The Bit Repository protocol supports standard archive operations initiated by clients - Put, Get, Replace, Delete - as well as operations for working on lists of files - GetFileIDs, GetChecksums, GetAuditTrails. It also supports a special operation for monitoring Bit Repository components. Finally it supports the exchange of Alarm messages, which can be initated by any Bit Repository component.

The following pages will describe the message flow and formats, before describing each operation in detail.