$ hg init repo $ cd repo $ touch a.html b.html c.py d.py $ cat > frontend.sparse << EOF > [include] > *.html > EOF $ hg -q commit -A -m initial $ echo 1 > a.html $ echo 1 > c.py $ hg commit -m 'commit 1' Enable sparse profile $ hg debugrequires dotencode dirstate-v2 (dirstate-v2 !) fncache generaldelta persistent-nodemap (rust !) revlog-compression-zstd (zstd !) revlogv1 share-safe sparserevlog store testonly-simplestore (reposimplestore !) $ hg debugsparse --config extensions.sparse= --enable-profile frontend.sparse $ ls -A .hg a.html b.html Requirement for sparse added when sparse is enabled $ hg debugrequires --config extensions.sparse= dotencode dirstate-v2 (dirstate-v2 !) exp-sparse fncache generaldelta persistent-nodemap (rust !) revlog-compression-zstd (zstd !) revlogv1 share-safe sparserevlog store testonly-simplestore (reposimplestore !) Client without sparse enabled reacts properly $ hg files abort: repository is using sparse feature but sparse is not enabled; enable the "sparse" extensions to access [255] Requirement for sparse is removed when sparse is disabled $ hg debugsparse --reset --config extensions.sparse= $ hg debugrequires dotencode dirstate-v2 (dirstate-v2 !) fncache generaldelta persistent-nodemap (rust !) revlog-compression-zstd (zstd !) revlogv1 share-safe sparserevlog store testonly-simplestore (reposimplestore !) And client without sparse can access $ hg files a.html b.html c.py d.py frontend.sparse