Test null revisions (node 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000, aka rev -1) in various circumstances. Make an empty repo: $ hg init a $ cd a $ hg files -r 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 [1] $ hg files -r . [1] Add an empty commit (this makes the changelog refer to a null manifest node): $ hg commit -m "init" --config ui.allowemptycommit=true $ hg files -r . [1] Strip that empty commit (this makes the changelog file empty, as opposed to missing): $ hg --config 'extensions.strip=' strip . > /dev/null $ hg files -r . [1]