = self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commits(
diff --git a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_commits.py b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_commits.py
index aeb2e082..76acd50f 100644
--- a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_commits.py
+++ b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_commits.py
@@ -89,8 +89,7 @@ class RepoCommitsView(RepoAppView):
         commit_range = commit_id_range.split('...')[:2]
 
         try:
-            pre_load = ['affected_files', 'author', 'branch', 'date',
-                        'message', 'parents']
+            pre_load = ['author', 'branch', 'date', 'message', 'parents']
             if self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.alias == 'hg':
                 pre_load += ['hidden', 'obsolete', 'phase']
 
@@ -100,8 +99,7 @@ class RepoCommitsView(RepoAppView):
                     pre_load=pre_load, translate_tags=False)
                 commits = list(commits)
             else:
-                commits = [self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(
-                    commit_id=commit_id_range, pre_load=pre_load)]
+                commits = [self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id_range, pre_load=pre_load)]
 
             c.commit_ranges = commits
             if not c.commit_ranges:
diff --git a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_files.py b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_files.py
index ab46c1b5..e1ba3261 100644
--- a/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_files.py
+++ b/rhodecode/apps/repository/views/repo_files.py
@@ -187,12 +187,14 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         default_commit_id = self.db_repo.landing_ref_name
         default_f_path = '/'
 
-        commit_id = self.request.matchdict.get(
-            'commit_id', default_commit_id)
+        commit_id = self.request.matchdict.get('commit_id', default_commit_id)
         f_path = self._get_f_path(self.request.matchdict, default_f_path)
-        return commit_id, f_path
 
-    def _get_default_encoding(self, c):
+        bytes_path = safe_bytes(f_path)
+        return commit_id, f_path, bytes_path
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_default_encoding(cls, c):
         enc_list = getattr(c, 'default_encodings', [])
         return enc_list[0] if enc_list else 'UTF-8'
 
@@ -361,21 +363,21 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         from rhodecode import CONFIG
         _ = self.request.translate
         self.load_default_context()
-        default_at_path = '/'
-        fname = self.request.matchdict['fname']
+
         subrepos = self.request.GET.get('subrepos') == 'true'
         with_hash = str2bool(self.request.GET.get('with_hash', '1'))
+
+        default_at_path = '/'
+        fname = self.request.matchdict['fname']
         at_path = self.request.GET.get('at_path') or default_at_path
 
         if not self.db_repo.enable_downloads:
             return Response(_('Downloads disabled'))
 
         try:
-            commit_id, ext, fileformat, content_type = \
-                _get_archive_spec(fname)
+            commit_id, ext, file_format, content_type = _get_archive_spec(fname)
         except ValueError:
-            return Response(_('Unknown archive type for: `{}`').format(
-                h.escape(fname)))
+            return Response(_('Unknown archive type for: `{}`').format(h.escape(fname)))
 
         try:
             commit = self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id)
@@ -391,7 +393,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
             raise HTTPFound(self.request.current_route_path(fname=fname))
 
         try:
-            at_path = commit.get_node(at_path).path or default_at_path
+            at_path = commit.get_node(safe_bytes(at_path)).path or default_at_path
         except Exception:
             return Response(_('No node at path {} for this repository').format(h.escape(at_path)))
 
@@ -440,7 +442,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
                 with d_cache.get_lock(reentrant_lock_key):
                     try:
                         commit.archive_repo(archive_name_key, archive_dir_name=archive_dir_name,
-                                            kind=fileformat, subrepos=subrepos,
+                                            kind=file_format, subrepos=subrepos,
                                             archive_at_path=at_path, cache_config=d_cache_conf)
                     except ImproperArchiveTypeError:
                         return _('Unknown archive type')
@@ -484,7 +486,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         if commit_id not in ['', None, 'None', '0' * 12, '0' * 40]:
             commit = self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
             try:
-                node = commit.get_node(f_path)
+                node = commit.get_node(safe_bytes(f_path))
                 if node.is_dir():
                     raise NodeError(f'{node} path is a {type(node)} not a file')
             except NodeDoesNotExistError:
@@ -648,7 +650,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         # overwrite auto rendering by setting this GET flag
         c.renderer = view_name == 'repo_files:rendered' or not self.request.GET.get('no-render', False)
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         c.commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
         c.branch = self.request.GET.get('branch', None)
@@ -657,7 +659,8 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
 
         # files or dirs
         try:
-            c.file = c.commit.get_node(f_path, pre_load=['is_binary', 'size', 'data'])
+
+            c.file = c.commit.get_node(bytes_path, pre_load=['is_binary', 'size', 'data'])
 
             c.file_author = True
             c.file_tree = ''
@@ -666,11 +669,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
             try:
                 prev_commit = c.commit.prev(c.branch)
                 c.prev_commit = prev_commit
-                c.url_prev = h.route_path(
-                    'repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name,
-                    commit_id=prev_commit.raw_id, f_path=f_path)
+                c.url_prev = h.route_path('repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name, commit_id=prev_commit.raw_id, f_path=f_path)
                 if c.branch:
-                    c.url_prev += '?branch=%s' % c.branch
+                    c.url_prev += f'?branch={c.branch}'
             except (CommitDoesNotExistError, VCSError):
                 c.url_prev = '#'
                 c.prev_commit = EmptyCommit()
@@ -679,11 +680,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
             try:
                 next_commit = c.commit.next(c.branch)
                 c.next_commit = next_commit
-                c.url_next = h.route_path(
-                    'repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name,
-                    commit_id=next_commit.raw_id, f_path=f_path)
+                c.url_next = h.route_path('repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name, commit_id=next_commit.raw_id, f_path=f_path)
                 if c.branch:
-                    c.url_next += '?branch=%s' % c.branch
+                    c.url_next += f'?branch={c.branch}'
             except (CommitDoesNotExistError, VCSError):
                 c.url_next = '#'
                 c.next_commit = EmptyCommit()
@@ -739,8 +738,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
                 c.file_tree = self._get_tree_at_commit(c, c.commit.raw_id, f_path, at_rev=at_rev)
 
                 c.readme_data, c.readme_file = \
-                    self._get_readme_data(self.db_repo, c.visual.default_renderer,
-                                          c.commit.raw_id, f_path)
+                    self._get_readme_data(self.db_repo, c.visual.default_renderer, c.commit.raw_id, bytes_path)
 
         except RepositoryError as e:
             h.flash(h.escape(safe_str(e)), category='error')
@@ -759,24 +757,24 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_annotated_previous(self):
         self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, bytes_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
         prev_commit_id = commit.raw_id
         line_anchor = self.request.GET.get('line_anchor')
         is_file = False
         try:
-            _file = commit.get_node(f_path)
+            _file = commit.get_node(bytes_path)
             is_file = _file.is_file()
         except (NodeDoesNotExistError, CommitDoesNotExistError, VCSError):
             pass
 
         if is_file:
-            history = commit.get_path_history(f_path)
+            history = commit.get_path_history(bytes_path)
             prev_commit_id = history[1].raw_id \
                 if len(history) > 1 else prev_commit_id
         prev_url = h.route_path(
             'repo_files:annotated', repo_name=self.db_repo_name,
-            commit_id=prev_commit_id, f_path=f_path,
+            commit_id=prev_commit_id, f_path=bytes_path,
             _anchor=f'L{line_anchor}')
 
         raise HTTPFound(prev_url)
@@ -792,10 +790,10 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         """
         c = self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
         try:
-            dir_node = commit.get_node(f_path)
+            dir_node = commit.get_node(bytes_path)
         except RepositoryError as e:
             return Response(f'error: {h.escape(safe_str(e))}')
 
@@ -816,9 +814,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         safe_path = f_name.replace('"', '\\"')
         encoded_path = urllib.parse.quote(f_name)
 
-        headers = "attachment; " \
-                  "filename=\"{}\"; " \
-                  "filename*=UTF-8\'\'{}".format(safe_path, encoded_path)
+        headers = f"attachment; " \
+                  f"filename=\"{safe_path}\"; " \
+                  f"filename*=UTF-8\'\'{encoded_path}"
 
         return header_safe_str(headers)
 
@@ -832,9 +830,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         """
         c = self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, f_path)
+        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, bytes_path)
 
         raw_mimetype_mapping = {
             # map original mimetype to a mimetype used for "show as raw"
@@ -892,9 +890,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_file_download(self):
         c = self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, f_path)
+        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, bytes_path)
 
         if self.request.GET.get('lf'):
             # only if lf get flag is passed, we download this file
@@ -920,8 +918,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
 
     def _get_nodelist_at_commit(self, repo_name, repo_id, commit_id, f_path):
 
-        cache_seconds = safe_int(
-            rhodecode.CONFIG.get('rc_cache.cache_repo.expiration_time'))
+        cache_seconds = rhodecode.ConfigGet().get_int('rc_cache.cache_repo.expiration_time')
         cache_on = cache_seconds > 0
         log.debug(
             'Computing FILE SEARCH for repo_id %s commit_id `%s` and path `%s`'
@@ -933,21 +930,17 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
 
         @region.conditional_cache_on_arguments(namespace=cache_namespace_uid, condition=cache_on)
         def compute_file_search(_name_hash, _repo_id, _commit_id, _f_path):
-            log.debug('Generating cached nodelist for repo_id:%s, %s, %s',
-                      _repo_id, commit_id, f_path)
+            log.debug('Generating cached nodelist for repo_id:%s, %s, %s', _repo_id, commit_id, f_path)
             try:
                 _d, _f = ScmModel().get_quick_filter_nodes(repo_name, _commit_id, _f_path)
             except (RepositoryError, CommitDoesNotExistError, Exception) as e:
                 log.exception(safe_str(e))
                 h.flash(h.escape(safe_str(e)), category='error')
-                raise HTTPFound(h.route_path(
-                    'repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name,
-                    commit_id='tip', f_path='/'))
+                raise HTTPFound(h.route_path('repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name, commit_id='tip', f_path='/'))
 
             return _d + _f
 
-        result = compute_file_search(self.db_repo.repo_name_hash, self.db_repo.repo_id,
-                                     commit_id, f_path)
+        result = compute_file_search(self.db_repo.repo_name_hash, self.db_repo.repo_id, commit_id, f_path)
         return filter(lambda n: self.path_filter.path_access_allowed(n['name']), result)
 
     @LoginRequired()
@@ -956,7 +949,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_nodelist(self):
         self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
 
         metadata = self._get_nodelist_at_commit(
@@ -996,10 +989,10 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         if commits is None:
             pre_load = ["author", "branch"]
             try:
-                commits = tip.get_path_history(f_path, pre_load=pre_load)
+                commits = tip.get_path_history(safe_bytes(f_path), pre_load=pre_load)
             except (NodeDoesNotExistError, CommitError):
                 # this node is not present at tip!
-                commits = commit_obj.get_path_history(f_path, pre_load=pre_load)
+                commits = commit_obj.get_path_history(safe_bytes(f_path), pre_load=pre_load)
 
         history = []
         commits_group = ([], _("Changesets"))
@@ -1040,9 +1033,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_file_history(self):
         self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, f_path)
+        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, bytes_path)
 
         if file_node.is_file():
             file_history, _hist = self._get_node_history(commit, f_path)
@@ -1083,9 +1076,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_file_authors(self):
         c = self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, f_path)
+        file_node = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(commit, bytes_path)
 
         if not file_node.is_file():
             raise HTTPBadRequest()
@@ -1124,10 +1117,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_check_head(self):
         self.load_default_context()
 
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
         _branch_name, _sha_commit_id, is_head = \
-            self._is_valid_head(commit_id, self.rhodecode_vcs_repo,
-                                landing_ref=self.db_repo.landing_ref_name)
+            self._is_valid_head(commit_id, self.rhodecode_vcs_repo, landing_ref=self.db_repo.landing_ref_name)
 
         new_path = self.request.POST.get('path')
         operation = self.request.POST.get('operation')
@@ -1138,12 +1130,10 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
             try:
                 commit_obj = self.rhodecode_vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id)
                 # NOTE(dan): construct whole path without leading /
-                file_node = commit_obj.get_node(new_f_path)
-                if file_node is not None:
+                file_node = commit_obj.get_node(safe_bytes(new_f_path))
+                if file_node:
                     path_exist = new_f_path
-            except EmptyRepositoryError:
-                pass
-            except Exception:
+            except (EmptyRepositoryError, NodeDoesNotExistError):
                 pass
 
         return {
@@ -1158,7 +1148,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_remove_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
         _branch_name, _sha_commit_id, is_head = \
@@ -1169,7 +1159,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         self.check_branch_permission(_branch_name)
 
         c.commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, f_path)
+        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, bytes_path)
 
         c.default_message = _(
             'Deleted file {} via RhodeCode Enterprise').format(f_path)
@@ -1184,7 +1174,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         _ = self.request.translate
 
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
         _branch_name, _sha_commit_id, is_head = \
@@ -1195,10 +1185,9 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         self.check_branch_permission(_branch_name)
 
         c.commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, f_path)
+        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, bytes_path)
 
-        c.default_message = _(
-            'Deleted file {} via RhodeCode Enterprise').format(f_path)
+        c.default_message = _('Deleted file {} via RhodeCode Enterprise').format(f_path)
         c.f_path = f_path
         node_path = f_path
         author = self._rhodecode_db_user.full_contact
@@ -1232,7 +1221,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_edit_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
         _branch_name, _sha_commit_id, is_head = \
@@ -1243,7 +1232,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
         self.check_branch_permission(_branch_name, commit_id=commit_id)
 
         c.commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, f_path)
+        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, bytes_path)
 
         if c.file.is_binary:
             files_url = h.route_path(
@@ -1263,12 +1252,12 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_update_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
 
         c.commit = self._get_commit_or_redirect(commit_id)
-        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, f_path)
+        c.file = self._get_filenode_or_redirect(c.commit, bytes_path)
 
         if c.file.is_binary:
             raise HTTPFound(h.route_path('repo_files', repo_name=self.db_repo_name,
@@ -1345,7 +1334,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_add_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
 
@@ -1381,7 +1370,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_create_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
 
@@ -1450,8 +1439,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
                 author=author,
             )
 
-            h.flash(_('Successfully committed new file `{}`').format(
-                    h.escape(node_path)), category='success')
+            h.flash(_('Successfully committed new file `{}`').format(h.escape(node_path)), category='success')
 
             default_redirect_url = h.route_path(
                 'repo_commit', repo_name=self.db_repo_name, commit_id=commit.raw_id)
@@ -1475,7 +1463,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_upload_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
 
@@ -1604,7 +1592,7 @@ class RepoFilesView(RepoAppView):
     def repo_files_replace_file(self):
         _ = self.request.translate
         c = self.load_default_context()
-        commit_id, f_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
+        commit_id, f_path, bytes_path = self._get_commit_and_path()
 
         self._ensure_not_locked()
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/config/utils.py b/rhodecode/config/utils.py
index 82bf62b2..c2d1fbf8 100644
--- a/rhodecode/config/utils.py
+++ b/rhodecode/config/utils.py
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ def configure_vcs(config):
 
     conf.settings.HOOKS_PROTOCOL = config['vcs.hooks.protocol.v2']
     conf.settings.HOOKS_HOST = config['vcs.hooks.host']
-    conf.settings.DEFAULT_ENCODINGS = config['default_encoding']
     conf.settings.ALIASES[:] = config['vcs.backends']
     conf.settings.SVN_COMPATIBLE_VERSION = config['vcs.svn.compatible_version']
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/codeblocks.py b/rhodecode/lib/codeblocks.py
index f0aaf0a8..0a475ae2 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/codeblocks.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/codeblocks.py
@@ -478,7 +478,9 @@ class DiffSet(object):
         log.debug('rendering diff for %r', patch['filename'])
 
         source_filename = patch['original_filename']
+        source_filename_bytes = patch['original_filename_bytes']
         target_filename = patch['filename']
+        target_filename_bytes = patch['filename_bytes']
 
         source_lexer = plain_text_lexer
         target_lexer = plain_text_lexer
@@ -491,12 +493,12 @@ class DiffSet(object):
                 if (source_filename and patch['operation'] in ('D', 'M')
                     and source_filename not in self.source_nodes):
                         self.source_nodes[source_filename] = (
-                            self.source_node_getter(source_filename))
+                            self.source_node_getter(source_filename_bytes))
 
                 if (target_filename and patch['operation'] in ('A', 'M')
                     and target_filename not in self.target_nodes):
                         self.target_nodes[target_filename] = (
-                            self.target_node_getter(target_filename))
+                            self.target_node_getter(target_filename_bytes))
 
             elif hl_mode == self.HL_FAST:
                 source_lexer = self._get_lexer_for_filename(source_filename)
@@ -558,6 +560,7 @@ class DiffSet(object):
         })
 
         file_chunks = patch['chunks'][1:]
+
         for i, hunk in enumerate(file_chunks, 1):
             hunkbit = self.parse_hunk(hunk, source_file, target_file)
             hunkbit.source_file_path = source_file_path
@@ -593,12 +596,13 @@ class DiffSet(object):
         return filediff
 
     def parse_hunk(self, hunk, source_file, target_file):
+
         result = AttributeDict(dict(
             source_start=hunk['source_start'],
             source_length=hunk['source_length'],
             target_start=hunk['target_start'],
             target_length=hunk['target_length'],
-            section_header=hunk['section_header'],
+            section_header=safe_str(hunk['section_header']),
             lines=[],
         ))
         before, after = [], []
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/diffs.py b/rhodecode/lib/diffs.py
index f721cb05..ff310961 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/diffs.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/diffs.py
@@ -455,7 +455,9 @@ class DiffProcessor(object):
             return arg
 
         for chunk in self._diff.chunks():
+            bytes_head = chunk.header
             head = chunk.header_as_str
+
             log.debug('parsing diff chunk %r', chunk)
 
             raw_diff = chunk.raw
@@ -598,10 +600,17 @@ class DiffProcessor(object):
 
             chunks.insert(0, frag)
 
-            original_filename = safe_str(head['a_path'])
+            original_filename = head['a_path']
+            original_filename_bytes = bytes_head['a_path']
+
+            filename = head['b_path']
+            filename_bytes = bytes_head['b_path']
+
             _files.append({
                 'original_filename': original_filename,
-                'filename': safe_str(head['b_path']),
+                'original_filename_bytes': original_filename_bytes,
+                'filename': filename,
+                'filename_bytes': filename_bytes,
                 'old_revision': head['a_blob_id'],
                 'new_revision': head['b_blob_id'],
                 'chunks': chunks,
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/hooks_base.py b/rhodecode/lib/hooks_base.py
index 8931ab71..bb10ee9f 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/hooks_base.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/hooks_base.py
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ def check_locked_repo(extras, check_same_user=True):
     user = User.get_by_username(extras.username)
     output = ''
     if extras.locked_by[0] and (not check_same_user or user.user_id != extras.locked_by[0]):
-
         locked_by = User.get(extras.locked_by[0]).username
         reason = extras.locked_by[2]
         # this exception is interpreted in git/hg middlewares and based
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/str_utils.py b/rhodecode/lib/str_utils.py
index 7f437786..97aa6bd5 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/str_utils.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/str_utils.py
@@ -67,10 +67,7 @@ def base64_to_str(text: str | bytes) -> str:
 
 
 def get_default_encodings() -> list[str]:
-    return aslist(rhodecode.CONFIG.get('default_encoding', 'utf8'), sep=',')
-
-
-DEFAULT_ENCODINGS = get_default_encodings()
+    return rhodecode.ConfigGet().get_list('default_encoding', missing='utf8')
 
 
 def safe_str(str_, to_encoding=None) -> str:
@@ -87,7 +84,7 @@ def safe_str(str_, to_encoding=None) -> str:
     if not isinstance(str_, bytes):
         return str(str_)
 
-    to_encoding = to_encoding or DEFAULT_ENCODINGS
+    to_encoding = to_encoding or get_default_encodings()
     if not isinstance(to_encoding, (list, tuple)):
         to_encoding = [to_encoding]
 
@@ -120,7 +117,7 @@ def safe_bytes(str_, from_encoding=None) -> bytes:
     for enc in from_encoding:
         try:
             return str_.encode(enc)
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+        except (UnicodeDecodeError, UnicodeEncodeError):
             pass
 
     return str_.encode(from_encoding[0], 'replace')
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
index e03c4031..5c3aabd3 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class CurlSession(object):
 
         try:
             curl.perform()
-        except pycurl.error as exc:
+        except pycurl.error:
             log.error('Failed to call endpoint url: %s using pycurl', url)
             raise
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
index 2d0ea95d..a44e7621 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 """
 Base module for all VCS systems
 """
+
 import os
 import re
 import time
@@ -39,19 +40,25 @@ from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import safe_str, CachedProperty
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.utils import author_name, author_email
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.conf import settings
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
-    CommitError, EmptyRepositoryError, NodeAlreadyAddedError,
-    NodeAlreadyChangedError, NodeAlreadyExistsError, NodeAlreadyRemovedError,
-    NodeDoesNotExistError, NodeNotChangedError, VCSError,
-    ImproperArchiveTypeError, BranchDoesNotExistError, CommitDoesNotExistError,
-    RepositoryError)
+    CommitError,
+    EmptyRepositoryError,
+    NodeAlreadyAddedError,
+    NodeAlreadyChangedError,
+    NodeAlreadyExistsError,
+    NodeAlreadyRemovedError,
+    NodeDoesNotExistError,
+    NodeNotChangedError,
+    VCSError,
+    ImproperArchiveTypeError,
+    BranchDoesNotExistError,
+    CommitDoesNotExistError,
+    RepositoryError,
+)
 
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-
-FILEMODE_DEFAULT = 0o100644
-FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE = 0o100755
-EMPTY_COMMIT_ID = '0' * 40
+EMPTY_COMMIT_ID = "0" * 40
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
@@ -67,12 +74,12 @@ class Reference:
 
     @property
     def branch(self):
-        if self.type == 'branch':
+        if self.type == "branch":
             return self.name
 
     @property
     def bookmark(self):
-        if self.type == 'book':
+        if self.type == "book":
             return self.name
 
     @property
@@ -80,11 +87,7 @@ class Reference:
         return reference_to_unicode(self)
 
     def asdict(self):
-        return dict(
-            type=self.type,
-            name=self.name,
-            commit_id=self.commit_id
-        )
+        return dict(type=self.type, name=self.name, commit_id=self.commit_id)
 
 
 def unicode_to_reference(raw: str):
@@ -93,7 +96,7 @@ def unicode_to_reference(raw: str):
     If unicode evaluates to False it returns None.
     """
     if raw:
-        refs = raw.split(':')
+        refs = raw.split(":")
         return Reference(*refs)
     else:
         return None
@@ -105,7 +108,7 @@ def reference_to_unicode(ref: Reference):
     If reference is None it returns None.
     """
     if ref:
-        return ':'.join(ref)
+        return ":".join(ref)
     else:
         return None
 
@@ -194,47 +197,44 @@ class UpdateFailureReason(object):
 
 
 class MergeResponse(object):
-
     # uses .format(**metadata) for variables
     MERGE_STATUS_MESSAGES = {
-        MergeFailureReason.NONE: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request can be automatically merged.'),
+        MergeFailureReason.NONE: lazy_ugettext("This pull request can be automatically merged."),
         MergeFailureReason.UNKNOWN: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because of an unhandled exception. '
-            '{exception}'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because of an unhandled exception. " "{exception}"
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.MERGE_FAILED: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because of merge conflicts. {unresolved_files}'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because of merge conflicts. {unresolved_files}"
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.PUSH_FAILED: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request could not be merged because push to '
-            'target:`{target}@{merge_commit}` failed.'),
+            "This pull request could not be merged because push to " "target:`{target}@{merge_commit}` failed."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.TARGET_IS_NOT_HEAD: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target '
-            '`{target_ref.name}` is not a head.'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the target " "`{target_ref.name}` is not a head."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.HG_SOURCE_HAS_MORE_BRANCHES: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the source contains '
-            'more branches than the target.'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the source contains " "more branches than the target."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.HG_TARGET_HAS_MULTIPLE_HEADS: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target `{target_ref.name}` '
-            'has multiple heads: `{heads}`.'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the target `{target_ref.name}` "
+            "has multiple heads: `{heads}`."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.TARGET_IS_LOCKED: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target repository is '
-            'locked by {locked_by}.'),
-
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the target repository is " "locked by {locked_by}."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.MISSING_TARGET_REF: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target '
-            'reference `{target_ref.name}` is missing.'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the target " "reference `{target_ref.name}` is missing."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.MISSING_SOURCE_REF: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the source '
-            'reference `{source_ref.name}` is missing.'),
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the source " "reference `{source_ref.name}` is missing."
+        ),
         MergeFailureReason.SUBREPO_MERGE_FAILED: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because of conflicts related '
-            'to sub repositories.'),
-
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because of conflicts related " "to sub repositories."
+        ),
         # Deprecations
         MergeFailureReason._DEPRECATED_MISSING_COMMIT: lazy_ugettext(
-            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target or the '
-            'source reference is missing.'),
-
+            "This pull request cannot be merged because the target or the " "source reference is missing."
+        ),
     }
 
     def __init__(self, possible, executed, merge_ref: Reference, failure_reason, metadata=None):
@@ -245,19 +245,20 @@ class MergeResponse(object):
         self.metadata = metadata or {}
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f'<MergeResponse:{self.label} {self.failure_reason}>'
+        return f"<MergeResponse:{self.label} {self.failure_reason}>"
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
         same_instance = isinstance(other, self.__class__)
-        return same_instance \
-               and self.possible == other.possible \
-               and self.executed == other.executed \
-               and self.failure_reason == other.failure_reason
+        return (
+            same_instance
+            and self.possible == other.possible
+            and self.executed == other.executed
+            and self.failure_reason == other.failure_reason
+        )
 
     @property
     def label(self):
-        label_dict = dict((v, k) for k, v in MergeFailureReason.__dict__.items() if
-                          not k.startswith('_'))
+        label_dict = dict((v, k) for k, v in MergeFailureReason.__dict__.items() if not k.startswith("_"))
         return label_dict.get(self.failure_reason)
 
     @property
@@ -270,13 +271,12 @@ class MergeResponse(object):
         try:
             return msg.format(**self.metadata)
         except Exception:
-            log.exception('Failed to format %s message', self)
+            log.exception("Failed to format %s message", self)
             return msg
 
     def asdict(self):
         data = {}
-        for k in ['possible', 'executed', 'merge_ref', 'failure_reason',
-                  'merge_status_message']:
+        for k in ["possible", "executed", "merge_ref", "failure_reason", "merge_status_message"]:
             data[k] = getattr(self, k)
         return data
 
@@ -289,607 +289,7 @@ class SourceRefMissing(ValueError):
     pass
 
 
-class BaseRepository(object):
-    """
-    Base Repository for final backends
-
-    .. attribute:: DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME
-
-       name of default branch (i.e. "trunk" for svn, "master" for git etc.
-
-    .. attribute:: commit_ids
-
-       list of all available commit ids, in ascending order
-
-    .. attribute:: path
-
-       absolute path to the repository
-
-    .. attribute:: bookmarks
-
-       Mapping from name to :term:`Commit ID` of the bookmark. Empty in case
-       there are no bookmarks or the backend implementation does not support
-       bookmarks.
-
-    .. attribute:: tags
-
-       Mapping from name to :term:`Commit ID` of the tag.
-
-    """
-
-    DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME = None
-    DEFAULT_CONTACT = "Unknown"
-    DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION = "unknown"
-    EMPTY_COMMIT_ID = '0' * 40
-    COMMIT_ID_PAT = re.compile(r'[0-9a-fA-F]{40}')
-
-    path = None
-
-    _is_empty = None
-    _commit_ids = {}
-
-    def __init__(self, repo_path, config=None, create=False, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Initializes repository. Raises RepositoryError if repository could
-        not be find at the given ``repo_path`` or directory at ``repo_path``
-        exists and ``create`` is set to True.
-
-        :param repo_path: local path of the repository
-        :param config: repository configuration
-        :param create=False: if set to True, would try to create repository.
-        :param src_url=None: if set, should be proper url from which repository
-          would be cloned; requires ``create`` parameter to be set to True -
-          raises RepositoryError if src_url is set and create evaluates to
-          False
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} at {self.path}>'
-
-    def __len__(self):
-        return self.count()
-
-    def __eq__(self, other):
-        same_instance = isinstance(other, self.__class__)
-        return same_instance and other.path == self.path
-
-    def __ne__(self, other):
-        return not self.__eq__(other)
-
-    def get_create_shadow_cache_pr_path(self, db_repo):
-        path = db_repo.cached_diffs_dir
-        if not os.path.exists(path):
-            os.makedirs(path, 0o755)
-        return path
-
-    @classmethod
-    def get_default_config(cls, default=None):
-        config = Config()
-        if default and isinstance(default, list):
-            for section, key, val in default:
-                config.set(section, key, val)
-        return config
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def _remote(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def _heads(self, branch=None):
-        return []
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def EMPTY_COMMIT(self):
-        return EmptyCommit(self.EMPTY_COMMIT_ID)
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def alias(self):
-        for k, v in settings.BACKENDS.items():
-            if v.split('.')[-1] == str(self.__class__.__name__):
-                return k
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def name(self):
-        return safe_str(os.path.basename(self.path))
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def description(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def refs(self):
-        """
-        returns a `dict` with branches, bookmarks, tags, and closed_branches
-        for this repository
-        """
-        return dict(
-            branches=self.branches,
-            branches_closed=self.branches_closed,
-            tags=self.tags,
-            bookmarks=self.bookmarks
-        )
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def branches(self):
-        """
-        A `dict` which maps branch names to commit ids.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def branches_closed(self):
-        """
-        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def bookmarks(self):
-        """
-        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def tags(self):
-        """
-        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def size(self):
-        """
-        Returns combined size in bytes for all repository files
-        """
-        tip = self.get_commit()
-        return tip.size
-
-    def size_at_commit(self, commit_id):
-        commit = self.get_commit(commit_id)
-        return commit.size
-
-    def _check_for_empty(self):
-        no_commits = len(self._commit_ids) == 0
-        if no_commits:
-            # check on remote to be sure
-            return self._remote.is_empty()
-        else:
-            return False
-
-    def is_empty(self):
-        if rhodecode.is_test:
-            return self._check_for_empty()
-
-        if self._is_empty is None:
-            # cache empty for production, but not tests
-            self._is_empty = self._check_for_empty()
-
-        return self._is_empty
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def check_url(url, config):
-        """
-        Function will check given url and try to verify if it's a valid
-        link.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def is_valid_repository(path):
-        """
-        Check if given `path` contains a valid repository of this backend
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    # ==========================================================================
-    # COMMITS
-    # ==========================================================================
-
-    @CachedProperty
-    def commit_ids(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def append_commit_id(self, commit_id):
-        if commit_id not in self.commit_ids:
-            self._rebuild_cache(self.commit_ids + [commit_id])
-
-        # clear cache
-        self._invalidate_prop_cache('commit_ids')
-        self._is_empty = False
-
-    def get_commit(self, commit_id=None, commit_idx=None, pre_load=None,
-                   translate_tag=None, maybe_unreachable=False, reference_obj=None):
-        """
-        Returns instance of `BaseCommit` class. If `commit_id` and `commit_idx`
-        are both None, most recent commit is returned.
-
-        :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
-
-        :raises ``EmptyRepositoryError``: if there are no commits
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def __iter__(self):
-        for commit_id in self.commit_ids:
-            yield self.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
-
-    def get_commits(
-            self, start_id=None, end_id=None, start_date=None, end_date=None,
-            branch_name=None, show_hidden=False, pre_load=None, translate_tags=None):
-        """
-        Returns iterator of `BaseCommit` objects from start to end
-        not inclusive. This should behave just like a list, ie. end is not
-        inclusive.
-
-        :param start_id: None or str, must be a valid commit id
-        :param end_id: None or str, must be a valid commit id
-        :param start_date:
-        :param end_date:
-        :param branch_name:
-        :param show_hidden:
-        :param pre_load:
-        :param translate_tags:
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def __getitem__(self, key):
-        """
-        Allows index based access to the commit objects of this repository.
-        """
-        pre_load = ["author", "branch", "date", "message", "parents"]
-        if isinstance(key, slice):
-            return self._get_range(key, pre_load)
-        return self.get_commit(commit_idx=key, pre_load=pre_load)
-
-    def _get_range(self, slice_obj, pre_load):
-        for commit_id in self.commit_ids.__getitem__(slice_obj):
-            yield self.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load)
-
-    def count(self):
-        return len(self.commit_ids)
-
-    def tag(self, name, user, commit_id=None, message=None, date=None, **opts):
-        """
-        Creates and returns a tag for the given ``commit_id``.
-
-        :param name: name for new tag
-        :param user: full username, i.e.: "Joe Doe <joe.doe@example.com>"
-        :param commit_id: commit id for which new tag would be created
-        :param message: message of the tag's commit
-        :param date: date of tag's commit
-
-        :raises TagAlreadyExistError: if tag with same name already exists
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def remove_tag(self, name, user, message=None, date=None):
-        """
-        Removes tag with the given ``name``.
-
-        :param name: name of the tag to be removed
-        :param user: full username, i.e.: "Joe Doe <joe.doe@example.com>"
-        :param message: message of the tag's removal commit
-        :param date: date of tag's removal commit
-
-        :raises TagDoesNotExistError: if tag with given name does not exists
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def get_diff(
-            self, commit1, commit2, path=None, ignore_whitespace=False,
-            context=3, path1=None):
-        """
-        Returns (git like) *diff*, as plain text. Shows changes introduced by
-        `commit2` since `commit1`.
-
-        :param commit1: Entry point from which diff is shown. Can be
-          ``self.EMPTY_COMMIT`` - in this case, patch showing all
-          the changes since empty state of the repository until `commit2`
-        :param commit2: Until which commit changes should be shown.
-        :param path: Can be set to a path of a file to create a diff of that
-          file. If `path1` is also set, this value is only associated to
-          `commit2`.
-        :param ignore_whitespace: If set to ``True``, would not show whitespace
-          changes. Defaults to ``False``.
-        :param context: How many lines before/after changed lines should be
-          shown. Defaults to ``3``.
-        :param path1: Can be set to a path to associate with `commit1`. This
-          parameter works only for backends which support diff generation for
-          different paths. Other backends will raise a `ValueError` if `path1`
-          is set and has a different value than `path`.
-        :param file_path: filter this diff by given path pattern
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def strip(self, commit_id, branch=None):
-        """
-        Strip given commit_id from the repository
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def get_common_ancestor(self, commit_id1, commit_id2, repo2):
-        """
-        Return a latest common ancestor commit if one exists for this repo
-        `commit_id1` vs `commit_id2` from `repo2`.
-
-        :param commit_id1: Commit it from this repository to use as a
-           target for the comparison.
-        :param commit_id2: Source commit id to use for comparison.
-        :param repo2: Source repository to use for comparison.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def compare(self, commit_id1, commit_id2, repo2, merge, pre_load=None):
-        """
-        Compare this repository's revision `commit_id1` with `commit_id2`.
-
-        Returns a tuple(commits, ancestor) that would be merged from
-        `commit_id2`. Doing a normal compare (``merge=False``), ``None``
-        will be returned as ancestor.
-
-        :param commit_id1: Commit it from this repository to use as a
-           target for the comparison.
-        :param commit_id2: Source commit id to use for comparison.
-        :param repo2: Source repository to use for comparison.
-        :param merge: If set to ``True`` will do a merge compare which also
-           returns the common ancestor.
-        :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def merge(self, repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref, source_repo, source_ref,
-              user_name='', user_email='', message='', dry_run=False,
-              use_rebase=False, close_branch=False):
-        """
-        Merge the revisions specified in `source_ref` from `source_repo`
-        onto the `target_ref` of this repository.
-
-        `source_ref` and `target_ref` are named tupls with the following
-        fields `type`, `name` and `commit_id`.
-
-        Returns a MergeResponse named tuple with the following fields
-        'possible', 'executed', 'source_commit', 'target_commit',
-        'merge_commit'.
-
-        :param repo_id: `repo_id` target repo id.
-        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
-        :param target_ref: `target_ref` points to the commit on top of which
-            the `source_ref` should be merged.
-        :param source_repo: The repository that contains the commits to be
-            merged.
-        :param source_ref: `source_ref` points to the topmost commit from
-            the `source_repo` which should be merged.
-        :param user_name: Merge commit `user_name`.
-        :param user_email: Merge commit `user_email`.
-        :param message: Merge commit `message`.
-        :param dry_run: If `True` the merge will not take place.
-        :param use_rebase: If `True` commits from the source will be rebased
-            on top of the target instead of being merged.
-        :param close_branch: If `True` branch will be close before merging it
-        """
-        if dry_run:
-            message = message or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_MESSAGE
-            user_email = user_email or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_EMAIL
-            user_name = user_name or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_USER
-        else:
-            if not user_name:
-                raise ValueError('user_name cannot be empty')
-            if not user_email:
-                raise ValueError('user_email cannot be empty')
-            if not message:
-                raise ValueError('message cannot be empty')
-
-        try:
-            return self._merge_repo(
-                repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref, source_repo,
-                source_ref, message, user_name, user_email, dry_run=dry_run,
-                use_rebase=use_rebase, close_branch=close_branch)
-        except RepositoryError as exc:
-            log.exception('Unexpected failure when running merge, dry-run=%s', dry_run)
-            return MergeResponse(
-                False, False, None, MergeFailureReason.UNKNOWN,
-                metadata={'exception': str(exc)})
-
-    def _merge_repo(self, repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref,
-                    source_repo, source_ref, merge_message,
-                    merger_name, merger_email, dry_run=False,
-                    use_rebase=False, close_branch=False):
-        """Internal implementation of merge."""
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    def _maybe_prepare_merge_workspace(
-            self, repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref, source_ref):
-        """
-        Create the merge workspace.
-
-        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @classmethod
-    def _get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, workspace_id):
-        """
-        Legacy version that was used before. We still need it for
-        backward compat
-        """
-        return os.path.join(
-            os.path.dirname(repo_path),
-            f'.__shadow_{os.path.basename(repo_path)}_{workspace_id}')
-
-    @classmethod
-    def _get_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, repo_id, workspace_id):
-        # The name of the shadow repository must start with '.', so it is
-        # skipped by 'rhodecode.lib.utils.get_filesystem_repos'.
-        legacy_repository_path = cls._get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(repo_path, workspace_id)
-        if os.path.exists(legacy_repository_path):
-            return legacy_repository_path
-        else:
-            return os.path.join(
-                os.path.dirname(repo_path),
-                f'.__shadow_repo_{repo_id}_{workspace_id}')
-
-    def cleanup_merge_workspace(self, repo_id, workspace_id):
-        """
-        Remove merge workspace.
-
-        This function MUST not fail in case there is no workspace associated to
-        the given `workspace_id`.
-
-        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
-        """
-        shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(
-            self.path, repo_id, workspace_id)
-        shadow_repository_path_del = '{}.{}.delete'.format(
-            shadow_repository_path, time.time())
-
-        # move the shadow repo, so it never conflicts with the one used.
-        # we use this method because shutil.rmtree had some edge case problems
-        # removing symlinked repositories
-        if not os.path.isdir(shadow_repository_path):
-            return
-
-        shutil.move(shadow_repository_path, shadow_repository_path_del)
-        try:
-            shutil.rmtree(shadow_repository_path_del, ignore_errors=False)
-        except Exception:
-            log.exception('Failed to gracefully remove shadow repo under %s',
-                          shadow_repository_path_del)
-            shutil.rmtree(shadow_repository_path_del, ignore_errors=True)
-
-    # ========== #
-    # COMMIT API #
-    # ========== #
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def in_memory_commit(self):
-        """
-        Returns :class:`InMemoryCommit` object for this repository.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    # ======================== #
-    # UTILITIES FOR SUBCLASSES #
-    # ======================== #
-
-    def _validate_diff_commits(self, commit1, commit2):
-        """
-        Validates that the given commits are related to this repository.
-
-        Intended as a utility for sub classes to have a consistent validation
-        of input parameters in methods like :meth:`get_diff`.
-        """
-        self._validate_commit(commit1)
-        self._validate_commit(commit2)
-        if (isinstance(commit1, EmptyCommit) and
-                isinstance(commit2, EmptyCommit)):
-            raise ValueError("Cannot compare two empty commits")
-
-    def _validate_commit(self, commit):
-        if not isinstance(commit, BaseCommit):
-            raise TypeError(
-                "%s is not of type BaseCommit" % repr(commit))
-        if commit.repository != self and not isinstance(commit, EmptyCommit):
-            raise ValueError(
-                "Commit %s must be a valid commit from this repository %s, "
-                "related to this repository instead %s." %
-                (commit, self, commit.repository))
-
-    def _validate_commit_id(self, commit_id):
-        if not isinstance(commit_id, str):
-            raise TypeError(f"commit_id must be a string value got {type(commit_id)} instead")
-
-    def _validate_commit_idx(self, commit_idx):
-        if not isinstance(commit_idx, int):
-            raise TypeError(f"commit_idx must be a numeric value, got {type(commit_idx)}")
-
-    def _validate_branch_name(self, branch_name):
-        if branch_name and branch_name not in self.branches_all:
-            msg = (f"Branch {branch_name} not found in {self}")
-            raise BranchDoesNotExistError(msg)
-
-    #
-    # Supporting deprecated API parts
-    # TODO: johbo: consider to move this into a mixin
-    #
-
-    @property
-    def EMPTY_CHANGESET(self):
-        warnings.warn(
-            "Use EMPTY_COMMIT or EMPTY_COMMIT_ID instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        return self.EMPTY_COMMIT_ID
-
-    @property
-    def revisions(self):
-        warnings.warn("Use commits attribute instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        return self.commit_ids
-
-    @revisions.setter
-    def revisions(self, value):
-        warnings.warn("Use commits attribute instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        self.commit_ids = value
-
-    def get_changeset(self, revision=None, pre_load=None):
-        warnings.warn("Use get_commit instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        commit_id = None
-        commit_idx = None
-        if isinstance(revision, str):
-            commit_id = revision
-        else:
-            commit_idx = revision
-        return self.get_commit(
-            commit_id=commit_id, commit_idx=commit_idx, pre_load=pre_load)
-
-    def get_changesets(
-            self, start=None, end=None, start_date=None, end_date=None,
-            branch_name=None, pre_load=None):
-        warnings.warn("Use get_commits instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        start_id = self._revision_to_commit(start)
-        end_id = self._revision_to_commit(end)
-        return self.get_commits(
-            start_id=start_id, end_id=end_id, start_date=start_date,
-            end_date=end_date, branch_name=branch_name, pre_load=pre_load)
-
-    def _revision_to_commit(self, revision):
-        """
-        Translates a revision to a commit_id
-
-        Helps to support the old changeset based API which allows to use
-        commit ids and commit indices interchangeable.
-        """
-        if revision is None:
-            return revision
-
-        if isinstance(revision, str):
-            commit_id = revision
-        else:
-            commit_id = self.commit_ids[revision]
-        return commit_id
-
-    @property
-    def in_memory_changeset(self):
-        warnings.warn("Use in_memory_commit instead", DeprecationWarning)
-        return self.in_memory_commit
-
-    def get_path_permissions(self, username):
-        """
-        Returns a path permission checker or None if not supported
-
-        :param username: session user name
-        :return: an instance of BasePathPermissionChecker or None
-        """
-        return None
-
-    def install_hooks(self, force=False):
-        return self._remote.install_hooks(force)
-
-    def get_hooks_info(self):
-        return self._remote.get_hooks_info()
-
-    def vcsserver_invalidate_cache(self, delete=False):
-        return self._remote.vcsserver_invalidate_cache(delete)
-
-
-class BaseCommit(object):
+class BaseCommit:
     """
     Each backend should implement it's commit representation.
 
@@ -933,6 +333,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
             list of parent commits
 
     """
+
     repository = None
     branch = None
 
@@ -942,7 +343,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
     value as ``None``.
     """
 
-    _ARCHIVE_PREFIX_TEMPLATE = '{repo_name}-{short_id}'
+    _ARCHIVE_PREFIX_TEMPLATE = "{repo_name}-{short_id}"
     """
     This template is used to generate a default prefix for repository archives
     if no prefix has been specified.
@@ -952,7 +353,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         return self.__str__()
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} at {self.idx}:{self.short_id}>'
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} at {self.idx}:{self.short_id}>"
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
         same_instance = isinstance(other, self.__class__)
@@ -962,26 +363,26 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         parents = []
         try:
             for parent in self.parents:
-                parents.append({'raw_id': parent.raw_id})
+                parents.append({"raw_id": parent.raw_id})
         except NotImplementedError:
             # empty commit doesn't have parents implemented
             pass
 
         return {
-            'short_id': self.short_id,
-            'raw_id': self.raw_id,
-            'revision': self.idx,
-            'message': self.message,
-            'date': self.date,
-            'author': self.author,
-            'parents': parents,
-            'branch': self.branch
+            "short_id": self.short_id,
+            "raw_id": self.raw_id,
+            "revision": self.idx,
+            "message": self.message,
+            "date": self.date,
+            "author": self.author,
+            "parents": parents,
+            "branch": self.branch,
         }
 
     def __getstate__(self):
         d = self.__dict__.copy()
-        d.pop('_remote', None)
-        d.pop('repository', None)
+        d.pop("_remote", None)
+        d.pop("repository", None)
         return d
 
     def get_remote(self):
@@ -992,9 +393,9 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
 
     def _get_refs(self):
         return {
-            'branches': [self.branch] if self.branch else [],
-            'bookmarks': getattr(self, 'bookmarks', []),
-            'tags': self.tags
+            "branches": [self.branch] if self.branch else [],
+            "bookmarks": getattr(self, "bookmarks", []),
+            "tags": self.tags,
         }
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -1118,7 +519,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def is_link(self, path):
+    def is_link(self, path: bytes):
         """
         Returns ``True`` if given `path` is a symlink
         """
@@ -1154,25 +555,24 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_path_commit(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_path_commit(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns last commit of the file at the given `path`.
 
-        :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
         """
         commits = self.get_path_history(path, limit=1, pre_load=pre_load)
         if not commits:
             raise RepositoryError(
-                'Failed to fetch history for path {}. '
-                'Please check if such path exists in your repository'.format(
-                    path))
+                f"Failed to fetch history for path {path}. Please check if such path exists in your repository"
+            )
         return commits[0]
 
-    def get_path_history(self, path, limit=None, pre_load=None):
+    def get_path_history(self, path: bytes, limit=None, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns history of file as reversed list of :class:`BaseCommit`
         objects for which file at given `path` has been modified.
 
+        :param path: file path or dir path
         :param limit: Optional. Allows to limit the size of the returned
            history. This is intended as a hint to the underlying backend, so
            that it can apply optimizations depending on the limit.
@@ -1180,16 +580,17 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_file_annotate(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_file_annotate(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns a generator of four element tuples with
         lineno, sha, commit lazy loader and line
 
+        :param path: file path
         :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_nodes(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns combined ``DirNode`` and ``FileNode`` objects list representing
         state of commit at the given ``path``.
@@ -1199,7 +600,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_node(self, path):
+    def get_node(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns ``Node`` object from the given ``path``.
 
@@ -1208,16 +609,24 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_largefile_node(self, path):
+    def get_largefile_node(self, path: bytes):
         """
         Returns the path to largefile from Mercurial/Git-lfs storage.
         or None if it's not a largefile node
         """
         return None
 
-    def archive_repo(self, archive_name_key, kind='tgz', subrepos=None,
-                     archive_dir_name=None, write_metadata=False, mtime=None,
-                     archive_at_path='/', cache_config=None):
+    def archive_repo(
+            self,
+            archive_name_key,
+            kind="tgz",
+            subrepos=None,
+            archive_dir_name=None,
+            write_metadata=False,
+            mtime=None,
+            archive_at_path="/",
+            cache_config=None,
+    ):
         """
         Creates an archive containing the contents of the repository.
 
@@ -1237,27 +646,26 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         cache_config = cache_config or {}
         allowed_kinds = [x[0] for x in settings.ARCHIVE_SPECS]
         if kind not in allowed_kinds:
-            raise ImproperArchiveTypeError(
-                f'Archive kind ({kind}) not supported use one of {allowed_kinds}')
+            raise ImproperArchiveTypeError(f"Archive kind ({kind}) not supported use one of {allowed_kinds}")
 
         archive_dir_name = self._validate_archive_prefix(archive_dir_name)
         mtime = mtime is not None or time.mktime(self.date.timetuple())
         commit_id = self.raw_id
 
         return self.repository._remote.archive_repo(
-            archive_name_key, kind, mtime, archive_at_path,
-            archive_dir_name, commit_id, cache_config)
+            archive_name_key, kind, mtime, archive_at_path, archive_dir_name, commit_id, cache_config
+        )
 
     def _validate_archive_prefix(self, archive_dir_name):
         if archive_dir_name is None:
             archive_dir_name = self._ARCHIVE_PREFIX_TEMPLATE.format(
-                repo_name=safe_str(self.repository.name),
-                short_id=self.short_id)
+                repo_name=safe_str(self.repository.name), short_id=self.short_id
+            )
         elif not isinstance(archive_dir_name, str):
             raise ValueError(f"archive_dir_name is not str object but: {type(archive_dir_name)}")
-        elif archive_dir_name.startswith('/'):
+        elif archive_dir_name.startswith("/"):
             raise VCSError("Prefix cannot start with leading slash")
-        elif archive_dir_name.strip() == '':
+        elif archive_dir_name.strip() == "":
             raise VCSError("Prefix cannot be empty")
         elif not archive_dir_name.isascii():
             raise VCSError("Prefix cannot contain non ascii characters")
@@ -1268,7 +676,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         Returns ``RootNode`` object for this commit.
         """
-        return self.get_node('')
+        return self.get_node(b"")
 
     def next(self, branch=None):
         """
@@ -1292,8 +700,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
 
     def _find_next(self, indexes, branch=None):
         if branch and self.branch != branch:
-            raise VCSError('Branch option used on commit not belonging '
-                           'to that branch')
+            raise VCSError("Branch option used on commit not belonging " "to that branch")
 
         for next_idx in indexes:
             commit = self.repository.get_commit(commit_idx=next_idx)
@@ -1307,33 +714,9 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         Returns a `Diff` object representing the change made by this commit.
         """
         parent = self.first_parent
-        diff = self.repository.get_diff(
-            parent, self,
-            ignore_whitespace=ignore_whitespace,
-            context=context)
+        diff = self.repository.get_diff(parent, self, ignore_whitespace=ignore_whitespace, context=context)
         return diff
 
-    @LazyProperty
-    def added(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of added ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def changed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of modified ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def removed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of removed ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        raise NotImplementedError
-
     @LazyProperty
     def size(self):
         """
@@ -1341,7 +724,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         return sum(node.size for node in self.get_filenodes_generator())
 
-    def walk(self, topurl=''):
+    def walk(self, top_url=b""):
         """
         Similar to os.walk method. Insted of filesystem it walks through
         commit starting at given ``topurl``.  Returns generator of tuples
@@ -1349,10 +732,10 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import DirNode
 
-        if isinstance(topurl, DirNode):
-            top_node = topurl
+        if isinstance(top_url, DirNode):
+            top_node = top_url
         else:
-            top_node = self.get_node(topurl)
+            top_node = self.get_node(top_url)
 
         has_default_pre_load = False
         if isinstance(top_node, DirNode):
@@ -1381,15 +764,20 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
 
     def no_node_at_path(self, path):
         return NodeDoesNotExistError(
-            f"There is no file nor directory at the given path: "
-            f"`{safe_str(path)}` at commit {self.short_id}")
+            f"There is no file nor directory at the given path: " f"`{safe_str(path)}` at commit {self.short_id}"
+        )
 
-    def _fix_path(self, path: str) -> str:
+    @classmethod
+    def _fix_path(cls, path: bytes) -> bytes:
         """
-        Paths are stored without trailing slash so we need to get rid off it if
-        needed.
+        Paths are stored without trailing slash so we need to get rid off it if needed.
+        It also validates that path is a bytestring for support of mixed encodings...
         """
-        return safe_str(path).rstrip('/')
+
+        if not isinstance(path, bytes):
+            raise ValueError(f'path=`{safe_str(path)}` must be bytes')
+
+        return path.rstrip(b"/")
 
     #
     # Deprecated API based on changesets
@@ -1410,17 +798,644 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         return self.get_path_commit(path)
 
 
-class BaseChangesetClass(type):
+class BaseRepository(object):
+    """
+    Base Repository for final backends
 
+    .. attribute:: DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME
+
+       name of default branch (i.e. "trunk" for svn, "master" for git etc.
+
+    .. attribute:: commit_ids
+
+       list of all available commit ids, in ascending order
+
+    .. attribute:: path
+
+       absolute path to the repository
+
+    .. attribute:: bookmarks
+
+       Mapping from name to :term:`Commit ID` of the bookmark. Empty in case
+       there are no bookmarks or the backend implementation does not support
+       bookmarks.
+
+    .. attribute:: tags
+
+       Mapping from name to :term:`Commit ID` of the tag.
+
+    """
+
+    DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME = None
+    DEFAULT_CONTACT = "Unknown"
+    DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION = "unknown"
+    EMPTY_COMMIT_ID = "0" * 40
+    COMMIT_ID_PAT = re.compile(r"[0-9a-fA-F]{40}")
+
+    path = None
+
+    _is_empty = None
+    _commit_ids = {}
+
+    def __init__(self, repo_path, config=None, create=False, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Initializes repository. Raises RepositoryError if repository could
+        not be find at the given ``repo_path`` or directory at ``repo_path``
+        exists and ``create`` is set to True.
+
+        :param repo_path: local path of the repository
+        :param config: repository configuration
+        :param create=False: if set to True, would try to create repository.
+        :param src_url=None: if set, should be proper url from which repository
+          would be cloned; requires ``create`` parameter to be set to True -
+          raises RepositoryError if src_url is set and create evaluates to
+          False
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} at {self.path}>"
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return self.count()
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        same_instance = isinstance(other, self.__class__)
+        return same_instance and other.path == self.path
+
+    def __ne__(self, other):
+        return not self.__eq__(other)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_create_shadow_cache_pr_path(cls, db_repo):
+        path = db_repo.cached_diffs_dir
+        if not os.path.exists(path):
+            os.makedirs(path, 0o755)
+        return path
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_default_config(cls, default=None):
+        config = Config()
+        if default and isinstance(default, list):
+            for section, key, val in default:
+                config.set(section, key, val)
+        return config
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def _remote(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def _heads(self, branch=None):
+        return []
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def EMPTY_COMMIT(self):
+        return EmptyCommit(self.EMPTY_COMMIT_ID)
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def alias(self):
+        for k, v in settings.BACKENDS.items():
+            if v.split(".")[-1] == str(self.__class__.__name__):
+                return k
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def name(self):
+        return safe_str(os.path.basename(self.path))
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def description(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def refs(self):
+        """
+        returns a `dict` with branches, bookmarks, tags, and closed_branches
+        for this repository
+        """
+        return dict(
+            branches=self.branches, branches_closed=self.branches_closed, tags=self.tags, bookmarks=self.bookmarks
+        )
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def branches(self):
+        """
+        A `dict` which maps branch names to commit ids.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def branches_closed(self):
+        """
+        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def bookmarks(self):
+        """
+        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def tags(self):
+        """
+        A `dict` which maps tags names to commit ids.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def size(self):
+        """
+        Returns combined size in bytes for all repository files
+        """
+        tip = self.get_commit()
+        return tip.size
+
+    def size_at_commit(self, commit_id):
+        commit = self.get_commit(commit_id)
+        return commit.size
+
+    def _check_for_empty(self):
+        no_commits = len(self._commit_ids) == 0
+        if no_commits:
+            # check on remote to be sure
+            return self._remote.is_empty()
+        else:
+            return False
+
+    def is_empty(self):
+        if rhodecode.is_test:
+            return self._check_for_empty()
+
+        if self._is_empty is None:
+            # cache empty for production, but not tests
+            self._is_empty = self._check_for_empty()
+
+        return self._is_empty
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def check_url(url, config):
+        """
+        Function will check given url and try to verify if it's a valid
+        link.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_valid_repository(path):
+        """
+        Check if given `path` contains a valid repository of this backend
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    # ==========================================================================
+    # COMMITS
+    # ==========================================================================
+
+    @CachedProperty
+    def commit_ids(self):
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def append_commit_id(self, commit_id):
+        if commit_id not in self.commit_ids:
+            self._rebuild_cache(self.commit_ids + [commit_id])
+
+        # clear cache
+        self._invalidate_prop_cache("commit_ids")
+        self._is_empty = False
+
+    def get_commit(
+        self,
+        commit_id=None,
+        commit_idx=None,
+        pre_load=None,
+        translate_tag=None,
+        maybe_unreachable=False,
+        reference_obj=None,
+    ) -> BaseCommit:
+        """
+        Returns instance of `BaseCommit` class. If `commit_id` and `commit_idx`
+        are both None, most recent commit is returned.
+
+        :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
+
+        :raises ``EmptyRepositoryError``: if there are no commits
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        for commit_id in self.commit_ids:
+            yield self.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
+
+    def get_commits(
+        self,
+        start_id=None,
+        end_id=None,
+        start_date=None,
+        end_date=None,
+        branch_name=None,
+        show_hidden=False,
+        pre_load=None,
+        translate_tags=None,
+    ):
+        """
+        Returns iterator of `BaseCommit` objects from start to end
+        not inclusive. This should behave just like a list, ie. end is not
+        inclusive.
+
+        :param start_id: None or str, must be a valid commit id
+        :param end_id: None or str, must be a valid commit id
+        :param start_date:
+        :param end_date:
+        :param branch_name:
+        :param show_hidden:
+        :param pre_load:
+        :param translate_tags:
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        """
+        Allows index based access to the commit objects of this repository.
+        """
+        pre_load = ["author", "branch", "date", "message", "parents"]
+        if isinstance(key, slice):
+            return self._get_range(key, pre_load)
+        return self.get_commit(commit_idx=key, pre_load=pre_load)
+
+    def _get_range(self, slice_obj, pre_load):
+        for commit_id in self.commit_ids.__getitem__(slice_obj):
+            yield self.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load)
+
+    def count(self):
+        return len(self.commit_ids)
+
+    def tag(self, name, user, commit_id=None, message=None, date=None, **opts):
+        """
+        Creates and returns a tag for the given ``commit_id``.
+
+        :param name: name for new tag
+        :param user: full username, i.e.: "Joe Doe <joe.doe@example.com>"
+        :param commit_id: commit id for which new tag would be created
+        :param message: message of the tag's commit
+        :param date: date of tag's commit
+
+        :raises TagAlreadyExistError: if tag with same name already exists
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def remove_tag(self, name, user, message=None, date=None):
+        """
+        Removes tag with the given ``name``.
+
+        :param name: name of the tag to be removed
+        :param user: full username, i.e.: "Joe Doe <joe.doe@example.com>"
+        :param message: message of the tag's removal commit
+        :param date: date of tag's removal commit
+
+        :raises TagDoesNotExistError: if tag with given name does not exists
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def get_diff(self, commit1, commit2, path=None, ignore_whitespace=False, context=3, path1=None):
+        """
+        Returns (git like) *diff*, as plain text. Shows changes introduced by
+        `commit2` since `commit1`.
+
+        :param commit1: Entry point from which diff is shown. Can be
+          ``self.EMPTY_COMMIT`` - in this case, patch showing all
+          the changes since empty state of the repository until `commit2`
+        :param commit2: Until which commit changes should be shown.
+        :param path: Can be set to a path of a file to create a diff of that
+          file. If `path1` is also set, this value is only associated to
+          `commit2`.
+        :param ignore_whitespace: If set to ``True``, would not show whitespace
+          changes. Defaults to ``False``.
+        :param context: How many lines before/after changed lines should be
+          shown. Defaults to ``3``.
+        :param path1: Can be set to a path to associate with `commit1`. This
+          parameter works only for backends which support diff generation for
+          different paths. Other backends will raise a `ValueError` if `path1`
+          is set and has a different value than `path`.
+        :param file_path: filter this diff by given path pattern
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def strip(self, commit_id, branch=None):
+        """
+        Strip given commit_id from the repository
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def get_common_ancestor(self, commit_id1, commit_id2, repo2):
+        """
+        Return a latest common ancestor commit if one exists for this repo
+        `commit_id1` vs `commit_id2` from `repo2`.
+
+        :param commit_id1: Commit it from this repository to use as a
+           target for the comparison.
+        :param commit_id2: Source commit id to use for comparison.
+        :param repo2: Source repository to use for comparison.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def compare(self, commit_id1, commit_id2, repo2, merge, pre_load=None):
+        """
+        Compare this repository's revision `commit_id1` with `commit_id2`.
+
+        Returns a tuple(commits, ancestor) that would be merged from
+        `commit_id2`. Doing a normal compare (``merge=False``), ``None``
+        will be returned as ancestor.
+
+        :param commit_id1: Commit it from this repository to use as a
+           target for the comparison.
+        :param commit_id2: Source commit id to use for comparison.
+        :param repo2: Source repository to use for comparison.
+        :param merge: If set to ``True`` will do a merge compare which also
+           returns the common ancestor.
+        :param pre_load: Optional. List of commit attributes to load.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def merge(
+        self,
+        repo_id,
+        workspace_id,
+        target_ref,
+        source_repo,
+        source_ref,
+        user_name="",
+        user_email="",
+        message="",
+        dry_run=False,
+        use_rebase=False,
+        close_branch=False,
+    ):
+        """
+        Merge the revisions specified in `source_ref` from `source_repo`
+        onto the `target_ref` of this repository.
+
+        `source_ref` and `target_ref` are named tupls with the following
+        fields `type`, `name` and `commit_id`.
+
+        Returns a MergeResponse named tuple with the following fields
+        'possible', 'executed', 'source_commit', 'target_commit',
+        'merge_commit'.
+
+        :param repo_id: `repo_id` target repo id.
+        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
+        :param target_ref: `target_ref` points to the commit on top of which
+            the `source_ref` should be merged.
+        :param source_repo: The repository that contains the commits to be
+            merged.
+        :param source_ref: `source_ref` points to the topmost commit from
+            the `source_repo` which should be merged.
+        :param user_name: Merge commit `user_name`.
+        :param user_email: Merge commit `user_email`.
+        :param message: Merge commit `message`.
+        :param dry_run: If `True` the merge will not take place.
+        :param use_rebase: If `True` commits from the source will be rebased
+            on top of the target instead of being merged.
+        :param close_branch: If `True` branch will be close before merging it
+        """
+        if dry_run:
+            message = message or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_MESSAGE
+            user_email = user_email or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_EMAIL
+            user_name = user_name or settings.MERGE_DRY_RUN_USER
+        else:
+            if not user_name:
+                raise ValueError("user_name cannot be empty")
+            if not user_email:
+                raise ValueError("user_email cannot be empty")
+            if not message:
+                raise ValueError("message cannot be empty")
+
+        try:
+            return self._merge_repo(
+                repo_id,
+                workspace_id,
+                target_ref,
+                source_repo,
+                source_ref,
+                message,
+                user_name,
+                user_email,
+                dry_run=dry_run,
+                use_rebase=use_rebase,
+                close_branch=close_branch,
+            )
+        except RepositoryError as exc:
+            log.exception("Unexpected failure when running merge, dry-run=%s", dry_run)
+            return MergeResponse(False, False, None, MergeFailureReason.UNKNOWN, metadata={"exception": str(exc)})
+
+    def _merge_repo(
+        self,
+        repo_id,
+        workspace_id,
+        target_ref,
+        source_repo,
+        source_ref,
+        merge_message,
+        merger_name,
+        merger_email,
+        dry_run=False,
+        use_rebase=False,
+        close_branch=False,
+    ):
+        """Internal implementation of merge."""
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def _maybe_prepare_merge_workspace(self, repo_id, workspace_id, target_ref, source_ref):
+        """
+        Create the merge workspace.
+
+        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, workspace_id):
+        """
+        Legacy version that was used before. We still need it for
+        backward compat
+        """
+        return os.path.join(os.path.dirname(repo_path), f".__shadow_{os.path.basename(repo_path)}_{workspace_id}")
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_shadow_repository_path(cls, repo_path, repo_id, workspace_id):
+        # The name of the shadow repository must start with '.', so it is
+        # skipped by 'rhodecode.lib.utils.get_filesystem_repos'.
+        legacy_repository_path = cls._get_legacy_shadow_repository_path(repo_path, workspace_id)
+        if os.path.exists(legacy_repository_path):
+            return legacy_repository_path
+        else:
+            return os.path.join(os.path.dirname(repo_path), f".__shadow_repo_{repo_id}_{workspace_id}")
+
+    def cleanup_merge_workspace(self, repo_id, workspace_id):
+        """
+        Remove merge workspace.
+
+        This function MUST not fail in case there is no workspace associated to
+        the given `workspace_id`.
+
+        :param workspace_id: `workspace_id` unique identifier.
+        """
+        shadow_repository_path = self._get_shadow_repository_path(self.path, repo_id, workspace_id)
+        shadow_repository_path_del = "{}.{}.delete".format(shadow_repository_path, time.time())
+
+        # move the shadow repo, so it never conflicts with the one used.
+        # we use this method because shutil.rmtree had some edge case problems
+        # removing symlinked repositories
+        if not os.path.isdir(shadow_repository_path):
+            return
+
+        shutil.move(shadow_repository_path, shadow_repository_path_del)
+        try:
+            shutil.rmtree(shadow_repository_path_del, ignore_errors=False)
+        except Exception:
+            log.exception("Failed to gracefully remove shadow repo under %s", shadow_repository_path_del)
+            shutil.rmtree(shadow_repository_path_del, ignore_errors=True)
+
+    # ========== #
+    # COMMIT API #
+    # ========== #
+
+    @LazyProperty
+    def in_memory_commit(self):
+        """
+        Returns :class:`InMemoryCommit` object for this repository.
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    # ======================== #
+    # UTILITIES FOR SUBCLASSES #
+    # ======================== #
+
+    def _validate_diff_commits(self, commit1, commit2):
+        """
+        Validates that the given commits are related to this repository.
+
+        Intended as a utility for sub classes to have a consistent validation
+        of input parameters in methods like :meth:`get_diff`.
+        """
+        self._validate_commit(commit1)
+        self._validate_commit(commit2)
+        if isinstance(commit1, EmptyCommit) and isinstance(commit2, EmptyCommit):
+            raise ValueError("Cannot compare two empty commits")
+
+    def _validate_commit(self, commit):
+        if not isinstance(commit, BaseCommit):
+            raise TypeError("%s is not of type BaseCommit" % repr(commit))
+        if commit.repository != self and not isinstance(commit, EmptyCommit):
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Commit %s must be a valid commit from this repository %s, "
+                "related to this repository instead %s." % (commit, self, commit.repository)
+            )
+
+    def _validate_commit_id(self, commit_id):
+        if not isinstance(commit_id, str):
+            raise TypeError(f"commit_id must be a string value got {type(commit_id)} instead")
+
+    def _validate_commit_idx(self, commit_idx):
+        if not isinstance(commit_idx, int):
+            raise TypeError(f"commit_idx must be a numeric value, got {type(commit_idx)}")
+
+    def _validate_branch_name(self, branch_name):
+        if branch_name and branch_name not in self.branches_all:
+            msg = f"Branch {branch_name} not found in {self}"
+            raise BranchDoesNotExistError(msg)
+
+    #
+    # Supporting deprecated API parts
+    # TODO: johbo: consider to move this into a mixin
+    #
+
+    @property
+    def EMPTY_CHANGESET(self):
+        warnings.warn("Use EMPTY_COMMIT or EMPTY_COMMIT_ID instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        return self.EMPTY_COMMIT_ID
+
+    @property
+    def revisions(self):
+        warnings.warn("Use commits attribute instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        return self.commit_ids
+
+    @revisions.setter
+    def revisions(self, value):
+        warnings.warn("Use commits attribute instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        self.commit_ids = value
+
+    def get_changeset(self, revision=None, pre_load=None):
+        warnings.warn("Use get_commit instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        commit_id = None
+        commit_idx = None
+        if isinstance(revision, str):
+            commit_id = revision
+        else:
+            commit_idx = revision
+        return self.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, commit_idx=commit_idx, pre_load=pre_load)
+
+    def get_changesets(self, start=None, end=None, start_date=None, end_date=None, branch_name=None, pre_load=None):
+        warnings.warn("Use get_commits instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        start_id = self._revision_to_commit(start)
+        end_id = self._revision_to_commit(end)
+        return self.get_commits(
+            start_id=start_id,
+            end_id=end_id,
+            start_date=start_date,
+            end_date=end_date,
+            branch_name=branch_name,
+            pre_load=pre_load,
+        )
+
+    def _revision_to_commit(self, revision):
+        """
+        Translates a revision to a commit_id
+
+        Helps to support the old changeset based API which allows to use
+        commit ids and commit indices interchangeable.
+        """
+        if revision is None:
+            return revision
+
+        if isinstance(revision, str):
+            commit_id = revision
+        else:
+            commit_id = self.commit_ids[revision]
+        return commit_id
+
+    @property
+    def in_memory_changeset(self):
+        warnings.warn("Use in_memory_commit instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        return self.in_memory_commit
+
+    def get_path_permissions(self, username):
+        """
+        Returns a path permission checker or None if not supported
+
+        :param username: session user name
+        :return: an instance of BasePathPermissionChecker or None
+        """
+        return None
+
+    def install_hooks(self, force=False):
+        return self._remote.install_hooks(force)
+
+    def get_hooks_info(self):
+        return self._remote.get_hooks_info()
+
+    def vcsserver_invalidate_cache(self, delete=False):
+        return self._remote.vcsserver_invalidate_cache(delete)
+
+
+class BaseChangesetClass(type):
     def __instancecheck__(self, instance):
         return isinstance(instance, BaseCommit)
 
 
 class BaseChangeset(BaseCommit, metaclass=BaseChangesetClass):
-
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        warnings.warn(
-            "Use BaseCommit instead of BaseChangeset", DeprecationWarning)
+        warnings.warn("Use BaseCommit instead of BaseChangeset", DeprecationWarning)
         return super().__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -1441,8 +1456,7 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
             list of ``FileNode`` objects marked as *changed*
 
         ``removed``
-            list of ``FileNode`` or ``RemovedFileNode`` objects marked to be
-            *removed*
+            list of ``FileNode`` objects marked to be *removed*
 
         ``parents``
             list of :class:`BaseCommit` instances representing parents of
@@ -1469,9 +1483,7 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         # Check if not already marked as *added* first
         for node in filenodes:
             if node.path in (n.path for n in self.added):
-                raise NodeAlreadyAddedError(
-                    "Such FileNode %s is already marked for addition"
-                    % node.path)
+                raise NodeAlreadyAddedError(f"Such FileNode {node.path} is already marked for addition")
         for node in filenodes:
             self.added.append(node)
 
@@ -1490,24 +1502,19 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         """
         for node in filenodes:
             if node.path in (n.path for n in self.removed):
-                raise NodeAlreadyRemovedError(
-                    "Node at %s is already marked as removed" % node.path)
+                raise NodeAlreadyRemovedError("Node at %s is already marked as removed" % node.path)
         try:
             self.repository.get_commit()
         except EmptyRepositoryError:
-            raise EmptyRepositoryError(
-                "Nothing to change - try to *add* new nodes rather than "
-                "changing them")
+            raise EmptyRepositoryError("Nothing to change - try to *add* new nodes rather than " "changing them")
         for node in filenodes:
             if node.path in (n.path for n in self.changed):
-                raise NodeAlreadyChangedError(
-                    "Node at '%s' is already marked as changed" % node.path)
+                raise NodeAlreadyChangedError("Node at '%s' is already marked as changed" % node.path)
             self.changed.append(node)
 
     def remove(self, *filenodes):
         """
-        Marks given ``FileNode`` (or ``RemovedFileNode``) objects to be
-        *removed* in next commit.
+        Marks given ``FileNode`` objects to be *removed* in next commit.
 
         :raises ``NodeAlreadyRemovedError``: if node has been already marked to
            be *removed*
@@ -1516,11 +1523,9 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         """
         for node in filenodes:
             if node.path in (n.path for n in self.removed):
-                raise NodeAlreadyRemovedError(
-                    "Node is already marked to for removal at %s" % node.path)
+                raise NodeAlreadyRemovedError("Node is already marked to for removal at %s" % node.path)
             if node.path in (n.path for n in self.changed):
-                raise NodeAlreadyChangedError(
-                    "Node is already marked to be changed at %s" % node.path)
+                raise NodeAlreadyChangedError("Node is already marked to be changed at %s" % node.path)
             # We only mark node as *removed* - real removal is done by
             # commit method
             self.removed.append(node)
@@ -1575,12 +1580,11 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         for p in parents:
             for node in self.added:
                 try:
-                    p.get_node(node.path)
+                    p.get_node(node.bytes_path)
                 except NodeDoesNotExistError:
                     pass
                 else:
-                    raise NodeAlreadyExistsError(
-                        f"Node `{node.path}` already exists at {p}")
+                    raise NodeAlreadyExistsError(f"Node `{node.path}` already exists at {p}")
 
         # Check nodes marked as changed
         missing = set(self.changed)
@@ -1590,7 +1594,7 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         for p in parents:
             for node in self.changed:
                 try:
-                    old = p.get_node(node.path)
+                    old = p.get_node(node.bytes_path)
                     missing.remove(node)
                     # if content actually changed, remove node from not_changed
                     if old.content != node.content:
@@ -1598,24 +1602,23 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
                 except NodeDoesNotExistError:
                     pass
         if self.changed and missing:
-            raise NodeDoesNotExistError(
-                f"Node `{node.path}` marked as modified but missing in parents: {parents}")
+            raise NodeDoesNotExistError(f"Node `{node.path}` marked as modified but missing in parents: {parents}")
 
         if self.changed and not_changed:
             raise NodeNotChangedError(
-                "Node `%s` wasn't actually changed (parents: %s)"
-                % (not_changed.pop().path, parents))
+                "Node `%s` wasn't actually changed (parents: %s)" % (not_changed.pop().path, parents)
+            )
 
         # Check nodes marked as removed
         if self.removed and not parents:
             raise NodeDoesNotExistError(
-                "Cannot remove node at %s as there "
-                "were no parents specified" % self.removed[0].path)
+                "Cannot remove node at %s as there " "were no parents specified" % self.removed[0].path
+            )
         really_removed = set()
         for p in parents:
             for node in self.removed:
                 try:
-                    p.get_node(node.path)
+                    p.get_node(node.bytes_path)
                     really_removed.add(node)
                 except CommitError:
                     pass
@@ -1623,8 +1626,8 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
         if not_removed:
             # TODO: johbo: This code branch does not seem to be covered
             raise NodeDoesNotExistError(
-                "Cannot remove node at %s from "
-                "following parents: %s" % (not_removed, parents))
+                "Cannot remove node at %s from " "following parents: %s" % (not_removed, parents)
+            )
 
     def commit(self, message, author, parents=None, branch=None, date=None, **kwargs):
         """
@@ -1652,16 +1655,13 @@ class BaseInMemoryCommit(object):
 
 
 class BaseInMemoryChangesetClass(type):
-
     def __instancecheck__(self, instance):
         return isinstance(instance, BaseInMemoryCommit)
 
 
 class BaseInMemoryChangeset(BaseInMemoryCommit, metaclass=BaseInMemoryChangesetClass):
-
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        warnings.warn(
-            "Use BaseCommit instead of BaseInMemoryCommit", DeprecationWarning)
+        warnings.warn("Use BaseCommit instead of BaseInMemoryCommit", DeprecationWarning)
         return super().__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -1671,9 +1671,7 @@ class EmptyCommit(BaseCommit):
     an EmptyCommit
     """
 
-    def __init__(
-            self, commit_id=EMPTY_COMMIT_ID, repo=None, alias=None, idx=-1,
-            message='', author='', date=None):
+    def __init__(self, commit_id=EMPTY_COMMIT_ID, repo=None, alias=None, idx=-1, message="", author="", date=None):
         self._empty_commit_id = commit_id
         # TODO: johbo: Solve idx parameter, default value does not make
         # too much sense
@@ -1697,6 +1695,7 @@ class EmptyCommit(BaseCommit):
     def branch(self):
         if self.alias:
             from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import get_backend
+
             return get_backend(self.alias).DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -1711,7 +1710,7 @@ class EmptyCommit(BaseCommit):
         return self
 
     def get_file_content(self, path) -> bytes:
-        return b''
+        return b""
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
         yield self.get_file_content(path)
@@ -1721,27 +1720,29 @@ class EmptyCommit(BaseCommit):
 
 
 class EmptyChangesetClass(type):
-
     def __instancecheck__(self, instance):
         return isinstance(instance, EmptyCommit)
 
 
 class EmptyChangeset(EmptyCommit, metaclass=EmptyChangesetClass):
-
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        warnings.warn(
-            "Use EmptyCommit instead of EmptyChangeset", DeprecationWarning)
+        warnings.warn("Use EmptyCommit instead of EmptyChangeset", DeprecationWarning)
         return super(EmptyCommit, cls).__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
 
-    def __init__(self, cs=EMPTY_COMMIT_ID, repo=None, requested_revision=None,
-                 alias=None, revision=-1, message='', author='', date=None):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        cs=EMPTY_COMMIT_ID,
+        repo=None,
+        requested_revision=None,
+        alias=None,
+        revision=-1,
+        message="",
+        author="",
+        date=None,
+    ):
         if requested_revision is not None:
-            warnings.warn(
-                "Parameter requested_revision not supported anymore",
-                DeprecationWarning)
-        super().__init__(
-            commit_id=cs, repo=repo, alias=alias, idx=revision,
-            message=message, author=author, date=date)
+            warnings.warn("Parameter requested_revision not supported anymore", DeprecationWarning)
+        super().__init__(commit_id=cs, repo=repo, alias=alias, idx=revision, message=message, author=author, date=date)
 
         @property
         def revision(self):
@@ -1760,11 +1761,11 @@ class EmptyRepository(BaseRepository):
 
     def get_diff(self, *args, **kwargs):
         from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.git.diff import GitDiff
-        return GitDiff(b'')
+
+        return GitDiff(b"")
 
 
 class CollectionGenerator(object):
-
     def __init__(self, repo, commit_ids, collection_size=None, pre_load=None, translate_tag=None):
         self.repo = repo
         self.commit_ids = commit_ids
@@ -1786,26 +1787,22 @@ class CollectionGenerator(object):
         """
         Allows backends to override the way commits are generated.
         """
-        return self.repo.get_commit(
-            commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load,
-            translate_tag=self.translate_tag)
+        return self.repo.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load, translate_tag=self.translate_tag)
 
     def __getitem__(self, key):
         """Return either a single element by index, or a sliced collection."""
 
         if isinstance(key, slice):
-            commit_ids = self.commit_ids[key.start:key.stop]
+            commit_ids = self.commit_ids[key.start : key.stop]
 
         else:
             # single item
             commit_ids = self.commit_ids[key]
 
-        return self.__class__(
-            self.repo, commit_ids, pre_load=self.pre_load,
-            translate_tag=self.translate_tag)
+        return self.__class__(self.repo, commit_ids, pre_load=self.pre_load, translate_tag=self.translate_tag)
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return '<CollectionGenerator[len:%s]>' % (self.__len__())
+        return "<CollectionGenerator[len:%s]>" % (self.__len__())
 
 
 class Config(object):
@@ -1826,8 +1823,7 @@ class Config(object):
         return clone
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return '<Config({} sections) at {}>'.format(
-            len(self._values), hex(id(self)))
+        return "<Config({} sections) at {}>".format(len(self._values), hex(id(self)))
 
     def items(self, section):
         return self._values.get(section, {}).items()
@@ -1844,7 +1840,7 @@ class Config(object):
 
     def drop_option(self, section, option):
         if section not in self._values:
-            raise ValueError(f'Section {section} does not exist')
+            raise ValueError(f"Section {section} does not exist")
         del self._values[section][option]
 
     def serialize(self):
@@ -1855,8 +1851,7 @@ class Config(object):
         items = []
         for section in self._values:
             for option, value in self._values[section].items():
-                items.append(
-                    (safe_str(section), safe_str(option), safe_str(value)))
+                items.append((safe_str(section), safe_str(option), safe_str(value)))
         return items
 
 
@@ -1867,12 +1862,13 @@ class Diff(object):
     Subclasses have to provide a backend specific value for
     :attr:`_header_re` and :attr:`_meta_re`.
     """
+
     _meta_re = None
-    _header_re: bytes = re.compile(br"")
+    _header_re: bytes = re.compile(rb"")
 
     def __init__(self, raw_diff: bytes):
         if not isinstance(raw_diff, bytes):
-            raise Exception(f'raw_diff must be bytes - got {type(raw_diff)}')
+            raise Exception(f"raw_diff must be bytes - got {type(raw_diff)}")
 
         self.raw = memoryview(raw_diff)
 
@@ -1886,7 +1882,7 @@ class Diff(object):
         we can detect last chunk as this was also has special rule
         """
 
-        diff_parts = (b'\n' + bytes(self.raw)).split(b'\ndiff --git')
+        diff_parts = (b"\n" + bytes(self.raw)).split(b"\ndiff --git")
 
         chunks = diff_parts[1:]
         total_chunks = len(chunks)
@@ -1894,44 +1890,46 @@ class Diff(object):
         def diff_iter(_chunks):
             for cur_chunk, chunk in enumerate(_chunks, start=1):
                 yield DiffChunk(chunk, self, cur_chunk == total_chunks)
+
         return diff_iter(chunks)
 
 
 class DiffChunk(object):
-
     def __init__(self, chunk: bytes, diff_obj: Diff, is_last_chunk: bool):
         self.diff_obj = diff_obj
 
         # since we split by \ndiff --git that part is lost from original diff
         # we need to re-apply it at the end, EXCEPT ! if it's last chunk
         if not is_last_chunk:
-            chunk += b'\n'
+            chunk += b"\n"
         header_re = self.diff_obj.get_header_re()
+
         match = header_re.match(chunk)
         self.header = match.groupdict()
-        self.diff = chunk[match.end():]
+        self.diff = chunk[match.end() :]
         self.raw = chunk
 
     @property
     def header_as_str(self):
         if self.header:
+
             def safe_str_on_bytes(val):
                 if isinstance(val, bytes):
                     return safe_str(val)
                 return val
+
             return {safe_str(k): safe_str_on_bytes(v) for k, v in self.header.items()}
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f'DiffChunk({self.header_as_str})'
+        return f"DiffChunk({self.header_as_str})"
 
 
 class BasePathPermissionChecker(object):
-
     @staticmethod
     def create_from_patterns(includes, excludes):
-        if includes and '*' in includes and not excludes:
+        if includes and "*" in includes and not excludes:
             return AllPathPermissionChecker()
-        elif excludes and '*' in excludes:
+        elif excludes and "*" in excludes:
             return NonePathPermissionChecker()
         else:
             return PatternPathPermissionChecker(includes, excludes)
@@ -1945,7 +1943,6 @@ class BasePathPermissionChecker(object):
 
 
 class AllPathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
-
     @property
     def has_full_access(self):
         return True
@@ -1955,7 +1952,6 @@ class AllPathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
 
 
 class NonePathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
-
     @property
     def has_full_access(self):
         return False
@@ -1965,18 +1961,15 @@ class NonePathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
 
 
 class PatternPathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
-
     def __init__(self, includes, excludes):
         self.includes = includes
         self.excludes = excludes
-        self.includes_re = [] if not includes else [
-            re.compile(fnmatch.translate(pattern)) for pattern in includes]
-        self.excludes_re = [] if not excludes else [
-            re.compile(fnmatch.translate(pattern)) for pattern in excludes]
+        self.includes_re = [] if not includes else [re.compile(fnmatch.translate(pattern)) for pattern in includes]
+        self.excludes_re = [] if not excludes else [re.compile(fnmatch.translate(pattern)) for pattern in excludes]
 
     @property
     def has_full_access(self):
-        return '*' in self.includes and not self.excludes
+        return "*" in self.includes and not self.excludes
 
     def has_access(self, path):
         for regex in self.excludes_re:
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
index 89f90d98..2b658135 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ GIT commit module
 """
 
 import io
-import stat
 import configparser
+import logging
 from itertools import chain
 
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
@@ -32,9 +32,16 @@ from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes, safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import CommitError, NodeDoesNotExistError
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import (
-    FileNode, DirNode, NodeKind, RootNode, SubModuleNode,
-    ChangedFileNodesGenerator, AddedFileNodesGenerator,
-    RemovedFileNodesGenerator, LargeFileNode)
+    FileNode,
+    DirNode,
+    NodeKind,
+    RootNode,
+    SubModuleNode,
+    LargeFileNode,
+)
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs_common import FILEMODE_LINK
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
@@ -50,13 +57,11 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         # done through a more complex tree walk on parents
         "status",
         # mercurial specific property not supported here
-        "_file_paths",
+        "obsolete",
         # mercurial specific property not supported here
-        'obsolete',
+        "phase",
         # mercurial specific property not supported here
-        'phase',
-        # mercurial specific property not supported here
-        'hidden'
+        "hidden",
     ]
 
     def __init__(self, repository, raw_id, idx, pre_load=None):
@@ -69,17 +74,16 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         self._set_bulk_properties(pre_load)
 
         # caches
-        self._stat_modes = {}  # stat info for paths
-        self._paths = {}  # path processed with parse_tree
         self.nodes = {}
+        self._path_mode_cache = {}  # path stats cache, e.g filemode etc
+        self._path_type_cache = {}  # path type dir/file/link etc cache
+
         self._submodules = None
 
     def _set_bulk_properties(self, pre_load):
-
         if not pre_load:
             return
-        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load
-                    if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
+        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
         if not pre_load:
             return
 
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _tree_id(self):
-        return self._remote[self._commit['tree']]['id']
+        return self._remote[self._commit["tree"]]["id"]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def id(self):
@@ -134,13 +138,12 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         """
         Returns modified, added, removed, deleted files for current commit
         """
-        return self.changed, self.added, self.removed
+        added, modified, deleted = self._changes_cache
+        return list(modified), list(modified), list(deleted)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def tags(self):
-        tags = [safe_str(name) for name,
-                commit_id in self.repository.tags.items()
-                if commit_id == self.raw_id]
+        tags = [safe_str(name) for name, commit_id in self.repository.tags.items() if commit_id == self.raw_id]
         return tags
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -161,47 +164,33 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         branches = self._remote.branch(self.raw_id)
         return self._set_branch(branches)
 
-    def _get_tree_id_for_path(self, path):
+    def _get_path_tree_id_and_type(self, path: bytes):
 
-        path = safe_str(path)
-        if path in self._paths:
-            return self._paths[path]
+        if path in self._path_type_cache:
+            return self._path_type_cache[path]
 
-        tree_id = self._tree_id
+        if path == b"":
+            self._path_type_cache[b""] = [self._tree_id, NodeKind.DIR]
+            return self._path_type_cache[path]
 
-        path = path.strip('/')
-        if path == '':
-            data = [tree_id, "tree"]
-            self._paths[''] = data
-            return data
-
-        tree_id, tree_type, tree_mode = \
-            self._remote.tree_and_type_for_path(self.raw_id, path)
+        tree_id, tree_type, tree_mode = self._remote.tree_and_type_for_path(self.raw_id, path)
         if tree_id is None:
             raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
 
-        self._paths[path] = [tree_id, tree_type]
-        self._stat_modes[path] = tree_mode
+        self._path_type_cache[path] = [tree_id, tree_type]
+        self._path_mode_cache[path] = tree_mode
 
-        if path not in self._paths:
-            raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
-
-        return self._paths[path]
+        return self._path_type_cache[path]
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
-        tree_id, type_ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
-        if type_ == 'blob':
-            return NodeKind.FILE
-        elif type_ == 'tree':
-            return NodeKind.DIR
-        elif type_ == 'link':
-            return NodeKind.SUBMODULE
-        return None
+        path = self._fix_path(path)
+        _, path_type = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
+        return path_type
 
     def _assert_is_path(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.FILE:
-            raise CommitError(f"File does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+            raise CommitError(f"File at path={path} does not exist for commit {self.raw_id}")
         return path
 
     def _get_file_nodes(self):
@@ -237,15 +226,19 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
 
         # ensure path is traversed
-        self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+        self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
 
-        return self._stat_modes[path]
+        return self._path_mode_cache[path]
 
-    def is_link(self, path):
-        return stat.S_ISLNK(self.get_file_mode(path))
+    def is_link(self, path: bytes):
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
+        if path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            self._path_mode_cache[path] = self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
+
+        return self._path_mode_cache[path] == FILEMODE_LINK
 
     def is_node_binary(self, path):
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
         return self._remote.is_binary(tree_id)
 
     def node_md5_hash(self, path):
@@ -256,19 +249,19 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         """
         Returns content of the file at given `path`.
         """
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
         return self._remote.blob_as_pretty_string(tree_id)
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
-        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, 'stream:blob_as_pretty_string')
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
+        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, "stream:blob_as_pretty_string")
         return stream_method(tree_id)
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
         """
         Returns size of the file at given `path`.
         """
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
         return self._remote.blob_raw_length(tree_id)
 
     def get_path_history(self, path, limit=None, pre_load=None):
@@ -276,12 +269,9 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         Returns history of file as reversed list of `GitCommit` objects for
         which file at given `path` has been modified.
         """
-
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
-        hist = self._remote.node_history(self.raw_id, path, limit)
-        return [
-            self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load)
-            for commit_id in hist]
+        history = self._remote.node_history(self.raw_id, path, limit)
+        return [self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load) for commit_id in history]
 
     def get_file_annotate(self, path, pre_load=None):
         """
@@ -293,95 +283,105 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         for ln_no, commit_id, content in result:
             yield (
-                ln_no, commit_id,
+                ln_no,
+                commit_id,
                 lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load),
-                content)
+                content,
+            )
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_nodes(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
 
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.DIR:
-            raise CommitError(
-                f"Directory does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+            raise CommitError(f"Directory does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
         path = self._fix_path(path)
 
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+        # call and check tree_id for this path
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
 
-        dirnodes = []
-        filenodes = []
+        path_nodes = []
 
-        # extracted tree ID gives us our files...
-        str_path = safe_str(path)  # libgit operates on bytes
-        for name, stat_, id_, type_ in self._remote.tree_items(tree_id):
-            if type_ == 'link':
-                url = self._get_submodule_url('/'.join((str_path, name)))
-                dirnodes.append(SubModuleNode(
-                    name, url=url, commit=id_, alias=self.repository.alias))
-                continue
+        for bytes_name, stat_, tree_item_id, node_kind in self._remote.tree_items(tree_id):
+            if node_kind is None:
+                raise CommitError(f"Requested object type={node_kind} cannot be determined")
 
-            if str_path != '':
-                obj_path = '/'.join((str_path, name))
+            if path != b"":
+                obj_path = b"/".join((path, bytes_name))
             else:
-                obj_path = name
-            if obj_path not in self._stat_modes:
-                self._stat_modes[obj_path] = stat_
+                obj_path = bytes_name
 
-            if type_ == 'tree':
-                dirnodes.append(DirNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self))
-            elif type_ == 'blob':
-                filenodes.append(FileNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self, mode=stat_, pre_load=pre_load))
+            # cache file mode for git, since we have it already
+            if obj_path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+                self._path_mode_cache[obj_path] = stat_
+
+            # cache type
+            if node_kind not in self._path_type_cache:
+                self._path_type_cache[obj_path] = [tree_item_id, node_kind]
+
+            entry = None
+            if obj_path in self.nodes:
+                entry = self.nodes[obj_path]
             else:
-                raise CommitError(f"Requested object should be Tree or Blob, is {type_}")
+                if node_kind == NodeKind.SUBMODULE:
+                    url = self._get_submodule_url(b"/".join((path, bytes_name)))
+                    entry= SubModuleNode(bytes_name, url=url, commit=tree_item_id, alias=self.repository.alias)
+                elif node_kind == NodeKind.DIR:
+                    entry = DirNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self)
+                elif node_kind == NodeKind.FILE:
+                    entry = FileNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self, mode=stat_, pre_load=pre_load)
 
-        nodes = dirnodes + filenodes
-        for node in nodes:
-            if node.path not in self.nodes:
-                self.nodes[node.path] = node
-        nodes.sort()
-        return nodes
+            if entry:
+                self.nodes[obj_path] = entry
+                path_nodes.append(entry)
 
-    def get_node(self, path, pre_load=None):
+        path_nodes.sort()
+        return path_nodes
+
+    def get_node(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        if path not in self.nodes:
-            try:
-                tree_id, type_ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
-            except CommitError:
-                raise NodeDoesNotExistError(
-                    f"Cannot find one of parents' directories for a given "
-                    f"path: {path}")
 
-            if type_ in ['link', 'commit']:
+        # use cached, if we have one
+        if path in self.nodes:
+            return self.nodes[path]
+
+        try:
+            tree_id, path_type = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
+        except CommitError:
+            raise NodeDoesNotExistError(f"Cannot find one of parents' directories for a given path: {path}")
+
+        if path == b"":
+            node = RootNode(commit=self)
+        else:
+            if path_type == NodeKind.SUBMODULE:
                 url = self._get_submodule_url(path)
-                node = SubModuleNode(path, url=url, commit=tree_id,
-                                     alias=self.repository.alias)
-            elif type_ == 'tree':
-                if path == '':
-                    node = RootNode(commit=self)
-                else:
-                    node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
-            elif type_ == 'blob':
+                node = SubModuleNode(path, url=url, commit=tree_id, alias=self.repository.alias)
+            elif path_type == NodeKind.DIR:
+                node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
+            elif path_type == NodeKind.FILE:
                 node = FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
-                self._stat_modes[path] = node.mode
+                self._path_mode_cache[path] = node.mode
             else:
                 raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
 
-            # cache node
-            self.nodes[path] = node
-
+        # cache node
+        self.nodes[path] = node
         return self.nodes[path]
 
-    def get_largefile_node(self, path):
-        tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+    def get_largefile_node(self, path: bytes):
+        tree_id, _ = self._get_path_tree_id_and_type(path)
         pointer_spec = self._remote.is_large_file(tree_id)
 
         if pointer_spec:
             # content of that file regular FileNode is the hash of largefile
-            file_id = pointer_spec.get('oid_hash')
-            if self._remote.in_largefiles_store(file_id):
-                lf_path = self._remote.store_path(file_id)
-                return LargeFileNode(safe_bytes(lf_path), commit=self, org_path=path)
+            file_id = pointer_spec.get("oid_hash")
+            if not self._remote.in_largefiles_store(file_id):
+                log.warning(f'Largefile oid={file_id} not found in store')
+                return None
+
+            lf_path = self._remote.store_path(file_id)
+            return LargeFileNode(safe_bytes(lf_path), commit=self, org_path=path)
 
     @LazyProperty
-    def affected_files(self):
+    def affected_files(self) -> list[bytes]:
         """
         Gets a fast accessible file changes for given commit
         """
@@ -389,7 +389,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return list(added.union(modified).union(deleted))
 
     @LazyProperty
-    def _changes_cache(self):
+    def _changes_cache(self) -> tuple[set, set, set]:
         added = set()
         modified = set()
         deleted = set()
@@ -416,53 +416,22 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         :param status: one of: *added*, *modified* or *deleted*
         """
         added, modified, deleted = self._changes_cache
-        return sorted({
-            'added': list(added),
-            'modified': list(modified),
-            'deleted': list(deleted)}[status]
-        )
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def added(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of added ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        if not self.parents:
-            return list(self._get_file_nodes())
-        return AddedFileNodesGenerator(self.added_paths, self)
+        return sorted({"added": list(added), "modified": list(modified), "deleted": list(deleted)}[status])
 
     @LazyProperty
     def added_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status('added')]
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def changed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of modified ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        if not self.parents:
-            return []
-        return ChangedFileNodesGenerator(self.changed_paths, self)
+        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status("added")]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def changed_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status('modified')]
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def removed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of removed ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        if not self.parents:
-            return []
-        return RemovedFileNodesGenerator(self.removed_paths, self)
+        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status("modified")]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def removed_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status('deleted')]
+        return [n for n in self._get_paths_for_status("deleted")]
 
-    def _get_submodule_url(self, submodule_path):
-        git_modules_path = '.gitmodules'
+    def _get_submodule_url(self, submodule_path: bytes):
+        git_modules_path = b".gitmodules"
 
         if self._submodules is None:
             self._submodules = {}
@@ -476,9 +445,9 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             parser.read_file(io.StringIO(submodules_node.str_content))
 
             for section in parser.sections():
-                path = parser.get(section, 'path')
-                url = parser.get(section, 'url')
+                path = parser.get(section, "path")
+                url = parser.get(section, "url")
                 if path and url:
-                    self._submodules[path.strip('/')] = url
+                    self._submodules[safe_bytes(path).strip(b"/")] = url
 
-        return self._submodules.get(submodule_path.strip('/'))
+        return self._submodules.get(submodule_path.strip(b"/"))
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
index c633ccb7..f3c4c4d7 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
             return
 
     def get_commit(self, commit_id=None, commit_idx=None, pre_load=None,
-                   translate_tag=True, maybe_unreachable=False, reference_obj=None):
+                   translate_tag=True, maybe_unreachable=False, reference_obj=None) -> GitCommit:
         """
         Returns `GitCommit` object representing commit from git repository
         at the given `commit_id` or head (most recent commit) if None given.
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
index d79339c2..03b5bfd9 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
@@ -20,20 +20,25 @@
 HG commit module
 """
 
-import os
+import logging
 
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import utcdate_fromtimestamp
 from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes, safe_str
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs import path as vcspath
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import CommitError
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import (
-    AddedFileNodesGenerator, ChangedFileNodesGenerator, DirNode, FileNode,
-    NodeKind, RemovedFileNodesGenerator, RootNode, SubModuleNode,
-    LargeFileNode)
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.utils.paths import get_dirs_for_path
+    DirNode,
+    FileNode,
+    NodeKind,
+    RootNode,
+    SubModuleNode,
+    LargeFileNode,
+)
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs_common import FILEMODE_LINK
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
@@ -59,13 +64,13 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         # caches
         self.nodes = {}
-        self._stat_modes = {}  # stat info for paths
+        self._path_mode_cache = {}  # path stats cache, e.g filemode etc
+        self._path_type_cache = {}  # path type dir/file/link etc cache
 
     def _set_bulk_properties(self, pre_load):
         if not pre_load:
             return
-        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load
-                    if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
+        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
         if not pre_load:
             return
 
@@ -86,8 +91,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def tags(self):
-        tags = [name for name, commit_id in self.repository.tags.items()
-                if commit_id == self.raw_id]
+        tags = [name for name, commit_id in self.repository.tags.items() if commit_id == self.raw_id]
         return tags
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -96,9 +100,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def bookmarks(self):
-        bookmarks = [
-            name for name, commit_id in self.repository.bookmarks.items()
-            if commit_id == self.raw_id]
+        bookmarks = [name for name, commit_id in self.repository.bookmarks.items() if commit_id == self.raw_id]
         return bookmarks
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -122,27 +124,13 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         """
         Returns modified, added, removed, deleted files for current commit
         """
-        return self._remote.ctx_status(self.raw_id)
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def _file_paths(self):
-        return self._remote.ctx_list(self.raw_id)
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def _dir_paths(self):
-        dir_paths = ['']
-        dir_paths.extend(list(set(get_dirs_for_path(*self._file_paths))))
-
-        return dir_paths
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def _paths(self):
-        return self._dir_paths + self._file_paths
+        modified, added, deleted, *_ = self._remote.ctx_status(self.raw_id)
+        return modified, added, deleted
 
     @LazyProperty
     def id(self):
         if self.last:
-            return 'tip'
+            return "tip"
         return self.short_id
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -150,8 +138,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return self.raw_id[:12]
 
     def _make_commits(self, commit_ids, pre_load=None):
-        return [self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load)
-                for commit_id in commit_ids]
+        return [self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load) for commit_id in commit_ids]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def parents(self):
@@ -163,10 +150,10 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def _get_phase_text(self, phase_id):
         return {
-                   0: 'public',
-                   1: 'draft',
-                   2: 'secret',
-               }.get(phase_id) or ''
+            0: "public",
+            1: "draft",
+            2: "secret",
+        }.get(phase_id) or ""
 
     @LazyProperty
     def phase(self):
@@ -195,17 +182,14 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        if path in self._file_paths:
-            return NodeKind.FILE
-        elif path in self._dir_paths:
-            return NodeKind.DIR
-        else:
-            raise CommitError(f"Node does not exist at the given path '{path}'")
+        path_type = self._get_path_type(path)
+        return path_type
 
-    def _assert_is_path(self, path) -> str:
+    def _assert_is_path(self, path) -> str | bytes:
         path = self._fix_path(path)
+
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.FILE:
-            raise CommitError(f"File does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+            raise CommitError(f"File at path={path} does not exist for commit {self.raw_id}")
 
         return path
 
@@ -214,20 +198,17 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         Returns stat mode of the file at the given ``path``.
         """
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
+        if path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            self._path_mode_cache[path] = self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
 
-        if path not in self._stat_modes:
-            self._stat_modes[path] = self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
+        return self._path_mode_cache[path]
 
-        if 'x' in self._stat_modes[path]:
-            return base.FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE
-        return base.FILEMODE_DEFAULT
-
-    def is_link(self, path):
+    def is_link(self, path: bytes):
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
-        if path not in self._stat_modes:
-            self._stat_modes[path] = self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
+        if path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            self._path_mode_cache[path] = self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
 
-        return 'l' in self._stat_modes[path]
+        return self._path_mode_cache[path] == FILEMODE_LINK
 
     def is_node_binary(self, path):
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
@@ -246,7 +227,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
-        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, 'stream:fctx_node_data')
+        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, "stream:fctx_node_data")
         return stream_method(self.raw_id, path)
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
@@ -262,10 +243,8 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         for which file at given ``path`` has been modified.
         """
         path = self._assert_is_path(path)
-        hist = self._remote.node_history(self.raw_id, path, limit)
-        return [
-            self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load)
-            for commit_id in hist]
+        history = self._remote.node_history(self.raw_id, path, limit)
+        return [self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load) for commit_id in history]
 
     def get_file_annotate(self, path, pre_load=None):
         """
@@ -276,11 +255,13 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         for ln_no, commit_id, content in result:
             yield (
-                ln_no, commit_id,
+                ln_no,
+                commit_id,
                 lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load),
-                content)
+                content,
+            )
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_nodes(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns combined ``DirNode`` and ``FileNode`` objects list representing
         state of commit at the given ``path``. If node at the given ``path``
@@ -288,59 +269,86 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         """
 
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.DIR:
-            raise CommitError(
-                f"Directory does not exist for idx {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+            raise CommitError(f"Directory does not exist for idx {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
         path = self._fix_path(path)
 
-        filenodes = [
-            FileNode(safe_bytes(f), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load) for f in self._file_paths
-            if os.path.dirname(f) == path]
-        # TODO: johbo: Check if this can be done in a more obvious way
-        dirs = path == '' and '' or [
-            d for d in self._dir_paths
-            if d and vcspath.dirname(d) == path]
-        dirnodes = [
-            DirNode(safe_bytes(d), commit=self) for d in dirs
-            if os.path.dirname(d) == path]
+        path_nodes = []
 
-        alias = self.repository.alias
-        for k, vals in self._submodules.items():
-            if vcspath.dirname(k) == path:
-                loc = vals[0]
-                commit = vals[1]
-                dirnodes.append(SubModuleNode(k, url=loc, commit=commit, alias=alias))
+        for obj_path, node_kind in self._remote.dir_items(self.raw_id, path):
 
-        nodes = dirnodes + filenodes
-        for node in nodes:
-            if node.path not in self.nodes:
-                self.nodes[node.path] = node
-        nodes.sort()
+            if node_kind is None:
+                raise CommitError(f"Requested object type={node_kind} cannot be mapped to a proper type")
 
-        return nodes
+            # TODO: implement it ??
+            stat_ = None
+            # # cache file mode
+            # if obj_path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            #     self._path_mode_cache[obj_path] = stat_
 
-    def get_node(self, path, pre_load=None):
+            # cache type
+            if node_kind not in self._path_type_cache:
+                self._path_type_cache[obj_path] = node_kind
+
+            entry = None
+            if obj_path in self.nodes:
+                entry = self.nodes[obj_path]
+            else:
+                if node_kind == NodeKind.DIR:
+                    entry = DirNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self)
+                elif node_kind == NodeKind.FILE:
+                    entry = FileNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self, mode=stat_, pre_load=pre_load)
+            if entry:
+                self.nodes[obj_path] = entry
+                path_nodes.append(entry)
+
+        path_nodes.sort()
+        return path_nodes
+
+    def get_node(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns `Node` object from the given `path`. If there is no node at
         the given `path`, `NodeDoesNotExistError` would be raised.
         """
         path = self._fix_path(path)
 
-        if path not in self.nodes:
-            if path in self._file_paths:
+        # use cached, if we have one
+        if path in self.nodes:
+            return self.nodes[path]
+
+        path_type = self._get_path_type(path)
+        if path == b"":
+            node = RootNode(commit=self)
+        else:
+            if path_type == NodeKind.DIR:
+                node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
+            elif path_type == NodeKind.FILE:
                 node = FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
-            elif path in self._dir_paths:
-                if path == '':
-                    node = RootNode(commit=self)
-                else:
-                    node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
+                self._path_mode_cache[path] = node.mode
             else:
                 raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
-
-            # cache node
-            self.nodes[path] = node
+        # cache node
+        self.nodes[path] = node
         return self.nodes[path]
 
-    def get_largefile_node(self, path):
+    def _get_path_type(self, path: bytes):
+        if path in self._path_type_cache:
+            return self._path_type_cache[path]
+
+        if path == b"":
+            self._path_type_cache[b""] = NodeKind.DIR
+            return NodeKind.DIR
+
+        path_type, flags = self._remote.get_path_type(self.raw_id, path)
+
+        if not path_type:
+            raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
+
+        self._path_type_cache[path] = path_type
+        self._path_mode_cache[path] = flags
+
+        return self._path_type_cache[path]
+
+    def get_largefile_node(self, path: bytes):
         pointer_spec = self._remote.is_large_file(self.raw_id, path)
         if pointer_spec:
             # content of that file regular FileNode is the hash of largefile
@@ -363,40 +371,20 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return self._remote.ctx_substate(self.raw_id)
 
     @LazyProperty
-    def affected_files(self):
+    def affected_files(self) -> list[bytes]:
         """
         Gets a fast accessible file changes for given commit
         """
         return self._remote.ctx_files(self.raw_id)
 
-    @property
-    def added(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of added ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        return AddedFileNodesGenerator(self.added_paths, self)
-
     @LazyProperty
     def added_paths(self):
         return [n for n in self.status[1]]
 
-    @property
-    def changed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of modified ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        return ChangedFileNodesGenerator(self.changed_paths, self)
-
     @LazyProperty
     def changed_paths(self):
         return [n for n in self.status[0]]
 
-    @property
-    def removed(self):
-        """
-        Returns list of removed ``FileNode`` objects.
-        """
-        return RemovedFileNodesGenerator(self.removed_paths, self)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def removed_paths(self):
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
index dbe4f612..ecd65ac2 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository):
         return os.path.join(self.path, '.hg', '.hgrc')
 
     def get_commit(self, commit_id=None, commit_idx=None, pre_load=None,
-                   translate_tag=None, maybe_unreachable=False, reference_obj=None):
+                   translate_tag=None, maybe_unreachable=False, reference_obj=None) -> MercurialCommit:
         """
         Returns ``MercurialCommit`` object representing repository's
         commit at the given `commit_id` or `commit_idx`.
@@ -598,8 +598,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository):
         """
         Create a local clone of the current repo.
         """
-        self._remote.clone(self.path, clone_path, update_after_clone=True,
-                           hooks=False)
+        self._remote.clone(self.path, clone_path, update_after_clone=True, hooks=False)
 
     def _update(self, revision, clean=False):
         """
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
index c7fbec84..4d26e731 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@
 """
 SVN commit module
 """
-
-
+import logging
 import dateutil.parser
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
@@ -28,9 +27,10 @@ from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes, safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import nodes, path as vcspath
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import CommitError
+from vcsserver.lib.vcs_common import NodeKind, FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE, FILEMODE_DEFAULT, FILEMODE_LINK
+_SVN_PROP_TRUE = "*"
 
-
-_SVN_PROP_TRUE = '*'
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
@@ -53,15 +53,16 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         # which knows how to translate commit index and commit id
         self.raw_id = commit_id
         self.short_id = commit_id
-        self.id = f'r{commit_id}'
+        self.id = f"r{commit_id}"
 
-        # TODO: Implement the following placeholder attributes
         self.nodes = {}
+        self._path_mode_cache = {}  # path stats cache, e.g filemode etc
+        self._path_type_cache = {}  # path type dir/file/link etc cache
         self.tags = []
 
     @property
     def author(self):
-        return safe_str(self._properties.get('svn:author'))
+        return safe_str(self._properties.get("svn:author"))
 
     @property
     def date(self):
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @property
     def message(self):
-        return safe_str(self._properties.get('svn:log'))
+        return safe_str(self._properties.get("svn:log"))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _properties(self):
@@ -91,19 +92,46 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             return [child]
         return []
 
-    def get_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
+    def _calculate_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
         # Note: Subversion flags files which are executable with a special
         # property `svn:executable` which is set to the value ``"*"``.
-        if self._get_file_property(path, 'svn:executable') == _SVN_PROP_TRUE:
-            return base.FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE
+        if self._get_file_property(path, "svn:executable") == _SVN_PROP_TRUE:
+            return FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE
         else:
-            return base.FILEMODE_DEFAULT
+            return FILEMODE_DEFAULT
 
-    def is_link(self, path):
+    def get_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
+        path = self._fix_path(path)
+
+        if path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            self._path_mode_cache[path] = self._calculate_file_mode(path)
+
+        return self._path_mode_cache[path]
+
+    def _get_path_type(self, path: bytes):
+        if path in self._path_type_cache:
+            return self._path_type_cache[path]
+
+        if path == b"":
+            self._path_type_cache[b""] = NodeKind.DIR
+            return NodeKind.DIR
+
+        path_type = self._remote.get_node_type(self._svn_rev, path)
+
+        if not path_type:
+            raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
+
+        #flags = None
+        self._path_type_cache[path] = path_type
+        #self._path_mode_cache[path] = flags
+
+        return self._path_type_cache[path]
+
+    def is_link(self, path: bytes):
         # Note: Subversion has a flag for special files, the content of the
         # file contains the type of that file.
-        if self._get_file_property(path, 'svn:special') == _SVN_PROP_TRUE:
-            return self.get_file_content(path).startswith(b'link')
+        if self._get_file_property(path, "svn:special") == _SVN_PROP_TRUE:
+            return self.get_file_content(path).startswith(b"link")
         return False
 
     def is_node_binary(self, path):
@@ -115,8 +143,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return self._remote.md5_hash(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
     def _get_file_property(self, path, name):
-        file_properties = self._remote.node_properties(
-            safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
+        file_properties = self._remote.node_properties(safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
         return file_properties.get(name)
 
     def get_file_content(self, path):
@@ -126,7 +153,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
 
-        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, 'stream:get_file_content')
+        stream_method = getattr(self._remote, "stream:get_file_content")
         return stream_method(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
@@ -134,11 +161,9 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return self._remote.get_file_size(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
     def get_path_history(self, path, limit=None, pre_load=None):
-        path = safe_str(self._fix_path(path))
-        history = self._remote.node_history(path, self._svn_rev, limit)
-        return [
-            self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=str(svn_rev))
-            for svn_rev in history]
+        path = self._fix_path(path)
+        history = self._remote.node_history(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path), limit)
+        return [self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=str(svn_rev)) for svn_rev in history]
 
     def get_file_annotate(self, path, pre_load=None):
         result = self._remote.file_annotate(safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
@@ -146,67 +171,78 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         for zero_based_line_no, svn_rev, content in result:
             commit_id = str(svn_rev)
             line_no = zero_based_line_no + 1
-            yield (
-                line_no,
-                commit_id,
-                lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id),
-                content)
+            yield line_no, commit_id, lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id), content
 
-    def get_node(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_node(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        if path not in self.nodes:
 
-            if path == '':
-                node = nodes.RootNode(commit=self)
+        # use cached, if we have one
+        if path in self.nodes:
+            return self.nodes[path]
+
+        path_type = self._get_path_type(path)
+        if path == b"":
+            node = nodes.RootNode(commit=self)
+        else:
+            if path_type == NodeKind.DIR:
+                node = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
+            elif path_type == NodeKind.FILE:
+                node = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
+                self._path_mode_cache[path] = node.mode
             else:
-                node_type = self._remote.get_node_type(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
-                if node_type == 'dir':
-                    node = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
-                elif node_type == 'file':
-                    node = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
-                else:
-                    raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
+                raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
 
-            self.nodes[path] = node
+        self.nodes[path] = node
         return self.nodes[path]
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
+    def get_nodes(self, path: bytes, pre_load=None):
         if self._get_kind(path) != nodes.NodeKind.DIR:
-            raise CommitError(
-                f"Directory does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
-        path = safe_str(self._fix_path(path))
+            raise CommitError(f"Directory does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+        path = self._fix_path(path)
 
         path_nodes = []
-        for name, kind in self._remote.get_nodes(self._svn_rev, path):
-            node_path = vcspath.join(path, name)
-            if kind == 'dir':
-                node = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(node_path), commit=self)
-            elif kind == 'file':
-                node = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(node_path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
-            else:
-                raise ValueError(f"Node kind {kind} not supported.")
-            self.nodes[node_path] = node
-            path_nodes.append(node)
+        for name, node_kind in self._remote.get_nodes(self._svn_rev, path):
+            obj_path = vcspath.join(path, name)
 
+            if node_kind is None:
+                raise CommitError(f"Requested object type={node_kind} cannot be determined")
+
+            # TODO: implement it ??
+            stat_ = None
+            # # cache file mode
+            # if obj_path not in self._path_mode_cache:
+            #     self._path_mode_cache[obj_path] = stat_
+
+            # cache type
+            if node_kind not in self._path_type_cache:
+                self._path_type_cache[obj_path] = node_kind
+
+            entry = None
+            if obj_path in self.nodes:
+                entry = self.nodes[obj_path]
+            else:
+                if node_kind == NodeKind.DIR:
+                    entry = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self)
+                elif node_kind == NodeKind.FILE:
+                    entry = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self, mode=stat_, pre_load=pre_load)
+            if entry:
+                self.nodes[obj_path] = entry
+                path_nodes.append(entry)
+
+        path_nodes.sort()
         return path_nodes
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        kind = self._remote.get_node_type(self._svn_rev, path)
-        if kind == 'file':
-            return nodes.NodeKind.FILE
-        elif kind == 'dir':
-            return nodes.NodeKind.DIR
-        else:
-            raise CommitError(
-                f"Node does not exist at the given path '{path}'")
+        path_type = self._get_path_type(path)
+        return path_type
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _changes_cache(self):
         return self._remote.revision_changes(self._svn_rev)
 
     @LazyProperty
-    def affected_files(self):
+    def affected_files(self) -> list[bytes]:
         changed_files = set()
         for files in self._changes_cache.values():
             changed_files.update(files)
@@ -216,29 +252,17 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
     def id(self):
         return self.raw_id
 
-    @property
-    def added(self):
-        return nodes.AddedFileNodesGenerator(self.added_paths, self)
-
     @LazyProperty
     def added_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._changes_cache['added']]
-
-    @property
-    def changed(self):
-        return nodes.ChangedFileNodesGenerator(self.changed_paths, self)
+        return [n for n in self._changes_cache["added"]]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def changed_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._changes_cache['changed']]
-
-    @property
-    def removed(self):
-        return nodes.RemovedFileNodesGenerator(self.removed_paths, self)
+        return [n for n in self._changes_cache["changed"]]
 
     @LazyProperty
     def removed_paths(self):
-        return [n for n in self._changes_cache['removed']]
+        return [n for n in self._changes_cache["removed"]]
 
 
 def _date_from_svn_properties(properties):
@@ -248,7 +272,7 @@ def _date_from_svn_properties(properties):
     :return: :class:`datetime.datetime` instance. The object is naive.
     """
 
-    aware_date = dateutil.parser.parse(properties.get('svn:date'))
+    aware_date = dateutil.parser.parse(properties.get("svn:date"))
     # final_date = aware_date.astimezone(dateutil.tz.tzlocal())
     final_date = aware_date
     return final_date.replace(tzinfo=None)
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
index 7ec4e9d3..97e91066 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import date_astimestamp
-from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str, safe_bytes
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import CachedProperty
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import connection, path as vcspath
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
@@ -157,16 +157,18 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepository):
 
         for pattern in self._patterns_from_section(config_section):
             pattern = vcspath.sanitize(pattern)
+            bytes_pattern = safe_bytes(pattern)
+
             tip = self.get_commit()
             try:
-                if pattern.endswith('*'):
-                    basedir = tip.get_node(vcspath.dirname(pattern))
+                if bytes_pattern.endswith(b'*'):
+                    basedir = tip.get_node(vcspath.dirname(bytes_pattern))
                     directories = basedir.dirs
                 else:
-                    directories = (tip.get_node(pattern), )
+                    directories = (tip.get_node(bytes_pattern), )
             except NodeDoesNotExistError:
                 continue
-            found_items.update((safe_str(n.path), self.commit_ids[-1]) for n in directories)
+            found_items.update((dir_node.str_path, self.commit_ids[-1]) for dir_node in directories)
 
         def get_name(item):
             return item[0]
@@ -216,7 +218,7 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepository):
     def _get_commit_idx(self, commit_id):
         try:
             svn_rev = int(commit_id)
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             # TODO: johbo: this might be only one case, HEAD, check this
             svn_rev = self._remote.lookup(commit_id)
         commit_idx = svn_rev - 1
@@ -321,8 +323,7 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepository):
         # TODO: johbo: Reconsider impact of DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME here
         if branch_name not in [None, self.DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME]:
             svn_rev = int(self.commit_ids[-1])
-            commit_ids = self._remote.node_history(
-                path=branch_name, revision=svn_rev, limit=None)
+            commit_ids = self._remote.node_history(svn_rev, branch_name, None)
             commit_ids = [str(i) for i in reversed(commit_ids)]
 
         if start_pos or end_pos:
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/client_http.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/client_http.py
index 75eb01cc..59ed0110 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/client_http.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/client_http.py
@@ -27,14 +27,13 @@ import time
 import urllib.request
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.parse
-import urllib.parse
 import uuid
 import traceback
 
 import pycurl
 import msgpack
 import requests
-from requests.packages.urllib3.util.retry import Retry
+from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
 
 import rhodecode
 from rhodecode.lib import rc_cache
@@ -287,7 +286,7 @@ class RemoteRepo(object):
             'fctx_size', 'stream:fctx_node_data', 'blob_raw_length',
             'node_history',
             'revision', 'tree_items',
-            'ctx_list', 'ctx_branch', 'ctx_description',
+            'ctx_branch', 'ctx_description',
             'bulk_request',
             'assert_correct_path',
             'is_path_valid_repository',
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/compat.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/compat.py
index 8a6bbc41..82daea14 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/compat.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/compat.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-from pyramid.compat import configparser
\ No newline at end of file
+from pyramid.compat import configparser
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/conf/settings.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/conf/settings.py
index ca9d954b..6318cc9f 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/conf/settings.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/conf/settings.py
@@ -20,9 +20,6 @@
 Internal settings for vcs-lib
 """
 
-# list of default encoding used in safe_str methods
-DEFAULT_ENCODINGS = ['utf8']
-
 
 # Compatibility version when creating SVN repositories. None means newest.
 # Other available options are: pre-1.4-compatible, pre-1.5-compatible,
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/exceptions.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/exceptions.py
index fe4547b5..5af82684 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/exceptions.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/exceptions.py
@@ -102,10 +102,6 @@ class NodeError(VCSError):
     pass
 
 
-class RemovedFileNodeError(NodeError):
-    pass
-
-
 class NodeAlreadyExistsError(CommittingError):
     pass
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/nodes.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/nodes.py
index 9ed11448..be70067c 100644
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/nodes.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/nodes.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 """
 Module holding everything related to vcs nodes, with vcs2 architecture.
 """
+
 import functools
 import os
 import stat
@@ -29,84 +30,26 @@ from rhodecode.config.conf import LANGUAGES_EXTENSIONS_MAP
 from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str, safe_bytes
 from rhodecode.lib.hash_utils import md5
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import path as vcspath
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyCommit, FILEMODE_DEFAULT
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import EmptyCommit
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.conf.mtypes import get_mimetypes_db
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import NodeError, RemovedFileNodeError
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import NodeError
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs_common import NodeKind, FILEMODE_DEFAULT
 
-LARGEFILE_PREFIX = '.hglf'
-
-
-class NodeKind:
-    SUBMODULE = -1
-    DIR = 1
-    FILE = 2
-    LARGEFILE = 3
+LARGEFILE_PREFIX = ".hglf"
 
 
 class NodeState:
-    ADDED = 'added'
-    CHANGED = 'changed'
-    NOT_CHANGED = 'not changed'
-    REMOVED = 'removed'
+    ADDED = "added"
+    CHANGED = "changed"
+    NOT_CHANGED = "not changed"
+    REMOVED = "removed"
 
-#TODO: not sure if that should be bytes or str ?
+
+# TODO: not sure if that should be bytes or str ?
 # most probably bytes because content should be bytes and we check it
-BIN_BYTE_MARKER = b'\0'
+BIN_BYTE_MARKER = b"\0"
 
 
-class NodeGeneratorBase(object):
-    """
-    Base class for removed added and changed filenodes, it's a lazy generator
-    class that will create filenodes only on iteration or call
-
-    The len method doesn't need to create filenodes at all
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, current_paths, cs):
-        self.cs = cs
-        self.current_paths = current_paths
-
-    def __call__(self):
-        return [n for n in self]
-
-    def __getitem__(self, key):
-        if isinstance(key, slice):
-            for p in self.current_paths[key.start:key.stop]:
-                yield self.cs.get_node(p)
-
-    def __len__(self):
-        return len(self.current_paths)
-
-    def __iter__(self):
-        for p in self.current_paths:
-            yield self.cs.get_node(p)
-
-
-class AddedFileNodesGenerator(NodeGeneratorBase):
-    """
-    Class holding added files for current commit
-    """
-
-
-class ChangedFileNodesGenerator(NodeGeneratorBase):
-    """
-    Class holding changed files for current commit
-    """
-
-
-class RemovedFileNodesGenerator(NodeGeneratorBase):
-    """
-    Class holding removed files for current commit
-    """
-    def __iter__(self):
-        for p in self.current_paths:
-            yield RemovedFileNode(path=safe_bytes(p))
-
-    def __getitem__(self, key):
-        if isinstance(key, slice):
-            for p in self.current_paths[key.start:key.stop]:
-                yield RemovedFileNode(path=safe_bytes(p))
-
 
 @functools.total_ordering
 class Node(object):
@@ -119,21 +62,22 @@ class Node(object):
     only. Moreover, every single node is identified by the ``path`` attribute,
     so it cannot end with slash, too. Otherwise, path could lead to mistakes.
     """
+
     # RTLO marker allows swapping text, and certain
     # security attacks could be used with this
-    RTLO_MARKER = "\u202E"
+    RTLO_MARKER = "\u202e"
 
     commit = None
 
     def __init__(self, path: bytes, kind):
         self._validate_path(path)  # can throw exception if path is invalid
 
-        self.bytes_path = path.rstrip(b'/')  # store for __repr__
-        self.path = safe_str(self.bytes_path)  # we store paths as str
+        self.bytes_path: bytes = path.rstrip(b"/")  # store for mixed encoding, and raw version
+        self.str_path: str = safe_str(self.bytes_path)  # we store paths as str
+        self.path: str = self.str_path
 
-        if self.bytes_path == b'' and kind != NodeKind.DIR:
-            raise NodeError("Only DirNode and its subclasses may be "
-                            "initialized with empty path")
+        if self.bytes_path == b"" and kind != NodeKind.DIR:
+            raise NodeError("Only DirNode and its subclasses may be initialized with empty path")
         self.kind = kind
 
         if self.is_root() and not self.is_dir():
@@ -142,7 +86,7 @@ class Node(object):
     def __eq__(self, other):
         if type(self) is not type(other):
             return False
-        for attr in ['name', 'path', 'kind']:
+        for attr in ["name", "path", "kind"]:
             if getattr(self, attr) != getattr(other, attr):
                 return False
         if self.is_file():
@@ -166,22 +110,9 @@ class Node(object):
         if self.path > other.path:
             return False
 
-    # def __cmp__(self, other):
-    #     """
-    #     Comparator using name of the node, needed for quick list sorting.
-    #     """
-    #
-    #     kind_cmp = cmp(self.kind, other.kind)
-    #     if kind_cmp:
-    #         if isinstance(self, SubModuleNode):
-    #             # we make submodules equal to dirnode for "sorting" purposes
-    #             return NodeKind.DIR
-    #         return kind_cmp
-    #     return cmp(self.name, other.name)
-
     def __repr__(self):
-        maybe_path = getattr(self, 'path', 'UNKNOWN_PATH')
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} {maybe_path!r}>'
+        maybe_path = getattr(self, "path", "UNKNOWN_PATH")
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} {maybe_path!r}>"
 
     def __str__(self):
         return self.name
@@ -189,29 +120,27 @@ class Node(object):
     def _validate_path(self, path: bytes):
         self._assert_bytes(path)
 
-        if path.startswith(b'/'):
+        if path.startswith(b"/"):
             raise NodeError(
                 f"Cannot initialize Node objects with slash at "
                 f"the beginning as only relative paths are supported. "
-                f"Got {path}")
+                f"Got {path}"
+            )
 
-    def _assert_bytes(self, value):
+    @classmethod
+    def _assert_bytes(cls, value):
         if not isinstance(value, bytes):
             raise TypeError(f"Bytes required as input, got {type(value)} of {value}.")
 
     @LazyProperty
     def parent(self):
-        parent_path = self.get_parent_path()
+        parent_path: bytes = self.get_parent_path()
         if parent_path:
             if self.commit:
                 return self.commit.get_node(parent_path)
             return DirNode(parent_path)
         return None
 
-    @LazyProperty
-    def str_path(self) -> str:
-        return safe_str(self.path)
-
     @LazyProperty
     def has_rtlo(self):
         """Detects if a path has right-to-left-override marker"""
@@ -223,10 +152,10 @@ class Node(object):
         Returns name of the directory from full path of this vcs node. Empty
         string is returned if there's no directory in the path
         """
-        _parts = self.path.rstrip('/').rsplit('/', 1)
+        _parts = self.path.rstrip("/").rsplit("/", 1)
         if len(_parts) == 2:
             return _parts[0]
-        return ''
+        return ""
 
     @LazyProperty
     def name(self):
@@ -234,7 +163,7 @@ class Node(object):
         Returns name of the node so if its path
         then only last part is returned.
         """
-        return self.path.rstrip('/').split('/')[-1]
+        return self.str_path.rstrip("/").split("/")[-1]
 
     @property
     def kind(self):
@@ -242,12 +171,12 @@ class Node(object):
 
     @kind.setter
     def kind(self, kind):
-        if hasattr(self, '_kind'):
+        if hasattr(self, "_kind"):
             raise NodeError("Cannot change node's kind")
         else:
             self._kind = kind
             # Post setter check (path's trailing slash)
-            if self.path.endswith('/'):
+            if self.str_path.endswith("/"):
                 raise NodeError("Node's path cannot end with slash")
 
     def get_parent_path(self) -> bytes:
@@ -255,8 +184,8 @@ class Node(object):
         Returns node's parent path or empty string if node is root.
         """
         if self.is_root():
-            return b''
-        str_path = vcspath.dirname(self.path.rstrip('/')) + '/'
+            return b""
+        str_path = vcspath.dirname(self.bytes_path.rstrip(b"/")) + b"/"
 
         return safe_bytes(str_path)
 
@@ -278,7 +207,7 @@ class Node(object):
         """
         Returns ``True`` if node is a root node and ``False`` otherwise.
         """
-        return self.kind == NodeKind.DIR and self.path == ''
+        return self.kind == NodeKind.DIR and self.path == ""
 
     def is_submodule(self):
         """
@@ -292,29 +221,13 @@ class Node(object):
         Returns ``True`` if node's kind is ``NodeKind.LARGEFILE``, ``False``
         otherwise
         """
-        return self.kind == NodeKind.LARGEFILE
+        return self.kind == NodeKind.LARGE_FILE
 
     def is_link(self):
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.is_link(self.path)
+            return self.commit.is_link(self.bytes_path)
         return False
 
-    @LazyProperty
-    def added(self):
-        return self.state is NodeState.ADDED
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def changed(self):
-        return self.state is NodeState.CHANGED
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def not_changed(self):
-        return self.state is NodeState.NOT_CHANGED
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def removed(self):
-        return self.state is NodeState.REMOVED
-
 
 class FileNode(Node):
     """
@@ -325,6 +238,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
     :attribute: commit: if given, first time content is accessed, callback
     :attribute: mode: stat mode for a node. Default is `FILEMODE_DEFAULT`.
     """
+
     _filter_pre_load = []
 
     def __init__(self, path: bytes, content: bytes | None = None, commit=None, mode=None, pre_load=None):
@@ -359,7 +273,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         return self.content == other.content
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        raw_id = getattr(self.commit, 'raw_id', '')
+        raw_id = getattr(self.commit, "raw_id", "")
         return hash((self.path, raw_id))
 
     def __lt__(self, other):
@@ -369,33 +283,32 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         return self.content < other.content
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        short_id = getattr(self.commit, 'short_id', '')
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} path={self.path!r}, short_id={short_id}>'
+        short_id = getattr(self.commit, "short_id", "")
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} path={self.str_path!r}, short_id={short_id}>"
 
     def _set_bulk_properties(self, pre_load):
         if not pre_load:
             return
-        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load
-                    if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
+        pre_load = [entry for entry in pre_load if entry not in self._filter_pre_load]
         if not pre_load:
             return
 
         remote = self.commit.get_remote()
-        result = remote.bulk_file_request(self.commit.raw_id, self.path, pre_load)
+        result = remote.bulk_file_request(self.commit.raw_id, self.bytes_path, pre_load)
 
         for attr, value in result.items():
             if attr == "flags":
-                self.__dict__['mode'] = safe_str(value)
+                self.__dict__["mode"] = safe_str(value)
             elif attr == "size":
-                self.__dict__['size'] = value
+                self.__dict__["size"] = value
             elif attr == "data":
-                self.__dict__['_content'] = value
+                self.__dict__["_content"] = value
             elif attr == "is_binary":
-                self.__dict__['is_binary'] = value
+                self.__dict__["is_binary"] = value
             elif attr == "md5":
-                self.__dict__['md5'] = value
+                self.__dict__["md5"] = value
             else:
-                raise ValueError(f'Unsupported attr in bulk_property: {attr}')
+                raise ValueError(f"Unsupported attr in bulk_property: {attr}")
 
     @LazyProperty
     def mode(self):
@@ -404,7 +317,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         use value given at initialization or `FILEMODE_DEFAULT` (default).
         """
         if self.commit:
-            mode = self.commit.get_file_mode(self.path)
+            mode = self.commit.get_file_mode(self.bytes_path)
         else:
             mode = self._mode
         return mode
@@ -416,7 +329,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         """
         if self.commit:
             if self._content is None:
-                self._content = self.commit.get_file_content(self.path)
+                self._content = self.commit.get_file_content(self.bytes_path)
             content = self._content
         else:
             content = self._content
@@ -427,7 +340,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         Returns lazily content of the FileNode.
         """
         if self.commit:
-            content = self.commit.get_file_content(self.path)
+            content = self.commit.get_file_content(self.bytes_path)
         else:
             content = self._content
         return content
@@ -438,7 +351,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         vcsserver without loading it to memory.
         """
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.get_file_content_streamed(self.path)
+            return self.commit.get_file_content_streamed(self.bytes_path)
         raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve stream_bytes without related commit attribute")
 
     def metadata_uncached(self):
@@ -462,7 +375,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         """
         content = self.raw_bytes
         if content and not isinstance(content, bytes):
-            raise ValueError(f'Content is of type {type(content)} instead of bytes')
+            raise ValueError(f"Content is of type {type(content)} instead of bytes")
         return content
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -472,27 +385,21 @@ class FileNode(Node):
     @LazyProperty
     def size(self):
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.get_file_size(self.path)
-        raise NodeError(
-            "Cannot retrieve size of the file without related "
-            "commit attribute")
+            return self.commit.get_file_size(self.bytes_path)
+        raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve size of the file without related commit attribute")
 
     @LazyProperty
     def message(self):
         if self.commit:
             return self.last_commit.message
-        raise NodeError(
-            "Cannot retrieve message of the file without related "
-            "commit attribute")
+        raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve message of the file without related " "commit attribute")
 
     @LazyProperty
     def last_commit(self):
         if self.commit:
             pre_load = ["author", "date", "message", "parents"]
-            return self.commit.get_path_commit(self.path, pre_load=pre_load)
-        raise NodeError(
-            "Cannot retrieve last commit of the file without "
-            "related commit attribute")
+            return self.commit.get_path_commit(self.bytes_path, pre_load=pre_load)
+        raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve last commit of the file without related commit attribute")
 
     def get_mimetype(self):
         """
@@ -502,28 +409,27 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         attribute to indicate that type should *NOT* be calculated).
         """
 
-        if hasattr(self, '_mimetype'):
-            if (isinstance(self._mimetype, (tuple, list)) and
-                    len(self._mimetype) == 2):
+        if hasattr(self, "_mimetype"):
+            if isinstance(self._mimetype, (tuple, list)) and len(self._mimetype) == 2:
                 return self._mimetype
             else:
-                raise NodeError('given _mimetype attribute must be an 2 '
-                                'element list or tuple')
+                raise NodeError("given _mimetype attribute must be an 2 element list or tuple")
 
         db = get_mimetypes_db()
         mtype, encoding = db.guess_type(self.name)
 
         if mtype is None:
             if not self.is_largefile() and self.is_binary:
-                mtype = 'application/octet-stream'
+                mtype = "application/octet-stream"
                 encoding = None
             else:
-                mtype = 'text/plain'
+                mtype = "text/plain"
                 encoding = None
 
                 # try with pygments
                 try:
                     from pygments.lexers import get_lexer_for_filename
+
                     mt = get_lexer_for_filename(self.name).mimetypes
                 except Exception:
                     mt = None
@@ -544,18 +450,17 @@ class FileNode(Node):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def mimetype_main(self):
-        return self.mimetype.split('/')[0]
+        return self.mimetype.split("/")[0]
 
     @classmethod
     def get_lexer(cls, filename, content=None):
         from pygments import lexers
 
-        extension = filename.split('.')[-1]
+        extension = filename.split(".")[-1]
         lexer = None
 
         try:
-            lexer = lexers.guess_lexer_for_filename(
-                filename, content, stripnl=False)
+            lexer = lexers.guess_lexer_for_filename(filename, content, stripnl=False)
         except lexers.ClassNotFound:
             pass
 
@@ -580,7 +485,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         content, name and mimetype.
         """
         # TODO: this is more proper, but super heavy on investigating the type based on the content
-        #self.get_lexer(self.name, self.content)
+        # self.get_lexer(self.name, self.content)
 
         return self.get_lexer(self.name)
 
@@ -597,8 +502,8 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         Returns a list of commit for this file in which the file was changed
         """
         if self.commit is None:
-            raise NodeError('Unable to get commit for this FileNode')
-        return self.commit.get_path_history(self.path)
+            raise NodeError("Unable to get commit for this FileNode")
+        return self.commit.get_path_history(self.bytes_path)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def annotate(self):
@@ -606,22 +511,9 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         Returns a list of three element tuples with lineno, commit and line
         """
         if self.commit is None:
-            raise NodeError('Unable to get commit for this FileNode')
+            raise NodeError("Unable to get commit for this FileNode")
         pre_load = ["author", "date", "message", "parents"]
-        return self.commit.get_file_annotate(self.path, pre_load=pre_load)
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def state(self):
-        if not self.commit:
-            raise NodeError(
-                "Cannot check state of the node if it's not "
-                "linked with commit")
-        elif self.path in (node.path for node in self.commit.added):
-            return NodeState.ADDED
-        elif self.path in (node.path for node in self.commit.changed):
-            return NodeState.CHANGED
-        else:
-            return NodeState.NOT_CHANGED
+        return self.commit.get_file_annotate(self.bytes_path, pre_load=pre_load)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def is_binary(self):
@@ -629,7 +521,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         Returns True if file has binary content.
         """
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.is_node_binary(self.path)
+            return self.commit.is_node_binary(self.bytes_path)
         else:
             raw_bytes = self._content
             return bool(raw_bytes and BIN_BYTE_MARKER in raw_bytes)
@@ -641,7 +533,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         """
 
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.node_md5_hash(self.path)
+            return self.commit.node_md5_hash(self.bytes_path)
         else:
             raw_bytes = self._content
             # TODO: this sucks, we're computing md5 on potentially super big stream data...
@@ -650,7 +542,7 @@ class FileNode(Node):
     @LazyProperty
     def extension(self):
         """Returns filenode extension"""
-        return self.name.split('.')[-1]
+        return self.name.split(".")[-1]
 
     @property
     def is_executable(self):
@@ -667,15 +559,15 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         LF store.
         """
         if self.commit:
-            return self.commit.get_largefile_node(self.path)
+            return self.commit.get_largefile_node(self.bytes_path)
 
     def count_lines(self, content: str | bytes, count_empty=False):
         if isinstance(content, str):
-            newline_marker = '\n'
+            newline_marker = "\n"
         elif isinstance(content, bytes):
-            newline_marker = b'\n'
+            newline_marker = b"\n"
         else:
-            raise ValueError('content must be bytes or str got {type(content)} instead')
+            raise ValueError("content must be bytes or str got {type(content)} instead")
 
         if count_empty:
             all_lines = 0
@@ -704,33 +596,6 @@ class FileNode(Node):
         return all_lines, empty_lines
 
 
-class RemovedFileNode(FileNode):
-    """
-    Dummy FileNode class - trying to access any public attribute except path,
-    name, kind or state (or methods/attributes checking those two) would raise
-    RemovedFileNodeError.
-    """
-    ALLOWED_ATTRIBUTES = [
-        'name', 'path', 'state', 'is_root', 'is_file', 'is_dir', 'kind',
-        'added', 'changed', 'not_changed', 'removed', 'bytes_path'
-    ]
-
-    def __init__(self, path):
-        """
-        :param path: relative path to the node
-        """
-        super().__init__(path=path)
-
-    def __getattribute__(self, attr):
-        if attr.startswith('_') or attr in RemovedFileNode.ALLOWED_ATTRIBUTES:
-            return super().__getattribute__(attr)
-        raise RemovedFileNodeError(f"Cannot access attribute {attr} on RemovedFileNode. Not in allowed attributes")
-
-    @LazyProperty
-    def state(self):
-        return NodeState.REMOVED
-
-
 class DirNode(Node):
     """
     DirNode stores list of files and directories within this node.
@@ -752,7 +617,7 @@ class DirNode(Node):
         super().__init__(path, NodeKind.DIR)
         self.commit = commit
         self._nodes = nodes
-        self.default_pre_load = default_pre_load or ['is_binary', 'size']
+        self.default_pre_load = default_pre_load or ["is_binary", "size"]
 
     def __iter__(self):
         yield from self.nodes
@@ -782,10 +647,9 @@ class DirNode(Node):
     @LazyProperty
     def nodes(self):
         if self.commit:
-            nodes = self.commit.get_nodes(self.path, pre_load=self.default_pre_load)
+            nodes = self.commit.get_nodes(self.bytes_path, pre_load=self.default_pre_load)
         else:
             nodes = self._nodes
-        self._nodes_dict = {node.path: node for node in nodes}
         return sorted(nodes)
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -796,47 +660,6 @@ class DirNode(Node):
     def dirs(self):
         return sorted(node for node in self.nodes if node.is_dir())
 
-    def get_node(self, path):
-        """
-        Returns node from within this particular ``DirNode``, so it is now
-        allowed to fetch, i.e. node located at 'docs/api/index.rst' from node
-        'docs'. In order to access deeper nodes one must fetch nodes between
-        them first - this would work::
-
-           docs = root.get_node('docs')
-           docs.get_node('api').get_node('index.rst')
-
-        :param: path - relative to the current node
-
-        .. note::
-           To access lazily (as in example above) node have to be initialized
-           with related commit object - without it node is out of
-           context and may know nothing about anything else than nearest
-           (located at same level) nodes.
-        """
-        try:
-            path = path.rstrip('/')
-            if path == '':
-                raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve node without path")
-            self.nodes  # access nodes first in order to set _nodes_dict
-            paths = path.split('/')
-            if len(paths) == 1:
-                if not self.is_root():
-                    path = '/'.join((self.path, paths[0]))
-                else:
-                    path = paths[0]
-                return self._nodes_dict[path]
-            elif len(paths) > 1:
-                if self.commit is None:
-                    raise NodeError("Cannot access deeper nodes without commit")
-                else:
-                    path1, path2 = paths[0], '/'.join(paths[1:])
-                    return self.get_node(path1).get_node(path2)
-            else:
-                raise KeyError
-        except KeyError:
-            raise NodeError(f"Node does not exist at {path}")
-
     @LazyProperty
     def state(self):
         raise NodeError("Cannot access state of DirNode")
@@ -844,7 +667,7 @@ class DirNode(Node):
     @LazyProperty
     def size(self):
         size = 0
-        for root, dirs, files in self.commit.walk(self.path):
+        for root, dirs, files in self.commit.walk(self.bytes_path):
             for f in files:
                 size += f.size
 
@@ -854,14 +677,12 @@ class DirNode(Node):
     def last_commit(self):
         if self.commit:
             pre_load = ["author", "date", "message", "parents"]
-            return self.commit.get_path_commit(self.path, pre_load=pre_load)
-        raise NodeError(
-            "Cannot retrieve last commit of the file without "
-            "related commit attribute")
+            return self.commit.get_path_commit(self.bytes_path, pre_load=pre_load)
+        raise NodeError("Cannot retrieve last commit of the file without related commit attribute")
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        short_id = getattr(self.commit, 'short_id', '')
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} {self.path!r} @ {short_id}>'
+        short_id = getattr(self.commit, "short_id", "")
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} path={self.str_path!r}, short_id={short_id}>"
 
 
 class RootNode(DirNode):
@@ -870,21 +691,24 @@ class RootNode(DirNode):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, nodes=(), commit=None):
-        super().__init__(path=b'', nodes=nodes, commit=commit)
+        super().__init__(path=b"", nodes=nodes, commit=commit)
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__}>'
+        short_id = getattr(self.commit, "short_id", "")
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} path={self.str_path!r}, short_id={short_id}>"
 
 
 class SubModuleNode(Node):
     """
     represents a SubModule of Git or SubRepo of Mercurial
     """
+
     is_binary = False
     size = 0
 
     def __init__(self, name, url=None, commit=None, alias=None):
         self.path = name
+        self.str_path: str = safe_str(self.path)  # we store paths as str
         self.kind = NodeKind.SUBMODULE
         self.alias = alias
 
@@ -894,8 +718,8 @@ class SubModuleNode(Node):
         self.url = url or self._extract_submodule_url()
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        short_id = getattr(self.commit, 'short_id', '')
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} {self.path!r} @ {short_id}>'
+        short_id = getattr(self.commit, "short_id", "")
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} {self.str_path!r} @ {short_id}>"
 
     def _extract_submodule_url(self):
         # TODO: find a way to parse gits submodule file and extract the
@@ -908,22 +732,22 @@ class SubModuleNode(Node):
         Returns name of the node so if its path
         then only last part is returned.
         """
-        org = safe_str(self.path.rstrip('/').split('/')[-1])
-        return f'{org} @ {self.commit.short_id}'
+        org = self.str_path.rstrip("/").split("/")[-1]
+        return f"{org} @ {self.commit.short_id}"
 
 
 class LargeFileNode(FileNode):
-
     def __init__(self, path, url=None, commit=None, alias=None, org_path=None):
         self._validate_path(path)  # can throw exception if path is invalid
         self.org_path = org_path  # as stored in VCS as LF pointer
 
-        self.bytes_path = path.rstrip(b'/')  # store for __repr__
-        self.path = safe_str(self.bytes_path)  # we store paths as str
+        self.bytes_path = path.rstrip(b"/")  # store for __repr__
+        self.str_path = safe_str(self.bytes_path)
+        self.path = self.str_path
 
-        self.kind = NodeKind.LARGEFILE
+        self.kind = NodeKind.LARGE_FILE
         self.alias = alias
-        self._content = b''
+        self._content = b""
 
     def _validate_path(self, path: bytes):
         """
@@ -932,7 +756,7 @@ class LargeFileNode(FileNode):
         self._assert_bytes(path)
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f'<{self.__class__.__name__} {self.org_path} -> {self.path!r}>'
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} {self.org_path} -> {self.str_path!r}>"
 
     @LazyProperty
     def size(self):
@@ -940,7 +764,7 @@ class LargeFileNode(FileNode):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def raw_bytes(self):
-        with open(self.path, 'rb') as f:
+        with open(self.path, "rb") as f:
             content = f.read()
         return content
 
@@ -952,7 +776,7 @@ class LargeFileNode(FileNode):
         return self.org_path
 
     def stream_bytes(self):
-        with open(self.path, 'rb') as stream:
+        with open(self.path, "rb") as stream:
             while True:
                 data = stream.read(16 * 1024)
                 if not data:
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs_common.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs_common.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ae5a26c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs_common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2014-2024 RhodeCode GmbH
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3
+# (only), as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# This program is dual-licensed. If you wish to learn more about the
+# RhodeCode Enterprise Edition, including its added features, Support services,
+# and proprietary license terms, please see https://rhodecode.com/licenses/
+
+
+"""
+Common VCS module for rhodecode and vcsserver
+"""
+
+
+import enum
+
+FILEMODE_DEFAULT = 0o100644
+FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE = 0o100755
+FILEMODE_LINK = 0o120000
+
+
+class NodeKind(int, enum.Enum):
+    SUBMODULE = -1
+    DIR = 1
+    FILE = 2
+    LARGE_FILE = 3
+
+
+def map_git_obj_type(obj_type):
+    if obj_type == "blob":
+        return NodeKind.FILE
+    elif obj_type == "tree":
+        return NodeKind.DIR
+    elif obj_type == "link":
+        return NodeKind.SUBMODULE
+    return None
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/gist.py b/rhodecode/model/gist.py
index ce150fa1..8127d205 100644
--- a/rhodecode/model/gist.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/gist.py
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ class GistModel(BaseModel):
             raise VCSError(f'Failed to load gist repository for {repo}')
 
         commit = vcs_repo.get_commit(commit_id=revision)
-        return commit, [n for n in commit.get_node('/')]
+        return commit, [n for n in commit.get_node(b'/')]
 
     def create(self, description, owner, gist_mapping,
                gist_type=Gist.GIST_PUBLIC, lifetime=-1, gist_id=None,
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py b/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
index 22be808e..7d86790b 100644
--- a/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/pull_request.py
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ def get_diff_info(
         log.debug('Calculating authors of changed files')
         target_commit = source_repo.get_commit(ancestor_id)
 
+        # TODO: change to operate in bytes..
         for fname, lines in changed_lines.items():
 
             try:
@@ -2223,8 +2224,7 @@ class MergeCheck(object):
         )
 
     @classmethod
-    def validate(cls, pull_request, auth_user, translator, fail_early=False,
-                 force_shadow_repo_refresh=False):
+    def validate(cls, pull_request, auth_user, translator, fail_early=False, force_shadow_repo_refresh=False):
         _ = translator
         merge_check = cls()
 
@@ -2285,12 +2285,10 @@ class MergeCheck(object):
         # left over TODOs
         todos = CommentsModel().get_pull_request_unresolved_todos(pull_request)
         if todos:
-            log.debug("MergeCheck: cannot merge, {} "
-                      "unresolved TODOs left.".format(len(todos)))
+            log.debug("MergeCheck: cannot merge, %s unresolved TODOs left.", len(todos))
 
             if len(todos) == 1:
-                msg = _('Cannot merge, {} TODO still not resolved.').format(
-                    len(todos))
+                msg = _('Cannot merge, {} TODO still not resolved.').format(len(todos))
             else:
                 msg = _('Cannot merge, {} TODOs still not resolved.').format(
                     len(todos))
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/repo.py b/rhodecode/model/repo.py
index b7b72d40..059c8795 100644
--- a/rhodecode/model/repo.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/repo.py
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.auth import HasUserGroupPermissionAny
 from rhodecode.lib.caching_query import FromCache
 from rhodecode.lib.exceptions import AttachedForksError, AttachedPullRequestsError, AttachedArtifactsError
 from rhodecode.lib import hooks_base
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes
 from rhodecode.lib.user_log_filter import user_log_filter
 from rhodecode.lib.utils import make_db_config
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import (
@@ -1109,47 +1110,47 @@ class ReadmeFinder:
     different.
     """
 
-    readme_re = re.compile(r'^readme(\.[^\.]+)?$', re.IGNORECASE)
-    path_re = re.compile(r'^docs?', re.IGNORECASE)
+    readme_re = re.compile(br'^readme(\.[^.]+)?$', re.IGNORECASE)
+    path_re = re.compile(br'^docs?', re.IGNORECASE)
 
     default_priorities = {
         None:        0,
-        '.rst':      1,
-        '.md':       1,
-        '.rest':     2,
-        '.mkdn':     2,
-        '.text':     2,
-        '.txt':      3,
-        '.mdown':    3,
-        '.markdown': 4,
+        b'.rst':      1,
+        b'.md':       1,
+        b'.rest':     2,
+        b'.mkdn':     2,
+        b'.text':     2,
+        b'.txt':      3,
+        b'.mdown':    3,
+        b'.markdown': 4,
     }
 
     path_priority = {
-        'doc':  0,
-        'docs': 1,
+        b'doc':  0,
+        b'docs': 1,
     }
 
     FALLBACK_PRIORITY = 99
 
     RENDERER_TO_EXTENSION = {
-        'rst': ['.rst', '.rest'],
-        'markdown': ['.md', 'mkdn', '.mdown', '.markdown'],
+        'rst': [b'.rst', b'.rest'],
+        'markdown': [b'.md', b'mkdn', b'.mdown', b'.markdown'],
     }
 
     def __init__(self, default_renderer=None):
         self._default_renderer = default_renderer
-        self._renderer_extensions = self.RENDERER_TO_EXTENSION.get(
-            default_renderer, [])
+        self._renderer_extensions = self.RENDERER_TO_EXTENSION.get(default_renderer, [])
 
-    def search(self, commit, path='/'):
+    def search(self, commit, path=b'/'):
         """
         Find a readme in the given `commit`.
         """
         # firstly, check the PATH type if it is actually a DIR
-        if commit.get_node(path).kind != NodeKind.DIR:
+        bytes_path = safe_bytes(path)
+        if commit.get_node(bytes_path).kind != NodeKind.DIR:
             return None
 
-        nodes = commit.get_nodes(path)
+        nodes = commit.get_nodes(bytes_path)
         matches = self._match_readmes(nodes)
         matches = self._sort_according_to_priority(matches)
         if matches:
@@ -1157,8 +1158,8 @@ class ReadmeFinder:
 
         paths = self._match_paths(nodes)
         paths = self._sort_paths_according_to_priority(paths)
-        for path in paths:
-            match = self.search(commit, path=path)
+        for bytes_path in paths:
+            match = self.search(commit, path=bytes_path)
             if match:
                 return match
 
@@ -1168,7 +1169,7 @@ class ReadmeFinder:
         for node in nodes:
             if not node.is_file():
                 continue
-            path = node.path.rsplit('/', 1)[-1]
+            path = node.bytes_path.rsplit(b'/', 1)[-1]
             match = self.readme_re.match(path)
             if match:
                 extension = match.group(1)
@@ -1178,28 +1179,26 @@ class ReadmeFinder:
         for node in nodes:
             if not node.is_dir():
                 continue
-            match = self.path_re.match(node.path)
+            match = self.path_re.match(node.bytes_path)
             if match:
-                yield node.path
+                yield node.bytes_path
 
     def _priority(self, extension):
-        renderer_priority = (
-            0 if extension in self._renderer_extensions else 1)
-        extension_priority = self.default_priorities.get(
-            extension, self.FALLBACK_PRIORITY)
-        return (renderer_priority, extension_priority)
+        renderer_priority = 0 if extension in self._renderer_extensions else 1
+        extension_priority = self.default_priorities.get(extension, self.FALLBACK_PRIORITY)
+        return renderer_priority, extension_priority
 
     def _sort_according_to_priority(self, matches):
 
         def priority_and_path(match):
-            return (match.priority, match.path)
+            return match.priority, match.path
 
         return sorted(matches, key=priority_and_path)
 
     def _sort_paths_according_to_priority(self, paths):
 
         def priority_and_path(path):
-            return (self.path_priority.get(path, self.FALLBACK_PRIORITY), path)
+            return self.path_priority.get(path, self.FALLBACK_PRIORITY), path
 
         return sorted(paths, key=priority_and_path)
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/model/scm.py b/rhodecode/model/scm.py
index c53c729f..c2f37890 100644
--- a/rhodecode/model/scm.py
+++ b/rhodecode/model/scm.py
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ class ScmModel(BaseModel):
             root_path = root_path.lstrip('/')
 
             # get RootNode, inject pre-load options before walking
-            top_node = commit.get_node(root_path)
+            top_node = commit.get_node(safe_bytes(root_path))
             extended_info_pre_load = []
             if extended_info:
                 extended_info_pre_load += ['md5']
@@ -614,12 +614,13 @@ class ScmModel(BaseModel):
 
         _files = list()
         _dirs = list()
+        bytes_path = safe_bytes(root_path)
         try:
             _repo = self._get_repo(repo_name)
             commit = _repo.scm_instance().get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
-            root_path = root_path.lstrip('/')
+            root_path = bytes_path.lstrip(b'/')
 
-            top_node = commit.get_node(root_path)
+            top_node = commit.get_node(safe_bytes(root_path))
             top_node.default_pre_load = []
 
             for __, dirs, files in commit.walk(top_node):
@@ -736,7 +737,7 @@ class ScmModel(BaseModel):
             _repo = self._get_repo(repo_name)
             commit = _repo.scm_instance().get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
             root_path = root_path.lstrip('/')
-            top_node = commit.get_node(root_path)
+            top_node = commit.get_node(safe_bytes(root_path))
             top_node.default_pre_load = []
 
             for __, dirs, files in commit.walk(top_node):
@@ -774,7 +775,7 @@ class ScmModel(BaseModel):
            only for git
         :param trigger_push_hook: trigger push hooks
 
-        :returns: new committed commit
+        :returns: new commit
         """
         user, scm_instance, message, commiter, author, imc = self.initialize_inmemory_vars(
             user, repo, message, author)
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/config/test_routing_links.py b/rhodecode/tests/config/test_routing_links.py
index aec9964b..3b6a8588 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/config/test_routing_links.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/config/test_routing_links.py
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ connection_available = pytest.mark.skipif(
 
 
 import requests
+from urllib3.util.retry import Retry
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
-from requests.packages.urllib3.util.retry import Retry
 
 
 def requests_retry_session(
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/models/test_repos.py b/rhodecode/tests/models/test_repos.py
index 929ac100..e8ce4223 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/models/test_repos.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/models/test_repos.py
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ class TestRepoModel(object):
             is not None)
 
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("filename, expected", [
-        ("README", True),
-        ("README.rst", False),
+        (b"README", True),
+        (b"README.rst", False),
     ])
     def test_filenode_is_link(self, vcsbackend, filename, expected):
         repo = vcsbackend.repo
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_archives.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_archives.py
index de0625b3..0650b336 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_archives.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_archives.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import pytest
 
 import rhodecode
 from rhodecode.lib.archive_cache import get_archival_config
-from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import ascii_bytes
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import ascii_bytes, safe_bytes, safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import ImproperArchiveTypeError, VCSError
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import FileNode
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ class TestArchives(BackendTestMixin):
         out_file.close()
 
         for x in range(5):
-            node_path = "%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
-            with open(os.path.join(out_dir, "repo/" + node_path), "rb") as f:
+            node_path = b"%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
+            with open(os.path.join(safe_bytes(str(out_dir)), b"repo/" + node_path), "rb") as f:
                 file_content = f.read()
             assert file_content == self.tip.get_node(node_path).content
 
@@ -120,8 +120,9 @@ class TestArchives(BackendTestMixin):
         zip_file = zipfile.ZipFile(str(archive_lnk))
 
         for x in range(5):
-            node_path = "%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
-            data = zip_file.read(f"repo/{node_path}")
+            node_path = b"%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
+            # NOTE: zipfile operates only on strings inside the archive
+            data = zip_file.read(safe_str(b"repo/%s" % node_path))
 
             decompressed = io.BytesIO()
             decompressed.write(data)
@@ -143,8 +144,9 @@ class TestArchives(BackendTestMixin):
         assert b"commit_id:%b" % raw_id in metafile
 
         for x in range(5):
-            node_path = "%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
-            data = zip_file.read(f"repo/{node_path}")
+            node_path = b"%d/file_%d.txt" % (x, x)
+            # NOTE: zipfile operates only on strings inside the archive
+            data = zip_file.read(safe_str(b"repo/%s" % node_path))
             decompressed = io.BytesIO()
             decompressed.write(data)
             assert decompressed.getvalue() == self.tip.get_node(node_path).content
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_commits.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_commits.py
index 2be37a6a..93a5b823 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_commits.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_commits.py
@@ -22,21 +22,17 @@ import time
 import pytest
 
 from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import CollectionGenerator, FILEMODE_DEFAULT, EmptyCommit
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import CollectionGenerator, EmptyCommit
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import (
     BranchDoesNotExistError,
     CommitDoesNotExistError,
     RepositoryError,
     EmptyRepositoryError,
 )
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import (
-    FileNode,
-    AddedFileNodesGenerator,
-    ChangedFileNodesGenerator,
-    RemovedFileNodesGenerator,
-)
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import FileNode
 from rhodecode.tests import get_new_dir
 from rhodecode.tests.vcs.conftest import BackendTestMixin
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs_common import NodeKind, FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE, FILEMODE_DEFAULT, FILEMODE_LINK
 
 
 class TestBaseChangeset(object):
@@ -70,7 +66,7 @@ class TestCommitsInNonEmptyRepo(BackendTestMixin):
             }
 
     def test_walk_returns_empty_list_in_case_of_file(self):
-        result = list(self.tip.walk("file_0.txt"))
+        result = list(self.tip.walk(b"file_0.txt"))
         assert result == []
 
     @pytest.mark.backends("git", "hg")
@@ -319,7 +315,7 @@ class TestCommits(BackendTestMixin):
 
     def test_get_path_commit(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        commit.get_path_commit("file_4.txt")
+        commit.get_path_commit(b"file_4.txt")
         assert commit.message == "Commit 4"
 
     def test_get_filenodes_generator(self):
@@ -500,8 +496,8 @@ class TestCommits(BackendTestMixin):
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "filename, expected",
     [
-        ("README.rst", False),
-        ("README", True),
+        (b"README.rst", False),
+        (b"README", True),
     ],
 )
 def test_commit_is_link(vcsbackend, filename, expected):
@@ -543,49 +539,41 @@ class TestCommitsChanges(BackendTestMixin):
 
     def test_initial_commit(self, local_dt_to_utc):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=0)
-        assert set(commit.added) == {
-            commit.get_node("foo/bar"),
-            commit.get_node("foo/bał"),
-            commit.get_node("foobar"),
-            commit.get_node("qwe"),
-        }
-        assert set(commit.changed) == set()
-        assert set(commit.removed) == set()
-        assert set(commit.affected_files) == {"foo/bar", "foo/bał", "foobar", "qwe"}
+        assert sorted(commit.added_paths) == sorted([b"foo/bar", b"foo/ba\xc5\x82", b"foobar", b"qwe"])
+        assert commit.changed_paths == []
+        assert commit.removed_paths == []
+        assert sorted(commit.affected_files) == sorted([b"foo/bar", b"foo/ba\xc5\x82", b"foobar", b"qwe"])
         assert commit.date == local_dt_to_utc(datetime.datetime(2010, 1, 1, 20, 0))
 
     def test_head_added(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert isinstance(commit.added, AddedFileNodesGenerator)
-        assert set(commit.added) == {commit.get_node("fallout")}
-        assert isinstance(commit.changed, ChangedFileNodesGenerator)
-        assert set(commit.changed) == {commit.get_node("foo/bar"), commit.get_node("foobar")}
-        assert isinstance(commit.removed, RemovedFileNodesGenerator)
-        assert len(commit.removed) == 1
-        assert list(commit.removed)[0].path == "qwe"
+
+        assert commit.added_paths == [b"fallout"]
+        assert commit.changed_paths == [b"foo/bar", b"foobar"]
+        assert commit.removed_paths == [b"qwe"]
 
     def test_get_filemode(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode("foo/bar")
+        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode(b"foo/bar")
 
     def test_get_filemode_non_ascii(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode("foo/bał")
-        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode("foo/bał")
+        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode(b"foo/ba\xc5\x82")
+        assert FILEMODE_DEFAULT == commit.get_file_mode(b"foo/ba\xc5\x82")
 
     def test_get_path_history(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        history = commit.get_path_history("foo/bar")
+        history = commit.get_path_history(b"foo/bar")
         assert len(history) == 2
 
     def test_get_path_history_with_limit(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        history = commit.get_path_history("foo/bar", limit=1)
+        history = commit.get_path_history(b"foo/bar", limit=1)
         assert len(history) == 1
 
     def test_get_path_history_first_commit(self):
         commit = self.repo[0]
-        history = commit.get_path_history("foo/bar")
+        history = commit.get_path_history(b"foo/bar")
         assert len(history) == 1
 
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_filenodes_listing_and_caches.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_filenodes_listing_and_caches.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a826ecc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_filenodes_listing_and_caches.py
@@ -0,0 +1,227 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2010-2024 RhodeCode GmbH
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3
+# (only), as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+# This program is dual-licensed. If you wish to learn more about the
+# RhodeCode Enterprise Edition, including its added features, Support services,
+# and proprietary license terms, please see https://rhodecode.com/licenses/
+
+import datetime
+
+import pytest
+
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_bytes
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import FileNode
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs_common import NodeKind
+from rhodecode.tests.vcs.conftest import BackendTestMixin
+
+
+class TestFileNodesListingAndCaches:
+    def test_filenode_get_root_node(self, vcsbackend):
+        repo = vcsbackend.repo
+        commit = repo.get_commit()
+
+        # check if we start with empty nodes cache
+        assert commit.nodes == {}
+        assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+        assert commit._path_type_cache == {}
+
+        top_dir = commit.get_node(b"")
+
+        assert top_dir.is_dir()
+
+        assert list(commit.nodes.keys()) == [b""]
+        assert list(commit._path_type_cache.keys()) == [b""]
+        assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+
+    def test_filenode_get_file_node(self, vcsbackend):
+        repo = vcsbackend.repo
+        commit = repo.get_commit()
+
+        # check if we start with empty nodes cache
+        assert commit.nodes == {}
+        assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+        assert commit._path_type_cache == {}
+
+        file_node = commit.get_node(b"README.rst")
+
+        assert file_node.is_file()
+        assert file_node.last_commit
+
+        assert list(commit.nodes.keys()) == [b"README.rst"]
+        if repo.alias == "hg":
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {b"README.rst": NodeKind.FILE}
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {b"README.rst": 33188}
+
+        if repo.alias == "git":
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {
+                b"README.rst": ["8f111ab5152b9fd34f52b0fb288e1216b5d2f55e", NodeKind.FILE]
+            }
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {b"README.rst": 33188}
+
+        if repo.alias == "svn":
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {b"README.rst": NodeKind.FILE}
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {b"README.rst": 33188}
+
+    def test_filenode_get_nodes_from_top_dir(self, vcsbackend):
+        repo = vcsbackend.repo
+        commit = repo.get_commit()
+
+        # check if we start with empty nodes cache
+        assert commit.nodes == {}
+        assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+        assert commit._path_type_cache == {}
+
+        node_list = commit.get_nodes(b"")
+
+        for node in node_list:
+            assert node
+
+        if repo.alias == "svn":
+            assert list(commit.nodes.keys()) == [
+                b"README",
+                b".hgignore",
+                b"MANIFEST.in",
+                b".travis.yml",
+                b"vcs",
+                b"tox.ini",
+                b"setup.py",
+                b"setup.cfg",
+                b"docs",
+                b"fakefile",
+                b"examples",
+                b"test_and_report.sh",
+                b"bin",
+                b".gitignore",
+                b".hgtags",
+                b"README.rst",
+            ]
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {
+                b"": NodeKind.DIR,
+                b"README": 2,
+                b".hgignore": 2,
+                b"MANIFEST.in": 2,
+                b".travis.yml": 2,
+                b"vcs": 1,
+                b"tox.ini": 2,
+                b"setup.py": 2,
+                b"setup.cfg": 2,
+                b"docs": 1,
+                b"fakefile": 2,
+                b"examples": 1,
+                b"test_and_report.sh": 2,
+                b"bin": 1,
+                b".gitignore": 2,
+                b".hgtags": 2,
+                b"README.rst": 2,
+            }
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+
+        if repo.alias == "hg":
+            assert list(commit.nodes.keys()) == [
+                b".gitignore",
+                b".hgignore",
+                b".hgtags",
+                b".travis.yml",
+                b"MANIFEST.in",
+                b"README",
+                b"README.rst",
+                b"docs",
+                b"run_test_and_report.sh",
+                b"setup.cfg",
+                b"setup.py",
+                b"test_and_report.sh",
+                b"tox.ini",
+                b"vcs",
+            ]
+
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {
+                b"": NodeKind.DIR,
+                b".gitignore": 2,
+                b".hgignore": 2,
+                b".hgtags": 2,
+                b".travis.yml": 2,
+                b"MANIFEST.in": 2,
+                b"README": 2,
+                b"README.rst": 2,
+                b"docs": 1,
+                b"run_test_and_report.sh": 2,
+                b"setup.cfg": 2,
+                b"setup.py": 2,
+                b"test_and_report.sh": 2,
+                b"tox.ini": 2,
+                b"vcs": 1,
+            }
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+
+        if repo.alias == "git":
+            assert list(commit.nodes.keys()) == [
+                b".gitignore",
+                b".hgignore",
+                b".hgtags",
+                b"MANIFEST.in",
+                b"README",
+                b"README.rst",
+                b"docs",
+                b"run_test_and_report.sh",
+                b"setup.cfg",
+                b"setup.py",
+                b"test_and_report.sh",
+                b"tox.ini",
+                b"vcs",
+            ]
+            assert commit._path_type_cache == {
+                b"": ["2dab7f7377e36948b5633ae0877310380fdf64ba", NodeKind.DIR],
+                b".gitignore": ["7f95b0917e31b0cce1ad96a033b1a814c420cde3", 2],
+                b".hgignore": ["9bdee5ed67ceed7c4b5589ba26dada65df151aed", 2],
+                b".hgtags": ["63aa2e892deebdfdef1845fe52e2418ade03557b", 2],
+                b"MANIFEST.in": ["6d65aca5321c26589ae197b81511445cfb353c95", 2],
+                b"README": ["92cacd285355271487b7e379dba6ca60f9a554a4", 2],
+                b"README.rst": ["8f111ab5152b9fd34f52b0fb288e1216b5d2f55e", 2],
+                b"docs": ["eaa8cef76ec4e1baf06f515ab03bfc01719a913d", 1],
+                b"run_test_and_report.sh": ["e17011bdddc8812fda96e891a1087c73054f1f25", 2],
+                b"setup.cfg": ["2e76b65bc9106ed466d71fb2cfe710352eadfb49", 2],
+                b"setup.py": ["ccda2bd076eca961059deba6e39fb591d014052a", 2],
+                b"test_and_report.sh": ["0b14056dd7dc759a9719adef3d7bb529141a740e", 2],
+                b"tox.ini": ["c1735231e7af32f089b95455162db092824715a4", 2],
+                b"vcs": ["5868c69a8d74ccf3fdc655af8f3f185bc0ff2ef6", 1],
+            }
+            assert commit._path_mode_cache == {
+                b".gitignore": 33188,
+                b".hgignore": 33188,
+                b".hgtags": 33188,
+                b"MANIFEST.in": 33188,
+                b"README": 40960,
+                b"README.rst": 33188,
+                b"docs": 16384,
+                b"run_test_and_report.sh": 33261,
+                b"setup.cfg": 33188,
+                b"setup.py": 33188,
+                b"test_and_report.sh": 33261,
+                b"tox.ini": 33188,
+                b"vcs": 16384,
+            }
+
+    def test_filenode_get_nodes_from_docs_dir(self, vcsbackend):
+        repo = vcsbackend.repo
+        commit = repo.get_commit()
+
+        # check if we start with empty nodes cache
+        assert commit.nodes == {}
+        assert commit._path_mode_cache == {}
+        assert commit._path_type_cache == {}
+
+        node_list = commit.get_nodes(b"docs")
+
+        for node in node_list:
+            assert node
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_git.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_git.py
index 684f7e8b..d9d40405 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_git.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_git.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.utils import make_db_config
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import Reference
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.git import GitRepository, GitCommit, discover_git_version
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import RepositoryError, VCSError, NodeDoesNotExistError
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import NodeKind, FileNode, DirNode, NodeState, SubModuleNode
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import NodeKind, FileNode, DirNode, NodeState, SubModuleNode, RootNode
 from rhodecode.tests import TEST_GIT_REPO, TEST_GIT_REPO_CLONE, get_new_dir
 from rhodecode.tests.vcs.conftest import BackendTestMixin
 
@@ -219,23 +219,38 @@ class TestGitRepository(object):
         assert init_commit.message == "initial import\n"
         assert init_author == "Marcin Kuzminski <marcin@python-blog.com>"
         assert init_author == init_commit.committer
-        for path in ("vcs/__init__.py", "vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py", "vcs/backends/__init__.py"):
+        assert sorted(init_commit.added_paths) == sorted(
+            [
+                b"vcs/__init__.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/__init__.py",
+            ]
+        )
+        assert sorted(init_commit.affected_files) == sorted(
+            [
+                b"vcs/__init__.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/__init__.py",
+            ]
+        )
+
+        for path in (b"vcs/__init__.py", b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py", b"vcs/backends/__init__.py"):
             assert isinstance(init_commit.get_node(path), FileNode)
-        for path in ("", "vcs", "vcs/backends"):
+        for path in (b"", b"vcs", b"vcs/backends"):
             assert isinstance(init_commit.get_node(path), DirNode)
 
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
-            init_commit.get_node(path="foobar")
+            init_commit.get_node(path=b"foobar")
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs/")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs/")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.DIR
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.DIR
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs/__init__.py")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs/__init__.py")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.FILE
 
@@ -257,7 +272,7 @@ Introduction
 TODO: To be written...
 
 """
-        node = commit10.get_node("README.rst")
+        node = commit10.get_node(b"README.rst")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.FILE
         assert node.str_content == README
 
@@ -615,7 +630,7 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
 
     def test_root_node(self):
         tip = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert tip.root is tip.get_node("")
+        assert tip.root is tip.get_node(b"")
 
     def test_lazy_fetch(self):
         """
@@ -633,29 +648,29 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
         # accessing root.nodes updates commit.nodes
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 9
 
-        docs = root.get_node("docs")
+        docs = commit.get_node(b"docs")
         # we haven't yet accessed anything new as docs dir was already cached
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 9
         assert len(docs.nodes) == 8
         # accessing docs.nodes updates commit.nodes
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 17
 
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
         assert docs is root.nodes[0]
         assert docs is root.dirs[0]
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
 
     def test_nodes_with_commit(self):
         commit_id = "2a13f185e4525f9d4b59882791a2d397b90d5ddc"
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_id)
         root = commit.root
-        docs = root.get_node("docs")
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
-        api = docs.get_node("api")
-        assert api is commit.get_node("docs/api")
-        index = api.get_node("index.rst")
-        assert index is commit.get_node("docs/api/index.rst")
-        assert index is commit.get_node("docs").get_node("api").get_node("index.rst")
+        assert isinstance(root, RootNode)
+        docs = commit.get_node(b"docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
+        api = commit.get_node(b"docs/api")
+        assert api is commit.get_node(b"docs/api")
+        index = commit.get_node(b"docs/api/index.rst")
+        assert index is commit.get_node(b"docs/api/index.rst")
 
     def test_branch_and_tags(self):
         """
@@ -682,12 +697,12 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
 
     def test_file_size(self):
         to_check = (
-            ("c1214f7e79e02fc37156ff215cd71275450cffc3", "vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py", 502),
-            ("d7e0d30fbcae12c90680eb095a4f5f02505ce501", "vcs/backends/hg.py", 854),
-            ("6e125e7c890379446e98980d8ed60fba87d0f6d1", "setup.py", 1068),
-            ("d955cd312c17b02143c04fa1099a352b04368118", "vcs/backends/base.py", 2921),
-            ("ca1eb7957a54bce53b12d1a51b13452f95bc7c7e", "vcs/backends/base.py", 3936),
-            ("f50f42baeed5af6518ef4b0cb2f1423f3851a941", "vcs/backends/base.py", 6189),
+            ("c1214f7e79e02fc37156ff215cd71275450cffc3", b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py", 502),
+            ("d7e0d30fbcae12c90680eb095a4f5f02505ce501", b"vcs/backends/hg.py", 854),
+            ("6e125e7c890379446e98980d8ed60fba87d0f6d1", b"setup.py", 1068),
+            ("d955cd312c17b02143c04fa1099a352b04368118", b"vcs/backends/base.py", 2921),
+            ("ca1eb7957a54bce53b12d1a51b13452f95bc7c7e", b"vcs/backends/base.py", 3936),
+            ("f50f42baeed5af6518ef4b0cb2f1423f3851a941", b"vcs/backends/base.py", 6189),
         )
         for commit_id, path, size in to_check:
             node = self.repo.get_commit(commit_id).get_node(path)
@@ -695,17 +710,17 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
             assert node.size == size
 
     def test_file_history_from_commits(self):
-        node = self.repo[10].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[10].get_node(b"setup.py")
         commit_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["ff7ca51e58c505fec0dd2491de52c622bb7a806b"] == commit_ids
 
-        node = self.repo[20].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[20].get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["191caa5b2c81ed17c0794bf7bb9958f4dcb0b87e", "ff7ca51e58c505fec0dd2491de52c622bb7a806b"] == node_ids
 
         # special case we check history from commit that has this particular
         # file changed this means we check if it's included as well
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("191caa5b2c81ed17c0794bf7bb9958f4dcb0b87e").get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo.get_commit("191caa5b2c81ed17c0794bf7bb9958f4dcb0b87e").get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["191caa5b2c81ed17c0794bf7bb9958f4dcb0b87e", "ff7ca51e58c505fec0dd2491de52c622bb7a806b"] == node_ids
 
@@ -713,7 +728,7 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
         # we can only check if those commits are present in the history
         # as we cannot update this test every time file is changed
         files = {
-            "setup.py": [
+            b"setup.py": [
                 "54386793436c938cff89326944d4c2702340037d",
                 "51d254f0ecf5df2ce50c0b115741f4cf13985dab",
                 "998ed409c795fec2012b1c0ca054d99888b22090",
@@ -724,7 +739,7 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
                 "191caa5b2c81ed17c0794bf7bb9958f4dcb0b87e",
                 "ff7ca51e58c505fec0dd2491de52c622bb7a806b",
             ],
-            "vcs/nodes.py": [
+            b"vcs/nodes.py": [
                 "33fa3223355104431402a888fa77a4e9956feb3e",
                 "fa014c12c26d10ba682fadb78f2a11c24c8118e1",
                 "e686b958768ee96af8029fe19c6050b1a8dd3b2b",
@@ -757,7 +772,7 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
                 "dd80b0f6cf5052f17cc738c2951c4f2070200d7f",
                 "ff7ca51e58c505fec0dd2491de52c622bb7a806b",
             ],
-            "vcs/backends/git.py": [
+            b"vcs/backends/git.py": [
                 "4cf116ad5a457530381135e2f4c453e68a1b0105",
                 "9a751d84d8e9408e736329767387f41b36935153",
                 "cb681fb539c3faaedbcdf5ca71ca413425c18f01",
@@ -778,7 +793,7 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
 
     def test_file_annotate(self):
         files = {
-            "vcs/backends/__init__.py": {
+            b"vcs/backends/__init__.py": {
                 "c1214f7e79e02fc37156ff215cd71275450cffc3": {
                     "lines_no": 1,
                     "commits": [
@@ -870,39 +885,31 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
         """
         Tests state of FileNodes.
         """
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("e6ea6d16e2f26250124a1f4b4fe37a912f9d86a0").get_node("vcs/utils/diffs.py")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.ADDED
-        assert node.added
-        assert not node.changed
-        assert not node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        commit = self.repo.get_commit("e6ea6d16e2f26250124a1f4b4fe37a912f9d86a0")
+        node = commit.get_node(b"vcs/utils/diffs.py")
+        assert node.bytes_path in commit.added_paths
 
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("33fa3223355104431402a888fa77a4e9956feb3e").get_node(".hgignore")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.CHANGED
-        assert not node.added
-        assert node.changed
-        assert not node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        commit = self.repo.get_commit("33fa3223355104431402a888fa77a4e9956feb3e")
+        node = commit.get_node(b".hgignore")
+        assert node.bytes_path in commit.changed_paths
 
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("e29b67bd158580fc90fc5e9111240b90e6e86064").get_node("setup.py")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.NOT_CHANGED
-        assert not node.added
-        assert not node.changed
-        assert node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        commit = self.repo.get_commit("e29b67bd158580fc90fc5e9111240b90e6e86064")
+        node = commit.get_node(b"setup.py")
+        assert node.bytes_path not in commit.affected_files
 
         # If node has REMOVED state then trying to fetch it would raise
         # CommitError exception
         commit = self.repo.get_commit("fa6600f6848800641328adbf7811fd2372c02ab2")
-        path = "vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py"
+        path = b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py"
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
             commit.get_node(path)
+
         # but it would be one of ``removed`` (commit's attribute)
-        assert path in [rf.path for rf in commit.removed]
+        assert path in [rf for rf in commit.removed_paths]
 
         commit = self.repo.get_commit("54386793436c938cff89326944d4c2702340037d")
-        changed = ["setup.py", "tests/test_nodes.py", "vcs/backends/hg.py", "vcs/nodes.py"]
-        assert set(changed) == set([f.path for f in commit.changed])
+        changed = [b"setup.py", b"tests/test_nodes.py", b"vcs/backends/hg.py", b"vcs/nodes.py"]
+        assert set(changed) == set([f for f in commit.changed_paths])
 
     def test_unicode_branch_refs(self):
         unicode_branches = {
@@ -936,14 +943,14 @@ class TestGitCommit(object):
 
     def test_repo_files_content_types(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        for node in commit.get_node("/"):
+        for node in commit.get_node(b"/"):
             if node.is_file():
                 assert type(node.content) == bytes
                 assert type(node.str_content) == str
 
     def test_wrong_path(self):
         # There is 'setup.py' in the root dir but not there:
-        path = "foo/bar/setup.py"
+        path = b"foo/bar/setup.py"
         tip = self.repo.get_commit()
         with pytest.raises(VCSError):
             tip.get_node(path)
@@ -981,8 +988,7 @@ class TestLargeFileRepo(object):
         repo = backend_git.create_test_repo("largefiles", conf)
 
         tip = repo.scm_instance().get_commit()
-        node = tip.get_node("1MB.zip")
-
+        node = tip.get_node(b"1MB.zip")
 
         # extract stored LF node into the origin cache
         repo_lfs_store: str = os.path.join(repo.repo_path, repo.repo_name, "lfs_store")
@@ -1002,7 +1008,7 @@ class TestLargeFileRepo(object):
 
         assert lf_node.is_largefile() is True
         assert lf_node.size == 1024000
-        assert lf_node.name == "1MB.zip"
+        assert lf_node.name == b"1MB.zip"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("vcs_repository_support")
@@ -1032,14 +1038,11 @@ class TestGitSpecificWithRepo(BackendTestMixin):
 
     def test_paths_slow_traversing(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert (
-            commit.get_node("foobar").get_node("static").get_node("js").get_node("admin").get_node("base.js").content
-            == b"base"
-        )
+        assert commit.get_node(b"foobar/static/js/admin/base.js").content == b"base"
 
     def test_paths_fast_traversing(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit()
-        assert commit.get_node("foobar/static/js/admin/base.js").content == b"base"
+        assert commit.get_node(b"foobar/static/js/admin/base.js").content == b"base"
 
     def test_get_diff_runs_git_command_with_hashes(self):
         comm1 = self.repo[0]
@@ -1110,12 +1113,15 @@ class TestGitRegression(BackendTestMixin):
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "path, expected_paths",
         [
-            ("bot", ["bot/build", "bot/templates", "bot/__init__.py"]),
-            ("bot/build", ["bot/build/migrations", "bot/build/static", "bot/build/templates"]),
-            ("bot/build/static", ["bot/build/static/templates"]),
-            ("bot/build/static/templates", ["bot/build/static/templates/f.html", "bot/build/static/templates/f1.html"]),
-            ("bot/build/templates", ["bot/build/templates/err.html", "bot/build/templates/err2.html"]),
-            ("bot/templates/", ["bot/templates/404.html", "bot/templates/500.html"]),
+            (b"bot", ["bot/build", "bot/templates", "bot/__init__.py"]),
+            (b"bot/build", ["bot/build/migrations", "bot/build/static", "bot/build/templates"]),
+            (b"bot/build/static", ["bot/build/static/templates"]),
+            (
+                b"bot/build/static/templates",
+                ["bot/build/static/templates/f.html", "bot/build/static/templates/f1.html"],
+            ),
+            (b"bot/build/templates", ["bot/build/templates/err.html", "bot/build/templates/err2.html"]),
+            (b"bot/templates/", ["bot/templates/404.html", "bot/templates/500.html"]),
         ],
     )
     def test_similar_paths(self, path, expected_paths):
@@ -1146,8 +1152,8 @@ class TestGetSubmoduleUrl(object):
             node.str_content = (
                 '[submodule "subrepo1"]\n' "\tpath = subrepo1\n" "\turl = https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich\n"
             )
-            result = commit._get_submodule_url("subrepo1")
-        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(".gitmodules")
+            result = commit._get_submodule_url(b"subrepo1")
+        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(b".gitmodules")
         assert result == "https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich"
 
     def test_complex_submodule_path(self):
@@ -1160,14 +1166,14 @@ class TestGetSubmoduleUrl(object):
                 "\tpath = complex/subrepo/path\n"
                 "\turl = https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich\n"
             )
-            result = commit._get_submodule_url("complex/subrepo/path")
-        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(".gitmodules")
+            result = commit._get_submodule_url(b"complex/subrepo/path")
+        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(b".gitmodules")
         assert result == "https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich"
 
     def test_submodules_file_not_found(self):
         commit = GitCommit(repository=mock.Mock(), raw_id="abcdef12", idx=1)
         with mock.patch.object(commit, "get_node", side_effect=NodeDoesNotExistError):
-            result = commit._get_submodule_url("complex/subrepo/path")
+            result = commit._get_submodule_url(b"complex/subrepo/path")
         assert result is None
 
     def test_path_not_found(self):
@@ -1178,8 +1184,8 @@ class TestGetSubmoduleUrl(object):
             node.str_content = (
                 '[submodule "subrepo1"]\n' "\tpath = subrepo1\n" "\turl = https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich\n"
             )
-            result = commit._get_submodule_url("subrepo2")
-        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(".gitmodules")
+            result = commit._get_submodule_url(b"subrepo2")
+        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(b".gitmodules")
         assert result is None
 
     def test_returns_cached_values(self):
@@ -1191,44 +1197,43 @@ class TestGetSubmoduleUrl(object):
                 '[submodule "subrepo1"]\n' "\tpath = subrepo1\n" "\turl = https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich\n"
             )
             for _ in range(3):
-                commit._get_submodule_url("subrepo1")
-        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(".gitmodules")
+                commit._get_submodule_url(b"subrepo1")
+        get_node_mock.assert_called_once_with(b".gitmodules")
 
     def test_get_node_returns_a_link(self):
         repository = mock.Mock()
         repository.alias = "git"
         commit = GitCommit(repository=repository, raw_id="abcdef12", idx=1)
         submodule_url = "https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich"
-        get_id_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_tree_id_for_path", return_value=(1, "link"))
+        get_id_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_path_tree_id_and_type", return_value=(1, NodeKind.SUBMODULE))
         get_submodule_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_submodule_url", return_value=submodule_url)
 
         with get_id_patch, get_submodule_patch as submodule_mock:
-            node = commit.get_node("/abcde")
+            node = commit.get_node(b"/abcde")
 
-        submodule_mock.assert_called_once_with("/abcde")
+        submodule_mock.assert_called_once_with(b"/abcde")
         assert type(node) == SubModuleNode
         assert node.url == submodule_url
 
     def test_get_nodes_returns_links(self):
         repository = mock.MagicMock()
         repository.alias = "git"
-        repository._remote.tree_items.return_value = [("subrepo", "stat", 1, "link")]
+        repository._remote.tree_items.return_value = [(b"subrepo", "stat", 1, NodeKind.SUBMODULE)]
         commit = GitCommit(repository=repository, raw_id="abcdef12", idx=1)
         submodule_url = "https://code.rhodecode.com/dulwich"
-        get_id_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_tree_id_for_path", return_value=(1, "tree"))
+        get_id_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_path_tree_id_and_type", return_value=(1, NodeKind.DIR))
         get_submodule_patch = mock.patch.object(commit, "_get_submodule_url", return_value=submodule_url)
 
         with get_id_patch, get_submodule_patch as submodule_mock:
-            nodes = commit.get_nodes("/abcde")
+            nodes = commit.get_nodes(b"/abcde")
 
-        submodule_mock.assert_called_once_with("/abcde/subrepo")
+        submodule_mock.assert_called_once_with(b"/abcde/subrepo")
         assert len(nodes) == 1
         assert type(nodes[0]) == SubModuleNode
         assert nodes[0].url == submodule_url
 
 
 class TestGetShadowInstance(object):
-
     @pytest.fixture()
     def repo(self, vcsbackend_git):
         _git_repo = vcsbackend_git.repo
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_hg.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
index 49f90868..a768e55d 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_hg.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.vcs import backends
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import Reference, MergeResponse, MergeFailureReason
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.hg import MercurialRepository, MercurialCommit
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import RepositoryError, VCSError, NodeDoesNotExistError, CommitDoesNotExistError
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import FileNode, NodeKind, NodeState
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import FileNode, NodeKind, DirNode, RootNode
 from rhodecode.tests import TEST_HG_REPO, TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE, repo_id_generator
 
 
@@ -41,22 +41,17 @@ def repo_path_generator():
     i = 0
     while True:
         i += 1
-        yield "%s-%d" % (TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE, i)
+        yield f"{TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE}-{i:d}"
 
 
 REPO_PATH_GENERATOR = repo_path_generator()
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(scope="class", autouse=True)
-def repo(request, baseapp):
-    repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
-    if request.cls:
-        request.cls.repo = repo
-    return repo
-
-
-class TestMercurialRepository(object):
+class TestMercurialRepository:
     # pylint: disable=protected-access
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def prepare(self):
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
 
     def get_clone_repo(self):
         """
@@ -100,9 +95,8 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
 
     def test_repo_clone(self):
         if os.path.exists(TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE):
-            self.fail(
-                "Cannot test mercurial clone repo as location %s already "
-                "exists. You should manually remove it first." % TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE
+            pytest.fail(
+                f"Cannot test mercurial clone repo as location {TEST_HG_REPO_CLONE} already exists. You should manually remove it first."
             )
 
         repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
@@ -217,8 +211,8 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
         assert "git" in self.repo._get_branches(closed=True)
         assert "web" in self.repo._get_branches(closed=True)
 
-        for name, id in self.repo.branches.items():
-            assert isinstance(self.repo.get_commit(id), MercurialCommit)
+        for name, commit_id in self.repo.branches.items():
+            assert isinstance(self.repo.get_commit(commit_id), MercurialCommit)
 
     def test_tip_in_tags(self):
         # tip is always a tag
@@ -235,29 +229,38 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
         assert init_commit.message == "initial import"
         assert init_author == "Marcin Kuzminski <marcin@python-blog.com>"
         assert init_author == init_commit.committer
-        assert sorted(init_commit._file_paths) == sorted(
+        assert sorted(init_commit.added_paths) == sorted(
             [
-                "vcs/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py",
-                "vcs/backends/__init__.py",
+                b"vcs/__init__.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/__init__.py",
+            ]
+        )
+        assert sorted(init_commit.affected_files) == sorted(
+            [
+                b"vcs/__init__.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py",
+                b"vcs/backends/__init__.py",
             ]
         )
-        assert sorted(init_commit._dir_paths) == sorted(["", "vcs", "vcs/backends"])
 
-        assert init_commit._dir_paths + init_commit._file_paths == init_commit._paths
+        for path in (b"vcs/__init__.py", b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py", b"vcs/backends/__init__.py"):
+            assert isinstance(init_commit.get_node(path), FileNode)
+        for path in (b"", b"vcs", b"vcs/backends"):
+            assert isinstance(init_commit.get_node(path), DirNode)
 
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
-            init_commit.get_node(path="foobar")
+            init_commit.get_node(path=b"foobar")
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs/")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs/")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.DIR
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.DIR
 
-        node = init_commit.get_node("vcs/__init__.py")
+        node = init_commit.get_node(b"vcs/__init__.py")
         assert hasattr(node, "kind")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.FILE
 
@@ -279,7 +282,7 @@ class TestMercurialRepository(object):
 
     def test_commit10(self):
         commit10 = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=10)
-        README = """===
+        readme = """===
 VCS
 ===
 
@@ -291,9 +294,9 @@ Introduction
 TODO: To be written...
 
 """
-        node = commit10.get_node("README.rst")
+        node = commit10.get_node(b"README.rst")
         assert node.kind == NodeKind.FILE
-        assert node.str_content == README
+        assert node.str_content == readme
 
     def test_local_clone(self):
         clone_path = next(REPO_PATH_GENERATOR)
@@ -370,7 +373,7 @@ TODO: To be written...
         assert target_repo.branches["default"] == commit_id
 
     def test_local_pull_from_same_repo(self):
-        reference = Reference("branch", "default", None)
+        reference = Reference("branch", "default", "")
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
             self.repo._local_pull(self.repo.path, reference)
 
@@ -503,7 +506,7 @@ TODO: To be written...
         # Check we are not left in an intermediate merge state
         assert not os.path.exists(os.path.join(target_repo.path, ".hg", "merge", "state"))
 
-    def test_local_merge_of_two_branches_of_the_same_repo(self, backend_hg):
+    def test_local_merge_of_two_branches_of_the_same_repo(self, backend_hg, vcs_repo):
         commits = [
             {"message": "a"},
             {"message": "b", "branch": "b"},
@@ -639,7 +642,7 @@ TODO: To be written...
 
         # add an extra head to the target repo
         imc = target_repo.in_memory_commit
-        imc.add(FileNode(b"file_x", content="foo"))
+        imc.add(FileNode(b"file_x", content=b"foo"))
         commits = list(target_repo.get_commits())
         imc.commit(
             message="Automatic commit from repo merge test",
@@ -728,8 +731,7 @@ TODO: To be written...
         assert len(target_repo.commit_ids) == 2 + 2
 
 
-class TestGetShadowInstance(object):
-
+class TestGetShadowInstance:
     @pytest.fixture()
     def repo(self, vcsbackend_hg):
         _hg_repo = vcsbackend_hg.repo
@@ -742,17 +744,21 @@ class TestGetShadowInstance(object):
         assert shadow.config.serialize() == repo.config.serialize()
 
     def test_disables_hooks_section(self, repo):
-        repo.config.set('hooks', 'foo', 'val')
+        repo.config.set("hooks", "foo", "val")
         shadow = repo.get_shadow_instance(repo.path)
-        assert not shadow.config.items('hooks')
+        assert not shadow.config.items("hooks")
 
     def test_allows_to_keep_hooks(self, repo):
-        repo.config.set('hooks', 'foo', 'val')
+        repo.config.set("hooks", "foo", "val")
         shadow = repo.get_shadow_instance(repo.path, enable_hooks=True)
-        assert shadow.config.items('hooks')
+        assert shadow.config.items("hooks")
 
 
-class TestMercurialCommit(object):
+class TestMercurialCommit:
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def prepare(self):
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
+
     def _test_equality(self, commit):
         idx = commit.idx
         assert commit == self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=idx)
@@ -772,7 +778,7 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
 
     def test_root_node(self):
         tip = self.repo.get_commit("tip")
-        assert tip.root is tip.get_node("")
+        assert tip.root is tip.get_node(b"")
 
     def test_lazy_fetch(self):
         """
@@ -788,28 +794,28 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         # accessing root.nodes updates commit.nodes
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 9
 
-        docs = root.get_node("docs")
+        docs = commit.get_node(b"docs")
         # we haven't yet accessed anything new as docs dir was already cached
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 9
         assert len(docs.nodes) == 8
         # accessing docs.nodes updates commit.nodes
         assert len(commit.nodes) == 17
 
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
         assert docs is root.nodes[0]
         assert docs is root.dirs[0]
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
 
     def test_nodes_with_commit(self):
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=45)
         root = commit.root
-        docs = root.get_node("docs")
-        assert docs is commit.get_node("docs")
-        api = docs.get_node("api")
-        assert api is commit.get_node("docs/api")
-        index = api.get_node("index.rst")
-        assert index is commit.get_node("docs/api/index.rst")
-        assert index is commit.get_node("docs").get_node("api").get_node("index.rst")
+        assert isinstance(root, RootNode)
+        docs = commit.get_node(b"docs")
+        assert docs is commit.get_node(b"docs")
+        api = commit.get_node(b"docs/api")
+        assert api is commit.get_node(b"docs/api")
+        index = commit.get_node(b"docs/api/index.rst")
+        assert index is commit.get_node(b"docs/api/index.rst")
 
     def test_branch_and_tags(self):
         commit0 = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=0)
@@ -837,28 +843,28 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
 
     def test_file_size(self):
         to_check = (
-            (10, "setup.py", 1068),
-            (20, "setup.py", 1106),
-            (60, "setup.py", 1074),
-            (10, "vcs/backends/base.py", 2921),
-            (20, "vcs/backends/base.py", 3936),
-            (60, "vcs/backends/base.py", 6189),
+            (10, b"setup.py", 1068),
+            (20, b"setup.py", 1106),
+            (60, b"setup.py", 1074),
+            (10, b"vcs/backends/base.py", 2921),
+            (20, b"vcs/backends/base.py", 3936),
+            (60, b"vcs/backends/base.py", 6189),
         )
         for idx, path, size in to_check:
             self._test_file_size(idx, path, size)
 
     def test_file_history_from_commits(self):
-        node = self.repo[10].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[10].get_node(b"setup.py")
         commit_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["3803844fdbd3b711175fc3da9bdacfcd6d29a6fb"] == commit_ids
 
-        node = self.repo[20].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[20].get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["eada5a770da98ab0dd7325e29d00e0714f228d09", "3803844fdbd3b711175fc3da9bdacfcd6d29a6fb"] == node_ids
 
         # special case we check history from commit that has this particular
         # file changed this means we check if it's included as well
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("eada5a770da98ab0dd7325e29d00e0714f228d09").get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo.get_commit("eada5a770da98ab0dd7325e29d00e0714f228d09").get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["eada5a770da98ab0dd7325e29d00e0714f228d09", "3803844fdbd3b711175fc3da9bdacfcd6d29a6fb"] == node_ids
 
@@ -866,9 +872,9 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         # we can only check if those commits are present in the history
         # as we cannot update this test every time file is changed
         files = {
-            "setup.py": [7, 18, 45, 46, 47, 69, 77],
-            "vcs/nodes.py": [7, 8, 24, 26, 30, 45, 47, 49, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 76],
-            "vcs/backends/hg.py": [
+            b"setup.py": [7, 18, 45, 46, 47, 69, 77],
+            b"vcs/nodes.py": [7, 8, 24, 26, 30, 45, 47, 49, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 76],
+            b"vcs/backends/hg.py": [
                 4,
                 5,
                 6,
@@ -927,7 +933,7 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
 
     def test_file_annotate(self):
         files = {
-            "vcs/backends/__init__.py": {
+            b"vcs/backends/__init__.py": {
                 89: {
                     "lines_no": 31,
                     "commits": [
@@ -1002,7 +1008,7 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
                     ],
                 },
             },
-            "vcs/exceptions.py": {
+            b"vcs/exceptions.py": {
                 89: {
                     "lines_no": 18,
                     "commits": [16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 17, 16, 16, 18, 18, 18],
@@ -1016,25 +1022,25 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
                     "commits": [16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 17, 16, 16, 18, 18, 18],
                 },
             },
-            "MANIFEST.in": {
+            b"MANIFEST.in": {
                 89: {"lines_no": 5, "commits": [7, 7, 7, 71, 71]},
                 20: {"lines_no": 3, "commits": [7, 7, 7]},
                 55: {"lines_no": 3, "commits": [7, 7, 7]},
             },
         }
 
-        for fname, commit_dict in files.items():
+        for file_name, commit_dict in files.items():
             for idx, __ in commit_dict.items():
                 commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=idx)
-                l1_1 = [x[1] for x in commit.get_file_annotate(fname)]
-                l1_2 = [x[2]().raw_id for x in commit.get_file_annotate(fname)]
+                l1_1 = [x[1] for x in commit.get_file_annotate(file_name)]
+                l1_2 = [x[2]().raw_id for x in commit.get_file_annotate(file_name)]
                 assert l1_1 == l1_2
-                l1 = l1_2 = [x[2]().idx for x in commit.get_file_annotate(fname)]
-                l2 = files[fname][idx]["commits"]
+                l1 = l1_2 = [x[2]().idx for x in commit.get_file_annotate(file_name)]
+                l2 = files[file_name][idx]["commits"]
                 assert l1 == l2, (
                     "The lists of commit for %s@commit_id%s"
                     "from annotation list should match each other,"
-                    "got \n%s \nvs \n%s " % (fname, idx, l1, l2)
+                    "got \n%s \nvs \n%s " % (file_name, idx, l1, l2)
                 )
 
     def test_commit_state(self):
@@ -1047,55 +1053,51 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         #    changed: 13
         #    added:   20
         #    removed: 1
-        changed = set(
-            [
-                ".hgignore",
-                "README.rst",
-                "docs/conf.py",
-                "docs/index.rst",
-                "setup.py",
-                "tests/test_hg.py",
-                "tests/test_nodes.py",
-                "vcs/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/backends/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/backends/base.py",
-                "vcs/backends/hg.py",
-                "vcs/nodes.py",
-                "vcs/utils/__init__.py",
-            ]
-        )
+        changed = {
+            b".hgignore",
+            b"README.rst",
+            b"docs/conf.py",
+            b"docs/index.rst",
+            b"setup.py",
+            b"tests/test_hg.py",
+            b"tests/test_nodes.py",
+            b"vcs/__init__.py",
+            b"vcs/backends/__init__.py",
+            b"vcs/backends/base.py",
+            b"vcs/backends/hg.py",
+            b"vcs/nodes.py",
+            b"vcs/utils/__init__.py",
+        }
 
-        added = set(
-            [
-                "docs/api/backends/hg.rst",
-                "docs/api/backends/index.rst",
-                "docs/api/index.rst",
-                "docs/api/nodes.rst",
-                "docs/api/web/index.rst",
-                "docs/api/web/simplevcs.rst",
-                "docs/installation.rst",
-                "docs/quickstart.rst",
-                "setup.cfg",
-                "vcs/utils/baseui_config.py",
-                "vcs/utils/web.py",
-                "vcs/web/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/web/exceptions.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/exceptions.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/middleware.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/models.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/settings.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/utils.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/views.py",
-            ]
-        )
+        added = {
+            b"docs/api/backends/hg.rst",
+            b"docs/api/backends/index.rst",
+            b"docs/api/index.rst",
+            b"docs/api/nodes.rst",
+            b"docs/api/web/index.rst",
+            b"docs/api/web/simplevcs.rst",
+            b"docs/installation.rst",
+            b"docs/quickstart.rst",
+            b"setup.cfg",
+            b"vcs/utils/baseui_config.py",
+            b"vcs/utils/web.py",
+            b"vcs/web/__init__.py",
+            b"vcs/web/exceptions.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/__init__.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/exceptions.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/middleware.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/models.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/settings.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/utils.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/views.py",
+        }
 
-        removed = set(["docs/api.rst"])
+        removed = {b"docs/api.rst"}
 
         commit64 = self.repo.get_commit("46ad32a4f974")
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit64.added)) == added
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit64.changed)) == changed
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit64.removed)) == removed
+        assert set((node for node in commit64.added_paths)) == added
+        assert set((node for node in commit64.changed_paths)) == changed
+        assert set((node for node in commit64.removed_paths)) == removed
 
         # commit_id b090f22d27d6:
         # hg st --rev b090f22d27d6
@@ -1103,9 +1105,9 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         #    added:   20
         #    removed: 1
         commit88 = self.repo.get_commit("b090f22d27d6")
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit88.added)) == set()
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit88.changed)) == set([".hgignore"])
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit88.removed)) == set()
+        assert set((node for node in commit88.added_paths)) == set()
+        assert set((node for node in commit88.changed_paths)) == {b".hgignore"}
+        assert set((node for node in commit88.removed_paths)) == set()
 
         #
         # 85:
@@ -1114,55 +1116,40 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         #    changed: 4 ['vcs/web/simplevcs/models.py', ...]
         #    removed: 1 ['vcs/utils/web.py']
         commit85 = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=85)
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit85.added)) == set(
-            ["vcs/utils/diffs.py", "vcs/web/simplevcs/views/diffs.py"]
-        )
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit85.changed)) == set(
-            [
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/models.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/utils.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/views/__init__.py",
-                "vcs/web/simplevcs/views/repository.py",
-            ]
-        )
-        assert set((node.path for node in commit85.removed)) == set(["vcs/utils/web.py"])
+        assert set((node for node in commit85.added_paths)) == {b"vcs/utils/diffs.py", b"vcs/web/simplevcs/views/diffs.py"}
+        assert set((node for node in commit85.changed_paths)) == {
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/models.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/utils.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/views/__init__.py",
+            b"vcs/web/simplevcs/views/repository.py",
+        }
+        assert set((node for node in commit85.removed_paths)) == {b"vcs/utils/web.py"}
 
     def test_files_state(self):
         """
         Tests state of FileNodes.
         """
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=85)
-        node = commit.get_node("vcs/utils/diffs.py")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.ADDED
-        assert node.added
-        assert not node.changed
-        assert not node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        node = commit.get_node(b"vcs/utils/diffs.py")
+        assert node.bytes_path in commit.added_paths
 
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=88)
-        node = commit.get_node(".hgignore")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.CHANGED
-        assert not node.added
-        assert node.changed
-        assert not node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        node = commit.get_node(b".hgignore")
+        assert node.bytes_path in commit.changed_paths
 
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=85)
-        node = commit.get_node("setup.py")
-        assert node.state, NodeState.NOT_CHANGED
-        assert not node.added
-        assert not node.changed
-        assert node.not_changed
-        assert not node.removed
+        node = commit.get_node(b"setup.py")
+        assert node.bytes_path not in commit.affected_files
 
         # If node has REMOVED state then trying to fetch it would raise
         # CommitError exception
         commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=2)
-        path = "vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py"
+        path = b"vcs/backends/BaseRepository.py"
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
             commit.get_node(path)
+
         # but it would be one of ``removed`` (commit's attribute)
-        assert path in [rf.path for rf in commit.removed]
+        assert path in [rf for rf in commit.removed_paths]
 
     def test_commit_message_is_unicode(self):
         for cm in self.repo:
@@ -1174,14 +1161,14 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
 
     def test_repo_files_content_type(self):
         test_commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=100)
-        for node in test_commit.get_node("/"):
+        for node in test_commit.get_node(b"/"):
             if node.is_file():
                 assert type(node.content) == bytes
                 assert type(node.str_content) == str
 
     def test_wrong_path(self):
         # There is 'setup.py' in the root dir but not there:
-        path = "foo/bar/setup.py"
+        path = b"foo/bar/setup.py"
         with pytest.raises(VCSError):
             self.repo.get_commit().get_node(path)
 
@@ -1196,23 +1183,27 @@ class TestMercurialCommit(object):
         assert "marcink" == self.repo.get_commit("84478366594b").author_name
 
 
-class TestLargeFileRepo(object):
+class TestLargeFileRepo:
     def test_large_file(self, backend_hg):
         conf = make_db_config()
         hg_largefiles_store = conf.get("largefiles", "usercache")
         repo = backend_hg.create_test_repo("largefiles", conf)
 
         tip = repo.scm_instance().get_commit()
-        node = tip.get_node(".hglf/thisfileislarge")
+        node = tip.get_node(b".hglf/thisfileislarge")
 
         lf_node = node.get_largefile_node()
 
         assert lf_node.is_largefile() is True
         assert lf_node.size == 1024000
-        assert lf_node.name == ".hglf/thisfileislarge"
+        assert lf_node.name == b".hglf/thisfileislarge"
 
 
-class TestGetBranchName(object):
+class TestGetBranchName:
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def prepare(self):
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
+
     def test_returns_ref_name_when_type_is_branch(self):
         ref = self._create_ref("branch", "fake-name")
         result = self.repo._get_branch_name(ref)
@@ -1235,7 +1226,11 @@ class TestGetBranchName(object):
         return ref
 
 
-class TestIsTheSameBranch(object):
+class TestIsTheSameBranch:
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def prepare(self):
+        self.repo = MercurialRepository(TEST_HG_REPO)
+
     def test_returns_true_when_branches_are_equal(self):
         source_ref = mock.Mock(name="source-ref")
         target_ref = mock.Mock(name="target-ref")
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_inmemory.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_inmemory.py
index 2d7d49f1..8d52e43b 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_inmemory.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_inmemory.py
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ class TestInMemoryCommit(BackendTestMixin):
         ]
         self.imc.add(*to_add)
         commit = self.imc.commit("Initial", "joe doe <joe.doe@example.com>")
-        assert isinstance(commit.get_node("foo"), DirNode)
-        assert isinstance(commit.get_node("foo/bar"), DirNode)
+        assert isinstance(commit.get_node(b"foo"), DirNode)
+        assert isinstance(commit.get_node(b"foo/bar"), DirNode)
         self.assert_nodes_in_commit(commit, to_add)
 
         # commit some more files again
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ class TestInMemoryCommit(BackendTestMixin):
 
         tip = self.repo.get_commit()
         node = nodes[0]
-        assert node.content == tip.get_node(node.path).content
+        assert node.content == tip.get_node(node.bytes_path).content
         self.imc.remove(node)
         self.imc.commit(message=f"Removed {node.path}", author="Some Name <foo@bar.com>")
 
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ class TestInMemoryCommit(BackendTestMixin):
         assert tip != newtip
         assert tip.id != newtip.id
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
-            newtip.get_node(node.path)
+            newtip.get_node(node.bytes_path)
 
     def test_remove_last_file_from_directory(self):
         node = FileNode(b"omg/qwe/foo/bar", content=b"foobar")
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ class TestInMemoryCommit(BackendTestMixin):
         self.imc.remove(node)
         tip = self.imc.commit("removed", "joe doe <joe@doe.com>")
         with pytest.raises(NodeDoesNotExistError):
-            tip.get_node("omg/qwe/foo/bar")
+            tip.get_node(b"omg/qwe/foo/bar")
 
     def test_remove_raise_node_does_not_exist(self, nodes):
         self.imc.remove(nodes[0])
@@ -338,5 +338,5 @@ class TestInMemoryCommit(BackendTestMixin):
 
     def assert_nodes_in_commit(self, commit, nodes):
         for node in nodes:
-            assert commit.get_node(node.path).path == node.path
-            assert commit.get_node(node.path).content == node.content
+            assert commit.get_node(node.bytes_path).path == node.path
+            assert commit.get_node(node.bytes_path).content == node.content
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
index 77e23da5..0efe1821 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_nodes.py
@@ -155,30 +155,6 @@ class TestNodeBasics:
         with pytest.raises(NodeError):
             node.content  # noqa
 
-    def test_dir_node_iter(self):
-        nodes = [
-            DirNode(b"docs"),
-            DirNode(b"tests"),
-            FileNode(b"bar"),
-            FileNode(b"foo"),
-            FileNode(b"readme.txt"),
-            FileNode(b"setup.py"),
-        ]
-        dirnode = DirNode(b"", nodes=nodes)
-        for node in dirnode:
-            assert node == dirnode.get_node(node.path)
-
-    def test_node_state(self):
-        """
-        Without link to commit nodes should raise NodeError.
-        """
-        node = FileNode(b"anything")
-        with pytest.raises(NodeError):
-            node.state  # noqa
-        node = DirNode(b"anything")
-        with pytest.raises(NodeError):
-            node.state  # noqa
-
     def test_file_node_stat(self):
         node = FileNode(b"foobar", b"empty... almost")
         mode = node.mode  # default should be 0100644
@@ -272,5 +248,5 @@ class TestNodesCommits(BackendTestMixin):
         last_commit = repo.get_commit()
 
         for x in range(3):
-            node = last_commit.get_node(f"file_{x}.txt")
+            node = last_commit.get_node(b"file_%d.txt" % x)
             assert node.last_commit == repo[x]
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_svn.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_svn.py
index 9eb64898..bb333593 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_svn.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_svn.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def test_read_full_file_tree(head):
 
 
 def test_topnode_files_attribute(head):
-    topnode = head.get_node("")
+    topnode = head.get_node(b"")
     topnode.files
 
 
@@ -173,23 +173,23 @@ class TestSVNCommit(object):
         self.repo = repo
 
     def test_file_history_from_commits(self):
-        node = self.repo[10].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[10].get_node(b"setup.py")
         commit_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["8"] == commit_ids
 
-        node = self.repo[20].get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo[20].get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["18", "8"] == node_ids
 
         # special case we check history from commit that has this particular
         # file changed this means we check if it's included as well
-        node = self.repo.get_commit("18").get_node("setup.py")
+        node = self.repo.get_commit("18").get_node(b"setup.py")
         node_ids = [commit.raw_id for commit in node.history]
         assert ["18", "8"] == node_ids
 
     def test_repo_files_content_type(self):
         test_commit = self.repo.get_commit(commit_idx=100)
-        for node in test_commit.get_node("/"):
+        for node in test_commit.get_node(b"/"):
             if node.is_file():
                 assert type(node.content) == bytes
                 assert type(node.str_content) == str
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_tags.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_tags.py
index 306f0aca..d0504f53 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_tags.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs/test_tags.py
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ class TestTags(BackendTestMixin):
     def test_new_tag(self):
         tip = self.repo.get_commit()
         tagsize = len(self.repo.tags)
-        tag = self.repo.tag("last-commit", "joe", tip.raw_id)
+        tag_commit = self.repo.tag("last-commit", "joe", tip.raw_id)
 
         assert len(self.repo.tags) == tagsize + 1
         for top, __, __ in tip.walk():
-            assert top == tag.get_node(top.path)
+            assert top == tag_commit.get_node(top.bytes_path)
 
     def test_tag_already_exist(self):
         tip = self.repo.get_commit()
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_bad_client.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_bad_client.py
index 6e5159fb..960b2c9f 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_bad_client.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_bad_client.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class TestVCSOperationsOnUsingBadClient(object):
         # push fails repo is locked by other user !
         push_url = rcstack.repo_clone_url(HG_REPO)
         stdout, stderr = _add_files_and_push("hg", tmpdir.strpath, clone_url=push_url)
-        msg = "Your hg client (ver=mercurial/proto-1.0 (Mercurial 6.7.4)) is forbidden by security rules"
+        msg = "Your hg client (version=mercurial/proto-1.0 (Mercurial 6.7.4)) is forbidden by security rules"
         assert msg in stderr
 
     def test_push_with_bad_client_repo_by_other_user_git(self, rcstack, tmpdir):
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class TestVCSOperationsOnUsingBadClient(object):
         push_url = rcstack.repo_clone_url(GIT_REPO)
         stdout, stderr = _add_files_and_push("git", tmpdir.strpath, clone_url=push_url)
 
-        err = "Your git client (ver=git/2.45.2) is forbidden by security rules"
+        err = "Your git client (version=git/2.45.2) is forbidden by security rules"
         assert err in stderr
 
     @pytest.mark.xfail(reason="Lack of proper SVN support of cloning")
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_svn.py b/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_svn.py
index 6f4b8a9b..84ea96fa 100644
--- a/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_svn.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/vcs_operations/test_vcs_operations_svn.py
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ class TestVCSOperationsSVN(object):
 
         assert 'not found' in stderr
 
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason='Lack of proper SVN support of cloning')
     def test_clone_existing_path_svn_not_in_database(
             self, rcstack, tmpdir, fs_repo_only):
         db_name = fs_repo_only('not-in-db-git', repo_type='git')
@@ -136,7 +135,6 @@ class TestVCSOperationsSVN(object):
             f'svn checkout {flags} {auth}', clone_url, tmpdir.strpath)
         assert 'not found' in stderr
 
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason='Lack of proper SVN support of cloning')
     def test_clone_existing_path_svn_not_in_database_different_scm(
             self, rcstack, tmpdir, fs_repo_only):
         db_name = fs_repo_only('not-in-db-hg', repo_type='hg')
@@ -149,7 +147,6 @@ class TestVCSOperationsSVN(object):
             f'svn checkout {flags} {auth}', clone_url, tmpdir.strpath)
         assert 'not found' in stderr
 
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason='Lack of proper SVN support of cloning')
     def test_clone_non_existing_store_path_svn(self, rcstack, tmpdir, user_util):
         repo = user_util.create_repo(repo_type='git')
         clone_url = rcstack.repo_clone_url(repo.repo_name)