diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/__init__.py
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ class CurlSession(object):
         curl.perform()
 
         status_code = curl.getinfo(pycurl.HTTP_CODE)
-
-        return CurlResponse(response_buffer, status_code)
+        content_type = curl.getinfo(pycurl.CONTENT_TYPE)
+        return CurlResponse(response_buffer, status_code, content_type)
 
 
 class CurlResponse(object):
@@ -153,9 +153,13 @@ class CurlResponse(object):
     `requests` as a drop in replacement for benchmarking purposes.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, response_buffer, status_code):
+    def __init__(self, response_buffer, status_code, content_type=''):
         self._response_buffer = response_buffer
         self._status_code = status_code
+        self._content_type = content_type
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return f'CurlResponse(code={self._status_code}, content_type={self._content_type})'
 
     @property
     def content(self):
@@ -168,6 +172,10 @@ class CurlResponse(object):
     def status_code(self):
         return self._status_code
 
+    @property
+    def content_type(self):
+        return self._content_type
+
     def iter_content(self, chunk_size):
         self._response_buffer.seek(0)
         while 1:
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/__init__.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/__init__.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/__init__.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ VCS Backends module
 import os
 import logging
 
-from pprint import pformat
+from rhodecode import typing
 
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.conf import settings
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import VCSError
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.vcs.utils.imports imp
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def get_vcs_instance(repo_path, *args, **kwargs):
+def get_vcs_instance(repo_path, *args, **kwargs) -> typing.VCSRepo | None:
     """
     Given a path to a repository an instance of the corresponding vcs backend
     repository class is created and returned. If no repository can be found
@@ -54,10 +54,10 @@ def get_vcs_instance(repo_path, *args, *
         backend = get_backend(vcs_alias)
 
         if explicit_vcs_alias:
-            # do final verification of existance of the path, this does the
+            # do final verification of existence of the path, this does the
             # same as get_scm() call which we skip in explicit_vcs_alias
             if not os.path.isdir(repo_path):
-                raise VCSError("Given path %s is not a directory" % repo_path)
+                raise VCSError(f"Given path {repo_path} is not a directory")
     except VCSError:
         log.exception(
             'Perhaps this repository is in db and not in '
@@ -68,15 +68,15 @@ def get_vcs_instance(repo_path, *args, *
     return backend(repo_path=repo_path, *args, **kwargs)
 
 
-def get_backend(alias):
+def get_backend(alias) -> typing.VCSRepoClass:
     """
     Returns ``Repository`` class identified by the given alias or raises
     VCSError if alias is not recognized or backend class cannot be imported.
     """
     if alias not in settings.BACKENDS:
         raise VCSError(
-            "Given alias '%s' is not recognized! Allowed aliases:\n%s" %
-            (alias, pformat(settings.BACKENDS.keys())))
+            f"Given alias '{alias}' is not recognized! "
+            f"Allowed aliases:{settings.BACKENDS.keys()}")
     backend_path = settings.BACKENDS[alias]
     klass = import_class(backend_path)
     return klass
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/base.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import datetime
 import fnmatch
 import itertools
 import logging
-import collections
+import dataclasses
 import warnings
 
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
@@ -55,10 +55,17 @@ FILEMODE_DEFAULT = 0o100644
 FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE = 0o100755
 EMPTY_COMMIT_ID = '0' * 40
 
-_Reference = collections.namedtuple('Reference', ('type', 'name', 'commit_id'))
 
+@dataclasses.dataclass
+class Reference:
+    type: str
+    name: str
+    commit_id: str
 
-class Reference(_Reference):
+    def __iter__(self):
+        yield self.type
+        yield self.name
+        yield self.commit_id
 
     @property
     def branch(self):
@@ -74,8 +81,15 @@ class Reference(_Reference):
     def to_str(self):
         return reference_to_unicode(self)
 
+    def asdict(self):
+        return dict(
+            type=self.type,
+            name=self.name,
+            commit_id=self.commit_id
+        )
 
-def unicode_to_reference(raw):
+
+def unicode_to_reference(raw: str):
     """
     Convert a unicode (or string) to a reference object.
     If unicode evaluates to False it returns None.
@@ -220,8 +234,8 @@ class MergeResponse(object):
 
         # Deprecations
         MergeFailureReason._DEPRECATED_MISSING_COMMIT: lazy_ugettext(
-            u'This pull request cannot be merged because the target or the '
-            u'source reference is missing.'),
+            'This pull request cannot be merged because the target or the '
+            'source reference is missing.'),
 
     }
 
@@ -972,6 +986,9 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         d.pop('repository', None)
         return d
 
+    def get_remote(self):
+        return self._remote
+
     def serialize(self):
         return self.__json__()
 
@@ -1097,7 +1114,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
 
         return author_email(self.author)
 
-    def get_file_mode(self, path):
+    def get_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
         """
         Returns stat mode of the file at `path`.
         """
@@ -1115,7 +1132,13 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_file_content(self, path):
+    def node_md5_hash(self, path):
+        """
+        Returns md5 hash of a node data
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def get_file_content(self, path) -> bytes:
         """
         Returns content of the file at the given `path`.
         """
@@ -1168,7 +1191,7 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path):
+    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns combined ``DirNode`` and ``FileNode`` objects list representing
         state of commit at the given ``path``.
@@ -1194,13 +1217,13 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         return None
 
-    def archive_repo(self, archive_dest_path, kind='tgz', subrepos=None,
+    def archive_repo(self, archive_name_key, kind='tgz', subrepos=None,
                      archive_dir_name=None, write_metadata=False, mtime=None,
-                     archive_at_path='/'):
+                     archive_at_path='/', cache_config=None):
         """
         Creates an archive containing the contents of the repository.
 
-        :param archive_dest_path: path to the file which to create the archive.
+        :param archive_name_key: unique key under this archive should be generated
         :param kind: one of following: ``"tbz2"``, ``"tgz"``, ``"zip"``.
         :param archive_dir_name: name of root directory in archive.
             Default is repository name and commit's short_id joined with dash:
@@ -1209,9 +1232,11 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         :param mtime: custom modification time for archive creation, defaults
             to time.time() if not given.
         :param archive_at_path: pack files at this path (default '/')
+        :param cache_config: config spec to send to vcsserver to configure the backend to store files
 
         :raise VCSError: If prefix has a problem.
         """
+        cache_config = cache_config or {}
         allowed_kinds = [x[0] for x in settings.ARCHIVE_SPECS]
         if kind not in allowed_kinds:
             raise ImproperArchiveTypeError(
@@ -1223,8 +1248,8 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         commit_id = self.raw_id
 
         return self.repository._remote.archive_repo(
-            archive_dest_path, kind, mtime, archive_at_path,
-            archive_dir_name, commit_id)
+            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:
@@ -1232,11 +1257,13 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
                 repo_name=safe_str(self.repository.name),
                 short_id=self.short_id)
         elif not isinstance(archive_dir_name, str):
-            raise ValueError("prefix not a bytes object: %s" % repr(archive_dir_name))
+            raise ValueError(f"archive_dir_name is not str object but: {type(archive_dir_name)}")
         elif archive_dir_name.startswith('/'):
             raise VCSError("Prefix cannot start with leading slash")
         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")
         return archive_dir_name
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -1321,14 +1348,28 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
         """
         Similar to os.walk method. Insted of filesystem it walks through
         commit starting at given ``topurl``.  Returns generator of tuples
-        (topnode, dirnodes, filenodes).
+        (top_node, dirnodes, filenodes).
         """
-        topnode = self.get_node(topurl)
-        if not topnode.is_dir():
+        from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import DirNode
+
+        if isinstance(topurl, DirNode):
+            top_node = topurl
+        else:
+            top_node = self.get_node(topurl)
+
+        has_default_pre_load = False
+        if isinstance(top_node, DirNode):
+            # used to inject as we walk same defaults as given top_node
+            default_pre_load = top_node.default_pre_load
+            has_default_pre_load = True
+
+        if not top_node.is_dir():
             return
-        yield (topnode, topnode.dirs, topnode.files)
-        for dirnode in topnode.dirs:
-            for tup in self.walk(dirnode.path):
+        yield top_node, top_node.dirs, top_node.files
+        for dir_node in top_node.dirs:
+            if has_default_pre_load:
+                dir_node.default_pre_load = default_pre_load
+            for tup in self.walk(dir_node):
                 yield tup
 
     def get_filenodes_generator(self):
@@ -1345,15 +1386,15 @@ class BaseCommit(object):
 
     def no_node_at_path(self, path):
         return NodeDoesNotExistError(
-            u"There is no file nor directory at the given path: "
-            u"`%s` at commit %s" % (safe_unicode(path), 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):
+    def _fix_path(self, path: str) -> str:
         """
         Paths are stored without trailing slash so we need to get rid off it if
         needed.
         """
-        return path.rstrip('/')
+        return safe_str(path).rstrip('/')
 
     #
     # Deprecated API based on changesets
@@ -1380,9 +1421,7 @@ class BaseChangesetClass(type):
         return isinstance(instance, BaseCommit)
 
 
-class BaseChangeset(BaseCommit):
-
-    __metaclass__ = BaseChangesetClass
+class BaseChangeset(BaseCommit, metaclass=BaseChangesetClass):
 
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         warnings.warn(
@@ -1624,9 +1663,7 @@ class BaseInMemoryChangesetClass(type):
         return isinstance(instance, BaseInMemoryCommit)
 
 
-class BaseInMemoryChangeset(BaseInMemoryCommit):
-
-    __metaclass__ = BaseInMemoryChangesetClass
+class BaseInMemoryChangeset(BaseInMemoryCommit, metaclass=BaseInMemoryChangesetClass):
 
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         warnings.warn(
@@ -1676,14 +1713,14 @@ class EmptyCommit(BaseCommit):
     def id(self):
         return self.raw_id
 
-    def get_path_commit(self, path):
+    def get_path_commit(self, path, pre_load=None):
         return self
 
-    def get_file_content(self, path):
-        return u''
+    def get_file_content(self, path) -> bytes:
+        return b''
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
-        yield self.get_file_content()
+        yield self.get_file_content(path)
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
         return 0
@@ -1695,9 +1732,7 @@ class EmptyChangesetClass(type):
         return isinstance(instance, EmptyCommit)
 
 
-class EmptyChangeset(EmptyCommit):
-
-    __metaclass__ = EmptyChangesetClass
+class EmptyChangeset(EmptyCommit, metaclass=EmptyChangesetClass):
 
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
         warnings.warn(
@@ -1731,7 +1766,7 @@ class EmptyRepository(BaseRepository):
 
     def get_diff(self, *args, **kwargs):
         from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.git.diff import GitDiff
-        return GitDiff('')
+        return GitDiff(b'')
 
 
 class CollectionGenerator(object):
@@ -1739,8 +1774,7 @@ 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
-        # TODO: (oliver) this isn't currently hooked up
-        self.collection_size = None
+        self.collection_size = collection_size
         self.pre_load = pre_load
         self.translate_tag = translate_tag
 
@@ -1762,11 +1796,16 @@ class CollectionGenerator(object):
             commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load,
             translate_tag=self.translate_tag)
 
-    def __getslice__(self, i, j):
-        """
-        Returns an iterator of sliced repository
-        """
-        commit_ids = self.commit_ids[i:j]
+    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]
+
+        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)
@@ -1830,10 +1869,16 @@ class Diff(object):
     :attr:`_header_re` and :attr:`_meta_re`.
     """
     _meta_re = None
-    _header_re = None
+    _header_re: bytes = re.compile(br"")
 
-    def __init__(self, raw_diff):
-        self.raw = raw_diff
+    def __init__(self, raw_diff: bytes):
+        if not isinstance(raw_diff, bytes):
+            raise Exception(f'raw_diff must be bytes - got {type(raw_diff)}')
+
+        self.raw = memoryview(raw_diff)
+
+    def get_header_re(self):
+        return self._header_re
 
     def chunks(self):
         """
@@ -1842,35 +1887,44 @@ class Diff(object):
         we can detect last chunk as this was also has special rule
         """
 
-        diff_parts = ('\n' + self.raw).split('\ndiff --git')
-        header = diff_parts[0]
-
-        if self._meta_re:
-            match = self._meta_re.match(header)
+        diff_parts = (b'\n' + bytes(self.raw)).split(b'\ndiff --git')
 
         chunks = diff_parts[1:]
         total_chunks = len(chunks)
 
-        return (
-            DiffChunk(chunk, self, cur_chunk == total_chunks)
-            for cur_chunk, chunk in enumerate(chunks, start=1))
+        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, diff, last_chunk):
-        self._diff = diff
+    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 last_chunk:
-            chunk += '\n'
-
-        match = self._diff._header_re.match(chunk)
+        if not is_last_chunk:
+            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.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})'
+
 
 class BasePathPermissionChecker(object):
 
@@ -1885,10 +1939,10 @@ class BasePathPermissionChecker(object):
 
     @property
     def has_full_access(self):
-        raise NotImplemented()
+        raise NotImplementedError()
 
     def has_access(self, path):
-        raise NotImplemented()
+        raise NotImplementedError()
 
 
 class AllPathPermissionChecker(BasePathPermissionChecker):
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/commit.py
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
 GIT commit module
 """
 
-import re
-import io
 import stat
 import configparser
 from itertools import chain
@@ -31,9 +29,7 @@ from itertools import chain
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import utcdate_fromtimestamp
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_unicode, safe_str
-from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import safe_int
-from rhodecode.lib.vcs.conf import settings
+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 (
@@ -92,7 +88,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         for attr, value in result.items():
             if attr in ["author", "message"]:
                 if value:
-                    value = safe_unicode(value)
+                    value = safe_str(value)
             elif attr == "date":
                 value = utcdate_fromtimestamp(*value)
             elif attr == "parents":
@@ -119,15 +115,15 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def message(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.message(self.id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.message(self.id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def committer(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.author(self.id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.author(self.id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def author(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.author(self.id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.author(self.id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def date(self):
@@ -143,7 +139,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def tags(self):
-        tags = [safe_unicode(name) for name,
+        tags = [safe_str(name) for name,
                 commit_id in self.repository.tags.items()
                 if commit_id == self.raw_id]
         return tags
@@ -159,7 +155,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
     def _set_branch(self, branches):
         if branches:
             # actually commit can have multiple branches in git
-            return safe_unicode(branches[0])
+            return safe_str(branches[0])
 
     @LazyProperty
     def branch(self):
@@ -167,6 +163,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         return self._set_branch(branches)
 
     def _get_tree_id_for_path(self, path):
+
         path = safe_str(path)
         if path in self._paths:
             return self._paths[path]
@@ -202,11 +199,10 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             return NodeKind.SUBMODULE
         return None
 
-    def _get_filectx(self, path):
+    def _assert_is_path(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.FILE:
-            raise CommitError(
-                "File does not exist for commit %s at  '%s'" % (self.raw_id, path))
+            raise CommitError(f"File does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
         return path
 
     def _get_file_nodes(self):
@@ -231,17 +227,19 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def _make_commits(self, commit_ids):
         def commit_maker(_commit_id):
-            return self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id)
+            return self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=_commit_id)
 
         return [commit_maker(commit_id) for commit_id in commit_ids]
 
-    def get_file_mode(self, path):
+    def get_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
         """
         Returns stat mode of the file at the given `path`.
         """
-        path = safe_str(path)
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
+
         # ensure path is traversed
         self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
+
         return self._stat_modes[path]
 
     def is_link(self, path):
@@ -251,6 +249,10 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         tree_id, _ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
         return self._remote.is_binary(tree_id)
 
+    def node_md5_hash(self, path):
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
+        return self._remote.md5_hash(self.raw_id, path)
+
     def get_file_content(self, path):
         """
         Returns content of the file at given `path`.
@@ -276,7 +278,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         which file at given `path` has been modified.
         """
 
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        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)
@@ -296,11 +298,11 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load),
                 content)
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path):
+    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
 
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.DIR:
             raise CommitError(
-                "Directory does not exist for commit %s at '%s'" % (self.raw_id, path))
+                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)
@@ -325,12 +327,11 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 self._stat_modes[obj_path] = stat_
 
             if type_ == 'tree':
-                dirnodes.append(DirNode(obj_path, commit=self))
+                dirnodes.append(DirNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self))
             elif type_ == 'blob':
-                filenodes.append(FileNode(obj_path, commit=self, mode=stat_))
+                filenodes.append(FileNode(safe_bytes(obj_path), commit=self, mode=stat_, pre_load=pre_load))
             else:
-                raise CommitError(
-                    "Requested object should be Tree or Blob, is %s", type_)
+                raise CommitError(f"Requested object should be Tree or Blob, is {type_}")
 
         nodes = dirnodes + filenodes
         for node in nodes:
@@ -346,8 +347,8 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 tree_id, type_ = self._get_tree_id_for_path(path)
             except CommitError:
                 raise NodeDoesNotExistError(
-                    "Cannot find one of parents' directories for a given "
-                    "path: %s" % path)
+                    f"Cannot find one of parents' directories for a given "
+                    f"path: {path}")
 
             if type_ in ['link', 'commit']:
                 url = self._get_submodule_url(path)
@@ -357,9 +358,9 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 if path == '':
                     node = RootNode(commit=self)
                 else:
-                    node = DirNode(path, commit=self)
+                    node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
             elif type_ == 'blob':
-                node = FileNode(path, commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
+                node = FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
                 self._stat_modes[path] = node.mode
             else:
                 raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
@@ -378,7 +379,7 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             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(lf_path, commit=self, org_path=path)
+                return LargeFileNode(safe_bytes(lf_path), commit=self, org_path=path)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def affected_files(self):
@@ -393,7 +394,6 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         added = set()
         modified = set()
         deleted = set()
-        _r = self._remote
 
         parents = self.parents
         if not self.parents:
@@ -403,14 +403,11 @@ class GitCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 oid = None
             else:
                 oid = parent.raw_id
-            changes = _r.tree_changes(oid, self.raw_id)
-            for (oldpath, newpath), (_, _), (_, _) in changes:
-                if newpath and oldpath:
-                    modified.add(newpath)
-                elif newpath and not oldpath:
-                    added.add(newpath)
-                elif not newpath and oldpath:
-                    deleted.add(oldpath)
+            _added, _modified, _deleted = self._remote.tree_changes(oid, self.raw_id)
+            added = added | set(_added)
+            modified = modified | set(_modified)
+            deleted = deleted | set(_deleted)
+
         return added, modified, deleted
 
     def _get_paths_for_status(self, status):
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/diff.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/diff.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/diff.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/diff.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import b
 
 class GitDiff(base.Diff):
 
-    _header_re = re.compile(r"""
+    _header_re = re.compile(br"""
         #^diff[ ]--git
             [ ]"?a/(?P<a_path>.+?)"?[ ]"?b/(?P<b_path>.+?)"?\n
         (?:^old[ ]mode[ ](?P<old_mode>\d+)\n
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/inmemory.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/inmemory.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/inmemory.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/inmemory.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ GIT inmemory module
 """
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import date_to_timestamp_plus_offset
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str, get_default_encodings
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 
 
@@ -50,23 +50,23 @@ class GitInMemoryCommit(base.BaseInMemor
         if branch is None:
             branch = self.repository.DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME
 
-        ENCODING = "UTF-8"
-
         commit_tree = None
         if self.parents[0]:
             commit_tree = self.parents[0]._commit['tree']
 
+        encoding = get_default_encodings()[0]
         updated = []
         for node in self.added + self.changed:
-
-            if node.is_binary:
-                content = node.content
-            else:
-                content = node.content.encode(ENCODING)
+            content = node.content
+            # TODO: left for reference pre py3 migration, probably need to be removed
+            # if node.is_binary:
+            #     content = node.content
+            # else:
+            #     content = node.content.encode(ENCODING)
 
             updated.append({
                 'path': node.path,
-                'node_path': node.name.encode(ENCODING),
+                'node_path': node.name,
                 'content': content,
                 'mode': node.mode,
             })
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ class GitInMemoryCommit(base.BaseInMemor
 
         date, tz = date_to_timestamp_plus_offset(date)
 
-        # TODO: johbo: Make kwargs explicit and check if this is needed.
         author_time = kwargs.pop('author_time', date)
         author_tz = kwargs.pop('author_timezone', tz)
 
@@ -83,11 +82,13 @@ class GitInMemoryCommit(base.BaseInMemor
             'parents': [p._commit['id'] for p in self.parents if p],
             'author': safe_str(author),
             'committer': safe_str(author),
-            'encoding': ENCODING,
+            'encoding': encoding,
             'message': safe_str(message),
+
             'commit_time': int(date),
+            'commit_timezone': tz,
+
             'author_time': int(author_time),
-            'commit_timezone': tz,
             'author_timezone': author_tz,
         }
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/git/repository.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ from zope.cachedescriptors.property impo
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import (
     utcdate_fromtimestamp, makedate, date_astimestamp)
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_unicode, safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.hash_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import CachedProperty
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import connection, path as vcspath
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import (
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
         :param opts: env options to pass into Subprocess command
         """
         if not isinstance(cmd, list):
-            raise ValueError('cmd must be a list, got %s instead' % type(cmd))
+            raise ValueError(f'cmd must be a list, got {type(cmd)} instead')
 
         skip_stderr_log = opts.pop('skip_stderr_log', False)
         out, err = self._remote.run_git_command(cmd, **opts)
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
     @LazyProperty
     def description(self):
         description = self._remote.get_description()
-        return safe_unicode(description or self.DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION)
+        return safe_str(description or self.DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION)
 
     def _get_refs_entries(self, prefix='', reverse=False, strip_prefix=True):
         if self.is_empty():
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
                 ref_name = ref
                 if strip_prefix:
                     ref_name = ref[len(prefix):]
-                result.append((safe_unicode(ref_name), sha))
+                result.append((safe_str(ref_name), sha))
 
         def get_name(entry):
             return entry[0]
@@ -561,10 +561,12 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
           ``self.EMPTY_COMMIT`` - in this case, patch showing all
           the changes since empty state of the repository until ``commit2``
         :param commit2: Until which commits changes should be shown.
+        :param path:
         :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:
         """
         self._validate_diff_commits(commit1, commit2)
         if path1 is not None and path1 != path:
@@ -579,6 +581,7 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
             commit1.raw_id, commit2.raw_id, file_filter=file_filter,
             opt_ignorews=ignore_whitespace,
             context=context)
+
         return GitDiff(diff)
 
     def strip(self, commit_id, branch_name):
@@ -865,8 +868,8 @@ class GitRepository(BaseRepository):
 
         # N.B.(skreft): the --no-ff option is used to enforce the creation of a
         # commit message. We also specify the user who is doing the merge.
-        cmd = ['-c', 'user.name="%s"' % safe_str(user_name),
-               '-c', 'user.email=%s' % safe_str(user_email),
+        cmd = ['-c', f'user.name="{user_name}"',
+               '-c', f'user.email={user_email}',
                'merge', '--no-ff', '-m', safe_str(merge_message)]
 
         merge_cmd = cmd + heads
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/commit.py
@@ -27,15 +27,14 @@ import os
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import utcdate_fromtimestamp
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str, safe_unicode
+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.backends.hg.diff import MercurialDiff
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import CommitError
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.nodes import (
     AddedFileNodesGenerator, ChangedFileNodesGenerator, DirNode, FileNode,
     NodeKind, RemovedFileNodesGenerator, RootNode, SubModuleNode,
-    LargeFileNode, LARGEFILE_PREFIX)
+    LargeFileNode)
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.utils.paths import get_dirs_for_path
 
 
@@ -62,6 +61,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         # caches
         self.nodes = {}
+        self._stat_modes = {}  # stat info for paths
 
     def _set_bulk_properties(self, pre_load):
         if not pre_load:
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         for attr, value in result.items():
             if attr in ["author", "branch", "message"]:
-                value = safe_unicode(value)
+                value = safe_str(value)
             elif attr == "affected_files":
-                value = map(safe_unicode, value)
+                value = list(map(safe_str, value))
             elif attr == "date":
                 value = utcdate_fromtimestamp(*value)
             elif attr in ["children", "parents"]:
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def branch(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.ctx_branch(self.raw_id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.ctx_branch(self.raw_id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def bookmarks(self):
@@ -105,15 +105,15 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def message(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.ctx_description(self.raw_id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.ctx_description(self.raw_id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def committer(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self.author)
+        return safe_str(self.author)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def author(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._remote.ctx_user(self.raw_id))
+        return safe_str(self._remote.ctx_user(self.raw_id))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def date(self):
@@ -132,9 +132,10 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _dir_paths(self):
-        p = list(set(get_dirs_for_path(*self._file_paths)))
-        p.insert(0, '')
-        return p
+        dir_paths = ['']
+        dir_paths.extend(list(set(get_dirs_for_path(*self._file_paths))))
+
+        return dir_paths
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _paths(self):
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
     @LazyProperty
     def id(self):
         if self.last:
-            return u'tip'
+            return 'tip'
         return self.short_id
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         phase_id = self._remote.ctx_phase(self.raw_id)
         phase_text = self._get_phase_text(phase_id)
 
-        return safe_unicode(phase_text)
+        return safe_str(phase_text)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def obsolete(self):
@@ -194,13 +195,6 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         children = self._remote.ctx_children(self.raw_id)
         return self._make_commits(children)
 
-    def _fix_path(self, path):
-        """
-        Mercurial keeps filenodes as str so we need to encode from unicode
-        to str.
-        """
-        return safe_str(super(MercurialCommit, self)._fix_path(path))
-
     def _get_kind(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
         if path in self._file_paths:
@@ -208,43 +202,52 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         elif path in self._dir_paths:
             return NodeKind.DIR
         else:
-            raise CommitError(
-                "Node does not exist at the given path '%s'" % (path, ))
+            raise CommitError(f"Node does not exist at the given path '{path}'")
 
-    def _get_filectx(self, path):
+    def _assert_is_path(self, path) -> str:
         path = self._fix_path(path)
         if self._get_kind(path) != NodeKind.FILE:
-            raise CommitError(
-                "File does not exist for idx %s at '%s'" % (self.raw_id, path))
+            raise CommitError(f"File does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
+
         return path
 
-    def get_file_mode(self, path):
+    def get_file_mode(self, path: bytes):
         """
         Returns stat mode of the file at the given ``path``.
         """
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
-        if 'x' in self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path):
+        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 'x' in self._stat_modes[path]:
             return base.FILEMODE_EXECUTABLE
-        else:
-            return base.FILEMODE_DEFAULT
+        return base.FILEMODE_DEFAULT
 
     def is_link(self, path):
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
-        return 'l' in self._remote.fctx_flags(self.raw_id, path)
+        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)
+
+        return 'l' in self._stat_modes[path]
 
     def is_node_binary(self, path):
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
         return self._remote.is_binary(self.raw_id, path)
 
+    def node_md5_hash(self, path):
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
+        return self._remote.md5_hash(self.raw_id, path)
+
     def get_file_content(self, path):
         """
         Returns content of the file at given ``path``.
         """
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
         return self._remote.fctx_node_data(self.raw_id, path)
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
         stream_method = getattr(self._remote, 'stream:fctx_node_data')
         return stream_method(self.raw_id, path)
 
@@ -252,7 +255,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         """
         Returns size of the file at given ``path``.
         """
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        path = self._assert_is_path(path)
         return self._remote.fctx_size(self.raw_id, path)
 
     def get_path_history(self, path, limit=None, pre_load=None):
@@ -260,7 +263,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         Returns history of file as reversed list of `MercurialCommit` objects
         for which file at given ``path`` has been modified.
         """
-        path = self._get_filectx(path)
+        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)
@@ -279,7 +282,7 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
                 lambda: self.repository.get_commit(commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=pre_load),
                 content)
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path):
+    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
         """
         Returns combined ``DirNode`` and ``FileNode`` objects list representing
         state of commit at the given ``path``. If node at the given ``path``
@@ -292,14 +295,14 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
 
         filenodes = [
-            FileNode(f, commit=self) for f in self._file_paths
+            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(d, commit=self) for d in dirs
+            DirNode(safe_bytes(d), commit=self) for d in dirs
             if os.path.dirname(d) == path]
 
         alias = self.repository.alias
@@ -326,12 +329,12 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
         if path not in self.nodes:
             if path in self._file_paths:
-                node = FileNode(path, commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
+                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(path, commit=self)
+                    node = DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
             else:
                 raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
 
@@ -347,11 +350,11 @@ class MercurialCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
             if self._remote.in_largefiles_store(file_id):
                 lf_path = self._remote.store_path(file_id)
-                return LargeFileNode(lf_path, commit=self, org_path=path)
+                return LargeFileNode(safe_bytes(lf_path), commit=self, org_path=path)
             elif self._remote.in_user_cache(file_id):
                 lf_path = self._remote.store_path(file_id)
                 self._remote.link(file_id, path)
-                return LargeFileNode(lf_path, commit=self, org_path=path)
+                return LargeFileNode(safe_bytes(lf_path), commit=self, org_path=path)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _submodules(self):
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/diff.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/diff.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/diff.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/diff.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import b
 
 class MercurialDiff(base.Diff):
 
-    _header_re = re.compile(r"""
+    _header_re = re.compile(br"""
         #^diff[ ]--git
             [ ]"?a/(?P<a_path>.+?)"?[ ]"?b/(?P<b_path>.+?)"?\n
         (?:^old[ ]mode[ ](?P<old_mode>\d+)\n
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/inmemory.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/inmemory.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/inmemory.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/inmemory.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ HG inmemory module
 """
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import date_to_timestamp_plus_offset
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import BaseInMemoryCommit
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import RepositoryError
 
@@ -65,14 +65,14 @@ class MercurialInMemoryCommit(BaseInMemo
 
         parent_ids = [p.raw_id if p else None for p in self.parents]
 
-        ENCODING = "UTF-8"
-
         updated = []
         for node in self.added + self.changed:
-            if node.is_binary:
-                content = node.content
-            else:
-                content = node.content.encode(ENCODING)
+            content = node.content
+            # TODO: left for reference pre py3 migration, probably need to be removed
+            # if node.is_binary:
+            #     content = node.content
+            # else:
+            #     content = node.content.encode(ENCODING)
             updated.append({
                 'path': node.path,
                 'content': content,
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/hg/repository.py
@@ -25,14 +25,16 @@ import os
 import logging
 import binascii
 import configparser
-import urllib.request, urllib.parse, urllib.error
+import urllib.request
+import urllib.parse
+import urllib.error
 
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import (
     date_to_timestamp_plus_offset, utcdate_fromtimestamp, makedate)
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_unicode, safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import CachedProperty
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import connection, exceptions
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.base import (
@@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         def get_name(ctx):
             return ctx[0]
 
-        _branches = [(safe_unicode(n), hexlify(h),) for n, h in
+        _branches = [(n, h,) for n, h in
                      self._remote.branches(active, closed).items()]
 
         return OrderedDict(sorted(_branches, key=get_name, reverse=False))
@@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         def get_name(ctx):
             return ctx[0]
 
-        _tags = [(safe_unicode(n), hexlify(h),) for n, h in
+        _tags = [(n, h,) for n, h in
                  self._remote.tags().items()]
 
         return OrderedDict(sorted(_tags, key=get_name, reverse=True))
@@ -230,7 +232,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
             return ctx[0]
 
         _bookmarks = [
-            (safe_unicode(n), hexlify(h)) for n, h in
+            (n, h) for n, h in
             self._remote.bookmarks().items()]
 
         return OrderedDict(sorted(_bookmarks, key=get_name))
@@ -365,8 +367,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         """
         if create and os.path.exists(self.path):
             raise RepositoryError(
-                "Cannot create repository at %s, location already exist"
-                % self.path)
+                f"Cannot create repository at {self.path}, location already exist")
 
         if src_url:
             url = str(self._get_url(src_url))
@@ -379,6 +380,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
 
         if create:
             os.makedirs(self.path, mode=0o755)
+
         self._remote.localrepository(create)
 
     @LazyProperty
@@ -389,14 +391,14 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
     def description(self):
         description = self._remote.get_config_value(
             'web', 'description', untrusted=True)
-        return safe_unicode(description or self.DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION)
+        return safe_str(description or self.DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def contact(self):
         contact = (
             self._remote.get_config_value("web", "contact") or
             self._remote.get_config_value("ui", "username"))
-        return safe_unicode(contact or self.DEFAULT_CONTACT)
+        return safe_str(contact or self.DEFAULT_CONTACT)
 
     @LazyProperty
     def last_change(self):
@@ -425,7 +427,6 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         to filesystem
         (``file:///``) schema.
         """
-        url = url.encode('utf8')
         if url != 'default' and '://' not in url:
             url = "file:" + urllib.request.pathname2url(url)
         return url
@@ -467,10 +468,7 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
         else:
             commit_id = "tip"
 
-        #TODO: decide if we pass bytes or str into lookup ?
-        # if isinstance(commit_id, unicode):
-        #     commit_id = safe_str(commit_id)
-
+        # case here is no cached version, do an actual lookup instead
         try:
             raw_id, idx = self._remote.lookup(commit_id, both=True)
         except CommitDoesNotExistError:
@@ -1009,5 +1007,9 @@ class MercurialRepository(BaseRepository
 class MercurialIndexBasedCollectionGenerator(CollectionGenerator):
 
     def _commit_factory(self, commit_id):
-        return self.repo.get_commit(
-            commit_idx=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load)
+        if isinstance(commit_id, int):
+            return self.repo.get_commit(
+                commit_idx=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load)
+        else:
+            return self.repo.get_commit(
+                commit_id=commit_id, pre_load=self.pre_load)
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/commit.py
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ SVN commit module
 import dateutil.parser
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str, safe_unicode
+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, NodeDoesNotExistError
+from rhodecode.lib.vcs.exceptions import CommitError
 
 
 _SVN_PROP_TRUE = '*'
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @property
     def author(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._properties.get('svn:author'))
+        return safe_str(self._properties.get('svn:author'))
 
     @property
     def date(self):
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     @property
     def message(self):
-        return safe_unicode(self._properties.get('svn:log'))
+        return safe_str(self._properties.get('svn:log'))
 
     @LazyProperty
     def _properties(self):
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             return [child]
         return []
 
-    def get_file_mode(self, path):
+    def get_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:
@@ -105,13 +105,17 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
         # 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('link')
+            return self.get_file_content(path).startswith(b'link')
         return False
 
     def is_node_binary(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
         return self._remote.is_binary(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
+    def node_md5_hash(self, path):
+        path = self._fix_path(path)
+        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)
@@ -119,16 +123,17 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def get_file_content(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        return self._remote.get_file_content(safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
+        return self._remote.get_file_content(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
     def get_file_content_streamed(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
+
         stream_method = getattr(self._remote, 'stream:get_file_content')
-        return stream_method(safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
+        return stream_method(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
 
     def get_file_size(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        return self._remote.get_file_size(safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
+        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))
@@ -156,34 +161,32 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
             if path == '':
                 node = nodes.RootNode(commit=self)
             else:
-                node_type = self._remote.get_node_type(
-                    safe_str(path), self._svn_rev)
+                node_type = self._remote.get_node_type(self._svn_rev, safe_str(path))
                 if node_type == 'dir':
-                    node = nodes.DirNode(path, commit=self)
+                    node = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self)
                 elif node_type == 'file':
-                    node = nodes.FileNode(path, commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
+                    node = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
                 else:
                     raise self.no_node_at_path(path)
 
             self.nodes[path] = node
         return self.nodes[path]
 
-    def get_nodes(self, path):
+    def get_nodes(self, path, pre_load=None):
         if self._get_kind(path) != nodes.NodeKind.DIR:
             raise CommitError(
-                "Directory does not exist for commit %s at "
-                " '%s'" % (self.raw_id, path))
+                f"Directory does not exist for commit {self.raw_id} at '{path}'")
         path = safe_str(self._fix_path(path))
 
         path_nodes = []
-        for name, kind in self._remote.get_nodes(path, revision=self._svn_rev):
+        for name, kind in self._remote.get_nodes(self._svn_rev, path):
             node_path = vcspath.join(path, name)
             if kind == 'dir':
-                node = nodes.DirNode(node_path, commit=self)
+                node = nodes.DirNode(safe_bytes(node_path), commit=self)
             elif kind == 'file':
-                node = nodes.FileNode(node_path, commit=self)
+                node = nodes.FileNode(safe_bytes(node_path), commit=self, pre_load=pre_load)
             else:
-                raise ValueError("Node kind %s not supported." % (kind, ))
+                raise ValueError(f"Node kind {kind} not supported.")
             self.nodes[node_path] = node
             path_nodes.append(node)
 
@@ -191,7 +194,7 @@ class SubversionCommit(base.BaseCommit):
 
     def _get_kind(self, path):
         path = self._fix_path(path)
-        kind = self._remote.get_node_type(path, self._svn_rev)
+        kind = self._remote.get_node_type(self._svn_rev, path)
         if kind == 'file':
             return nodes.NodeKind.FILE
         elif kind == 'dir':
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/diff.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/diff.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/diff.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/diff.py
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import b
 
 class SubversionDiff(base.Diff):
 
-    _meta_re = re.compile(r"""
+    _meta_re = re.compile(br"""
         (?:^(?P<svn_bin_patch>Cannot[ ]display:[ ]file[ ]marked[ ]as[ ]a[ ]binary[ ]type.)(?:\n|$))?
     """, re.VERBOSE | re.MULTILINE)
 
-    _header_re = re.compile(r"""
+    _header_re = re.compile(br"""
         #^diff[ ]--git
             [ ]"?a/(?P<a_path>.+?)"?[ ]"?b/(?P<b_path>.+?)"?\n
         (?:^similarity[ ]index[ ](?P<similarity_index>\d+)%\n
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/inmemory.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/inmemory.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/inmemory.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/inmemory.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ SVN inmemory module
 """
 
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import date_astimestamp
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str, safe_bytes
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
 
 
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ class SubversionInMemoryCommit(base.Base
         updated = []
         for node in self.added:
             node_data = {
-                'path': node.path,
-                'content': safe_str(node.content),
+                'path': safe_bytes(node.path),
+                'content': node.content,
                 'mode': node.mode,
             }
             if node.is_binary:
@@ -53,15 +53,15 @@ class SubversionInMemoryCommit(base.Base
             updated.append(node_data)
         for node in self.changed:
             updated.append({
-                'path': node.path,
-                'content': safe_str(node.content),
+                'path': safe_bytes(node.path),
+                'content': node.content,
                 'mode': node.mode,
             })
 
         removed = []
         for node in self.removed:
             removed.append({
-                'path': node.path,
+                'path': safe_bytes(node.path),
             })
 
         timestamp = date_astimestamp(date) if date else None
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/vcs/backends/svn/repository.py
@@ -24,13 +24,15 @@ SVN repository module
 
 import logging
 import os
-import urllib.request, urllib.parse, urllib.error
+import urllib.request
+import urllib.parse
+import urllib.error
 
 from zope.cachedescriptors.property import Lazy as LazyProperty
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from rhodecode.lib.datelib import date_astimestamp
-from rhodecode.lib.utils import safe_str, safe_unicode
+from rhodecode.lib.str_utils import safe_str
 from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import CachedProperty
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs import connection, path as vcspath
 from rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends import base
@@ -88,8 +90,8 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepo
     def _init_repo(self, create, src_url):
         if create and os.path.exists(self.path):
             raise RepositoryError(
-                "Cannot create repository at %s, location already exist"
-                % self.path)
+                f"Cannot create repository at {self.path}, location already exist"
+            )
 
         if create:
             self._remote.create_repository(settings.SVN_COMPATIBLE_VERSION)
@@ -116,7 +118,7 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepo
         :param opts: env options to pass into Subprocess command
         """
         if not isinstance(cmd, list):
-            raise ValueError('cmd must be a list, got %s instead' % type(cmd))
+            raise ValueError(f'cmd must be a list, got {type(cmd)} instead')
 
         skip_stderr_log = opts.pop('skip_stderr_log', False)
         out, err = self._remote.run_svn_command(cmd, **opts)
@@ -165,10 +167,7 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepo
                     directories = (tip.get_node(pattern), )
             except NodeDoesNotExistError:
                 continue
-            found_items.update(
-                (safe_unicode(n.path),
-                 self.commit_ids[-1])
-                for n in directories)
+            found_items.update((safe_str(n.path), self.commit_ids[-1]) for n in directories)
 
         def get_name(item):
             return item[0]
@@ -329,7 +328,7 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepo
 
         # TODO: johbo: Reconsider impact of DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME here
         if branch_name not in [None, self.DEFAULT_BRANCH_NAME]:
-            svn_rev = long(self.commit_ids[-1])
+            svn_rev = int(self.commit_ids[-1])
             commit_ids = self._remote.node_history(
                 path=branch_name, revision=svn_rev, limit=None)
             commit_ids = [str(i) for i in reversed(commit_ids)]
@@ -356,8 +355,8 @@ class SubversionRepository(base.BaseRepo
             self, commit1, commit2, path=None, ignore_whitespace=False,
             context=3, path1=None):
         self._validate_diff_commits(commit1, commit2)
-        svn_rev1 = long(commit1.raw_id)
-        svn_rev2 = long(commit2.raw_id)
+        svn_rev1 = int(commit1.raw_id)
+        svn_rev2 = int(commit2.raw_id)
         diff = self._remote.diff(
             svn_rev1, svn_rev2, path1=path1, path2=path,
             ignore_whitespace=ignore_whitespace, context=context)