diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 068962c31386d40b09fbe553d0db3a9fdcb3ce4c..08875e4a7fa5df2a6a1e9b1c0d0a1502760d6b76 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,19 @@ All notable changes to GekkoFS project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), and this project adheres
 to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+### New
+  - directory optimization with compression and reattemp ([!270](https://storage.bsc.es/gitlab/hpc/gekkofs/-/merge_requests/270))
+    - Refactor sfind so it can use SLURM_ environment variables to ask to different servers.
+    - Create a sample bash script to gather all the info (map->reduce)
+    - Compress directory data with zstd.
+    - Make a new config.hpp option for controlling the compression
+    - If directory buffer is not enough it will reattempt with the exact size
+
+### Changed 
+
+### Fixed
+
 ## [0.9.5] - 2025-08
 ### New
   - Added cppcheck code checking capabilities ([!214](https://storage.bsc.es/gitlab/hpc/gekkofs/-/merge_requests/214))
diff --git a/CMake/FindZStd.cmake b/CMake/FindZStd.cmake
index 8756c5e5abca17aaa8fb22cb48343a015a9f3b26..4f05f584af61f1b0d37887116bf9cfd4822c7652 100644
--- a/CMake/FindZStd.cmake
+++ b/CMake/FindZStd.cmake
@@ -26,32 +26,49 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
 ################################################################################
 
-#
-# - Try to find Facebook zstd library
-# This will define
-# ZStd_FOUND
-# ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR
-# ZStd_LIBRARIES
-#
+
+
+# Standard names to search for
+set(ZStd_NAMES zstd zstd_static)
 
 find_path(ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR
-    NAMES zstd.h
-)
+          NAMES zstd.h
+          PATH_SUFFIXES include)
+
+# Allow ZStd_LIBRARY to be set manually, as the location of the zstd library
+if(NOT ZStd_LIBRARY)
+  find_library(ZStd_LIBRARY_RELEASE
+               NAMES ${ZStd_NAMES}
+               PATH_SUFFIXES lib)
+  
 
-find_library(ZStd_LIBRARY
-    NAMES zstd
-)
+  include(SelectLibraryConfigurations)
+  select_library_configurations(ZStd)
+endif()
 
-set(ZStd_LIBRARIES ${ZStd_LIBRARY})
-set(ZStd_INCLUDE_DIRS ${ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR})
+unset(ZStd_NAMES)
+
+mark_as_advanced(ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR)
 
 include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
+FIND_PACKAGE_HANDLE_STANDARD_ARGS(ZStd
+        REQUIRED_VARS ZStd_LIBRARY ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR
+        VERSION_VAR ZStd_VERSION_STRING)
+
+if(ZStd_FOUND)
+    set(ZStd_INCLUDE_DIRS ${ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR})
+
+    if(NOT ZStd_LIBRARIES)
+        set(ZStd_LIBRARIES ${ZStd_LIBRARY})
+    endif()
 
-find_package_handle_standard_args(ZStd
-    DEFAULT_MSG ZStd_LIBRARY ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR
-)
+    if(NOT TARGET ZStd::ZStd)
+        add_library(ZStd::ZStd UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+        set_target_properties(ZStd::ZStd PROPERTIES
+                INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${ZStd_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+       
+        set_target_properties(ZStd::ZStd PROPERTIES
+                IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ZStd_LIBRARY}")
 
-mark_as_advanced(
-    ZStd_LIBRARY
-    ZStd_INCLUDE_DIR
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+    endif()
+endif()
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 98fc0776b593c1111b6dbe95213c26121f06f4d4..fbbe38282744282185452931af7cfcbf30671c09 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -161,6 +161,9 @@ find_package(Margo 0.14.0 REQUIRED)
 message(STATUS "[${PROJECT_NAME}] Checking for syscall_intercept")
 find_package(Syscall_intercept REQUIRED)
 
+message(STATUS "[${PROJECT_NAME}] Checking for Zstd")
+find_package(ZStd REQUIRED)
+
 ### AGIOS: required for scheduling I/O requests
 if (GKFS_ENABLE_AGIOS)
     message(STATUS "[${PROJECT_NAME}] Checking for Agios")
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 88b0b86d3a600a4a367b622f7014e1693400fe35..d4232a88a70b7343914c16fe0a04b33d39212c6a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -587,6 +587,9 @@ Client-metrics require the CMake argument `-DGKFS_ENABLE_CLIENT_METRICS=ON` (see
 - `LIBGKFS_METRICS_IP_PORT` - Enable flushing to a set ZeroMQ server (replaces `LIBGKFS_METRICS_PATH`).
 - `LIBGKFS_PROXY_PID_FILE` - Path to the proxy pid file (when using the GekkoFS proxy).
 - `LIBGKFS_NUM_REPL` - Number of replicas for data.
+#### Directory optimizations
+Set `true` the variable `use_dirents_compression` available at `include/config.hpp` to transfer directories compressed with zstd.
+
 #### Caching
 ##### Dentry cache
 Improves performance for `ls -l` type operations by caching file metadata for subsequent `stat()` operations during
diff --git a/examples/gfind/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/gfind/CMakeLists.txt
index e73bb47286abc95c986bf7ed7310883f261c68f4..38156271f6f4044e11f1d090086003a45ca90c3d 100644
--- a/examples/gfind/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/gfind/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 set (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 add_executable(sfind sfind.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(sfind PRIVATE ZStd::ZStd)
 set_property(TARGET sfind PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
 if(GKFS_INSTALL_TESTS)
     install(TARGETS sfind
diff --git a/examples/gfind/gfind.cpp b/examples/gfind/gfind.cpp
index eb6665299046badab6805346508b3847c83d8607..1d64c5328f8ab0a950c999d710273e8d9d43231a 100644
--- a/examples/gfind/gfind.cpp
+++ b/examples/gfind/gfind.cpp
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@
   SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 */
 
-/* Based on pfind from ior500 */
-/* https://github.com/VI4IO/pfind/ */
-
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cerrno>
 #include <climits>
@@ -58,12 +55,11 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <vector>
-#include <mpi.h>
-#include <cmath>
+#include <mpi.h> // Include OpenMPI header
+
 using namespace std;
 
 /* Minimal struct needed for io500 find */
-/* We could also do the filtering on the server */
 struct dirent_extended {
     size_t size;
     time_t ctime;
@@ -72,14 +68,12 @@ struct dirent_extended {
     char d_name[1];
 };
 
-/* Function exported from GekkoFS LD_PRELOAD, code needs to be compiled with
- * -fPIC, if not will segfault */
+/* Function exported from GekkoFS LD_PRELOAD */
 extern "C" int
-gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
-                        unsigned int count, int server) __attribute__((weak));
+gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended** dirp,
+                        int server) __attribute__((weak));
 
-/* PFIND OPTIONS EXTENDED We need to add the GekkoFS mount dir and the number of
- * servers */
+/* PFIND OPTIONS EXTENDED */
 typedef struct {
     string workdir;
     bool just_count = false;
@@ -108,22 +102,21 @@ typedef struct {
 
 typedef struct {
     uint64_t ctime_min = 0;
-    double stonewall_endtime = 0.0;
-    FILE* logfile = nullptr;
-    bool needs_stat = false;
 } pfind_runtime_options_t;
 
 static pfind_runtime_options_t runtime;
-
 int pfind_rank = 0;
 int pfind_size = 1;
-
 static pfind_options_t* opt;
 
 [[noreturn]] void
 pfind_abort(const string& str) {
-    cerr << str << endl;
-    exit(1);
+    if(pfind_rank == 0) {
+        cerr << "ERROR: " << str << endl;
+    }
+    // Use MPI_Abort for a clean shutdown in an MPI environment
+    MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD, 1);
+    exit(1); // MPI_Abort should terminate, but exit is a fallback
 }
 
 
@@ -144,13 +137,12 @@ pfind_print_help(const pfind_options_t* res) {
            res->name_pattern.c_str(), res->num_servers, res->mountdir.c_str());
 }
 
-MPI_Comm pfind_com;
 
 pfind_options_t*
-pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, int force_print_help, MPI_Comm com) {
-    MPI_Comm_rank(com, &pfind_rank);
-    MPI_Comm_size(com, &pfind_size);
-    pfind_com = com;
+pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, bool force_print_help) {
+
+    pfind_rank = 0;
+    pfind_size = 1;
 
     auto res = new pfind_options_t();
 
@@ -353,11 +345,6 @@ pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, int force_print_help, MPI_Comm com) {
     if(print_help) {
         if(pfind_rank == 0)
             pfind_print_help(res);
-        int init;
-        MPI_Initialized(&init);
-        if(init) {
-            MPI_Finalize();
-        }
         exit(0);
     }
 
@@ -368,221 +355,148 @@ pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, int force_print_help, MPI_Comm com) {
     return res;
 }
 
-/* Master send a new path to the workers */
+
+// Helper to broadcast a C++ string
 void
-send_newPath(string path) {
-    auto count = path.size() + 1;
-    MPI_Bcast(&count, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-    MPI_Bcast((void*) path.c_str(), count, MPI_CHAR, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+bcast_string(string& s, int root) {
+    int len = 0;
+    if(pfind_rank == root) {
+        len = s.length();
+    }
+    MPI_Bcast(&len, 1, MPI_INT, root, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    s.resize(len);
+    MPI_Bcast(&s[0], len, MPI_CHAR, root, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
 }
 
-/* Clients get a new path, getting a "0" size char means there is no new path*/
-string
-recv_newPath() {
-    int count;
-    MPI_Bcast(&count, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-    if(count == 0)
-        return "Terminate";
-    std::vector<char> buf(count);
-    MPI_Bcast(buf.data(), count, MPI_CHAR, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-    return std::string(buf.begin(), buf.end());
+// Broadcast all options from rank 0 to other processes
+void
+bcast_options(pfind_options_t* opt) {
+    // Broadcast simple POD types
+    MPI_Bcast(&opt->just_count, 1, MPI_CXX_BOOL, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    MPI_Bcast(&opt->size, 1, MPI_UINT64_T, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    MPI_Bcast(&opt->num_servers, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    MPI_Bcast(&opt->verbosity, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+
+    // Broadcast complex types (strings)
+    bcast_string(opt->workdir, 0);
+    bcast_string(opt->timestamp_file, 0);
+    bcast_string(opt->name_pattern, 0);
+    bcast_string(opt->mountdir, 0);
+
+    // All processes construct the regex from the broadcasted pattern
+    if(pfind_rank != 0 && !opt->name_pattern.empty()) {
+        try {
+            opt->name_regex = regex(opt->name_pattern);
+        } catch(const regex_error& e) {
+            pfind_abort("Invalid regex for name given: " + string(e.what()));
+        }
+    }
 }
 
-/* Client Processing a path.
- * We increment local checked/found based on the filters
- * Each client sends the request to a subset of GekkoFS servers.
- * We use 102400 (plus space from 255 chars paths) so it is nearly 1M files per
- * server, which is enough for most cases
- *
- */
 void
-dirProcess(const string path, unsigned long long& checked,
-           unsigned long long& found, queue<string>& dirs,
-           unsigned int world_rank, unsigned int world_size,
-           const pfind_options_t* opt) {
-    const size_t buffer_size =
-            (sizeof(struct dirent_extended) + 255) * 1024 * 100;
-    unique_ptr<struct dirent_extended[]> getdir(
-            new struct dirent_extended
-                    [buffer_size / (sizeof(struct dirent_extended) + 255)]{});
-
-
-    int servers_per_node = ceil(opt->num_servers / (world_size - 1));
-    if(servers_per_node == 0)
-        servers_per_node++;
-    for(int it = 0; it < servers_per_node; it++) {
-        auto server = (world_rank - 1) * servers_per_node + it;
-        if(server >= (unsigned int) opt->num_servers)
-            break;
+dirProcess(const string& path, unsigned long long& checked,
+           unsigned long long& found, const pfind_options_t* opt) {
+
+    // --- PARALLELIZATION LOGIC ---
+    // Each process calculates its own range of servers to query.
+    int servers_per_proc = opt->num_servers / pfind_size;
+    int remainder = opt->num_servers % pfind_size;
+    int start_server =
+            pfind_rank * servers_per_proc + min(pfind_rank, remainder);
+    int end_server =
+            start_server + servers_per_proc + (pfind_rank < remainder ? 1 : 0);
+
+    if(opt->verbosity > 0) {
+        cout << "[Rank " << pfind_rank << "] Processing servers "
+             << start_server << " to " << end_server - 1 << endl;
+    }
 
-        unsigned long long total_size = 0;
-        long unsigned int n = gkfs_getsingleserverdir(
-                path.c_str(), getdir.get(), buffer_size, server);
+    // Each process loops ONLY over its assigned servers
+    for(int server = start_server; server < end_server; server++) {
+        struct dirent_extended* entries = nullptr;
+        long unsigned int n =
+                gkfs_getsingleserverdir(path.c_str(), &entries, server);
 
-        struct dirent_extended* temp = getdir.get();
+        if(n <= 0) { // Handle empty or error cases
+            if(entries)
+                free(entries);
+            continue;
+        }
 
-        while(total_size < n) {
-            if(strlen(temp->d_name) == 0)
+        char* ptr = reinterpret_cast<char*>(entries);
+        int bytes_processed = 0;
+        while(bytes_processed < (int) n) {
+            struct dirent_extended* temp =
+                    reinterpret_cast<struct dirent_extended*>(ptr);
+            if(temp->d_reclen == 0)
                 break;
 
-            total_size += temp->d_reclen;
-
-            /* Queue directory to process */
-            if(temp->d_type == 1) {
-                string slash;
-                if(path.back() != '/')
-                    slash = "/";
-                checked++;
-                dirs.push(path + slash + temp->d_name);
-                temp = reinterpret_cast<dirent_extended*>(
-                        reinterpret_cast<char*>(temp) + temp->d_reclen);
-                continue;
-            }
+            if(temp->d_type != 1) {
+                bool timeOK = opt->timestamp_file.empty() ||
+                              ((uint64_t) temp->ctime >= runtime.ctime_min);
+                bool sizeOK =
+                        (opt->size == std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max() ||
+                         temp->size == opt->size);
+                bool nameOK = opt->name_pattern.empty() ||
+                              regex_search(temp->d_name, opt->name_regex);
 
-            /* Find filtering */
-            bool timeOK = true;
-            if(!opt->timestamp_file.empty()) {
-                if((uint64_t) temp->ctime < runtime.ctime_min)
-                    timeOK = false;
-            }
-
-            if(timeOK && (temp->size == opt->size ||
-                          opt->size == std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max())) {
-                if(opt->name_pattern.empty() ||
-                   regex_search(temp->d_name, opt->name_regex)) {
+                if(timeOK && sizeOK && nameOK)
                     found++;
-                }
             }
-
             checked++;
-            temp = reinterpret_cast<dirent_extended*>(
-                    reinterpret_cast<char*>(temp) + temp->d_reclen);
+            bytes_processed += temp->d_reclen;
+            ptr += temp->d_reclen;
         }
+        free(entries);
     }
 }
 
 int
-process(char* processor_name, int world_rank, int world_size,
-        const pfind_options_t* opt) {
-    // Print off a hello world message
+process_parallel(const pfind_options_t* opt) {
+    unsigned long long local_found = 0;
+    unsigned long long local_checked = 0;
+    runtime = {}; // Initialize runtime options
 
-    // INIT PFIND
-    runtime = {};
-    /* Get timestamp file */
+    /* Get timestamp file, broadcast from rank 0 */
     if(!opt->timestamp_file.empty()) {
         if(pfind_rank == 0) {
             struct stat timer_file;
             if(lstat(opt->timestamp_file.c_str(), &timer_file) != 0) {
-                printf("Could not open: \"%s\", error: %s",
-                       opt->timestamp_file.c_str(), strerror(errno));
-                pfind_abort("\n");
+                cerr << "Could not open: \"" << opt->timestamp_file
+                     << "\", error: " << strerror(errno) << endl;
+                MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD, 1);
             }
             runtime.ctime_min = timer_file.st_ctime;
         }
-        MPI_Bcast(&runtime.ctime_min, 1, MPI_INT, 0, pfind_com);
+        // Broadcast the timestamp to all processes
+        MPI_Bcast(&runtime.ctime_min, 1, MPI_UINT64_T, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
     }
 
-    if(world_rank == 0) {
-        queue<string> dirs;
-        string workdir = opt->workdir;
-        if(workdir.rfind(opt->mountdir, 0) == 0) {
-            workdir = workdir.substr(opt->mountdir.length());
-        }
-        if(workdir.empty()) {
-            workdir = "/";
-        }
-        dirs.push(workdir);
-
-        do {
-            std::string processpath = dirs.front();
-            dirs.pop();
-            send_newPath(processpath);
-
-            auto received_strings = true;
-
-            for(auto i = 1; i < world_size; i++) {
-                received_strings = true;
-                while(received_strings) {
-                    received_strings = false;
-
-                    MPI_Status mpistatus;
-                    MPI_Probe(i, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &mpistatus);
-
-                    int count;
-                    MPI_Get_count(&mpistatus, MPI_CHAR, &count);
-
-                    std::vector<char> buf(count);
-                    MPI_Recv(buf.data(), count, MPI_CHAR, i, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD,
-                             &mpistatus);
-
-                    if(count == 0) {
-                        continue;
-                    }
-                    std::string s(buf.begin(), buf.end());
-                    dirs.push(s);
-                    received_strings = true;
-                }
-            }
-        } while(!dirs.empty());
-
-
-        auto count = 0;
-        MPI_Bcast(&count, 1, MPI_INT, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-
-        MPI_Barrier(MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    string workdir = opt->workdir;
+    if(workdir.rfind(opt->mountdir, 0) == 0) {
+        workdir = workdir.substr(opt->mountdir.length());
+    }
+    if(workdir.empty()) {
+        workdir = "/";
+    }
 
-        unsigned long long* Array_checked = (unsigned long long*) malloc(
-                sizeof(unsigned long long) * world_size);
-        unsigned long long* Array_found = (unsigned long long*) malloc(
-                sizeof(unsigned long long) * world_size);
-        unsigned long long checked = 0;
-        unsigned long long found = 0;
+    // Each process calls dirProcess, which will handle its assigned subset of
+    // servers
+    dirProcess(workdir, local_checked, local_found, opt);
 
-        MPI_Gather(&checked, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, Array_checked, 1,
-                   MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-        MPI_Gather(&found, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, Array_found, 1,
-                   MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
 
-        for(int i = 0; i < world_size; i++) {
-            checked += Array_checked[i];
-            found += Array_found[i];
-        }
+    unsigned long long global_found = 0;
+    unsigned long long global_checked = 0;
 
-        cout << "MATCHED " << found << "/" << checked << endl;
-    }
 
-    else {
-        unsigned long long checked = 0;
-        unsigned long long found = 0;
-        while(1) {
+    MPI_Reduce(&local_found, &global_found, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, MPI_SUM,
+               0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    MPI_Reduce(&local_checked, &global_checked, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG,
+               MPI_SUM, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
 
-            string toProcess = recv_newPath();
-            if(toProcess == "Terminate") {
-                break;
-            }
-            // cout << "REceived " << toProcess << " --- " << world_rank <<
-            // endl;
-            queue<string> dirs;
-
-            dirProcess(toProcess, checked, found, dirs, world_rank, world_size,
-                       opt);
-            // Send NEW DIRS to master
-            while(!dirs.empty()) {
-                string s = dirs.front();
-                dirs.pop();
-                // cout << world_rank << " --> Sending " << s << endl;
-                MPI_Send((void*) s.c_str(), (s.size() + 1), MPI_CHAR, 0, 0,
-                         MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-            }
-            // cout << world_rank << " --> Sending 0 " << endl;
-            MPI_Send((void*) 0, 0, MPI_CHAR, 0, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-        }
 
-        MPI_Barrier(MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-        MPI_Gather(&checked, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, nullptr, 1,
-                   MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-        MPI_Gather(&found, 1, MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, nullptr, 1,
-                   MPI_UNSIGNED_LONG_LONG, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+    if(pfind_rank == 0) {
+        cout << "MATCHED " << global_found << "/" << global_checked << endl;
     }
 
     return 0;
@@ -590,37 +504,44 @@ process(char* processor_name, int world_rank, int world_size,
 
 int
 main(int argc, char** argv) {
+    // --- MPI INITIALIZATION ---
+    MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
+    MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &pfind_rank);
+    MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &pfind_size);
 
-    for(int i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
+    for(int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
         if(strcmp(argv[i], "--help") == 0) {
-            argv[i][0] = 0;
-            pfind_rank = 0;
-            opt = pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, 1, MPI_COMM_SELF);
-            delete opt;
+            if(pfind_rank == 0) {
+                // pfind_parse_args handles printing help
+                pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, true);
+            }
+            MPI_Finalize();
             return 0;
         }
     }
 
-    // Initialize the MPI environment
-    MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
+    opt = new pfind_options_t();
+    if(pfind_rank == 0) {
+        opt = pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, false);
+    }
 
-    // Get the number of processes
-    int world_size;
-    MPI_Comm_size(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &world_size);
+    // --- BROADCAST CONFIGURATION ---
+    bcast_options(opt);
 
-    // Get the rank of the process
-    int world_rank;
-    MPI_Comm_rank(MPI_COMM_WORLD, &world_rank);
+    // Check if the GekkoFS function is available (e.g., via LD_PRELOAD)
+    if(gkfs_getsingleserverdir == nullptr) {
+        if(pfind_rank == 0)
+            cerr << "Error: GekkoFS functions not available. Is the library preloaded?"
+                 << endl;
+        MPI_Abort(MPI_COMM_WORLD, 1);
+    }
 
-    opt = pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
-    //	cout << opt->num_servers << " -- " << opt->mountdir << endl;
-    // Get the name of the processor
-    char processor_name[MPI_MAX_PROCESSOR_NAME];
-    int name_len;
-    MPI_Get_processor_name(processor_name, &name_len);
+    // --- RUN PARALLEL PROCESSING ---
+    int result = process_parallel(opt);
 
-    process(processor_name, world_rank, world_size, opt);
     delete opt;
-    // Finalize the MPI environment.
+
+    // --- MPI FINALIZATION ---
     MPI_Finalize();
-}
+    return result;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/gfind/pfind.sh b/examples/gfind/pfind.sh
index 90618182bad9195a18fc7491512a6cd7e1d362bd..03a2dcf4b0225aa6778c7b3ba3c74920767f5281 100755
--- a/examples/gfind/pfind.sh
+++ b/examples/gfind/pfind.sh
@@ -27,10 +27,47 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
 ################################################################################
 
-# optimal $GKFS_FIND_PROCESS is $GKFS_SERVERS+1 as we align servers and find processes if the $NUM_NODES are the same
-# Output is saved to a file, so it can be processed by io500
-srun --nvram-options=1LM:1980 -N $NUM_NODES -n $GKFS_FIND_PROCESS --export=ALL,PSM2_DEVICES=self,hfi,shm,PSM2_MULTIRAIL=1,PSM2_MULTI_EP=0,LD_PRELOAD=${GKFS_PRLD} -o find_${SLURM_JOB_ID}.txt $GKFS_FIND $@ -M $GKFS_MNT -S $GKFS_SERVERS
-tail -n1 find_${SLURM_JOB_ID}.txt
+
+
+NUM_NODES=10
+GKFS_FIND_PROCESS=10
+GKFS_SERVERS=200
+GKFS_FIND=~/ADMIRE/iodeps/bin/sfind
+
+srun -N $NUM_NODES -n $GKFS_FIND_PROCESS --overlap --overcommit --mem=0 --oversubscribe --export=ALL,LD_PRELOAD=${GKFS} $GKFS_FIND $@ -M $GKFS_MNT -S $GKFS_SERVERS
+
+
+# Initialize total counters
+total_found=0
+total_checked=0
+
+# Check if any result files exist
+if ! ls gfind_results.rank-*.txt 1> /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "No result files found (gfind_results.rank-*.txt)."
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Loop through all result files
+for file in gfind_results.rank-*.txt; do
+    # Read the line "MATCHED found/checked" from the file
+    # and extract the numbers.
+    read -r _ found_str checked_str < "$file"
+    
+    # Use cut to handle the "found/checked" format
+    found=$(echo "$found_str" | cut -d'/' -f1)
+    checked=$(echo "$checked_str") # this will be the same as found_str's second part
+    
+    # Bash arithmetic to add to totals
+    total_found=$((total_found + found))
+    total_checked=$((total_checked + checked))
+done
+
+# Print the final aggregated result
+echo "MATCHED ${total_found}/${total_checked}"
+
+# Optional: Clean up the intermediate files
+# Uncomment the line below if you want to automatically remove the partial results
+rm gfind_results.rank-*.txt
 exit 0
 
 
diff --git a/examples/gfind/sfind.cpp b/examples/gfind/sfind.cpp
index 8e5dfaa4a0eefffcbd9cc20a64029d6ed5925137..520b18333547101cff90e209ed35c9538c0f439e 100644
--- a/examples/gfind/sfind.cpp
+++ b/examples/gfind/sfind.cpp
@@ -1,44 +1,3 @@
-/*
-  Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain
-  Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany
-
-  This software was partially supported by the
-  EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).
-
-  This software was partially supported by the
-  ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.
-
-  This software was partially supported by the
-  the European Union’s Horizon 2020 JTI-EuroHPC research and
-  innovation programme, by the project ADMIRE (Project ID: 956748,
-  admire-eurohpc.eu)
-
-  This project was partially promoted by the Ministry for Digital Transformation
-  and the Civil Service, within the framework of the Recovery,
-  Transformation and Resilience Plan - Funded by the European Union
-  -NextGenerationEU.
-
-  This file is part of GekkoFS.
-
-  GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-  (at your option) any later version.
-
-  GekkoFS 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 General Public License
-  along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-  SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
-*/
-
-/* Based on pfind from ior500 */
-/* https://github.com/VI4IO/pfind/ */
-
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cerrno>
 #include <climits>
@@ -58,11 +17,14 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <vector>
+#include <cstdlib>   // For getenv
+#include <pthread.h> // Include Pthreads header
+#include <atomic>    // For atomic counters
 
 using namespace std;
 
+#pragma region structs
 /* Minimal struct needed for io500 find */
-/* We could also do the filtering on the server */
 struct dirent_extended {
     size_t size;
     time_t ctime;
@@ -71,14 +33,12 @@ struct dirent_extended {
     char d_name[1];
 };
 
-/* Function exported from GekkoFS LD_PRELOAD, code needs to be compiled with
- * -fPIC */
+/* Function exported from GekkoFS LD_PRELOAD */
 extern "C" int
-gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
-                        unsigned int count, int server) __attribute__((weak));
+gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended** dirp,
+                        int server) __attribute__((weak));
 
-/* PFIND OPTIONS EXTENDED We need to add the GekkoFS mount dir and the number of
- * servers */
+/* PFIND OPTIONS EXTENDED */
 typedef struct {
     string workdir;
     bool just_count = false;
@@ -86,45 +46,34 @@ typedef struct {
     string results_dir;
     int stonewall_timer = 0;
     bool print_rates = false;
-
     string timestamp_file;
     string name_pattern;
     regex name_regex;
     uint64_t size = std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max();
-
     int num_servers = 0;
     string mountdir;
-    // optimizing parameters NOT USED
-    int queue_length = 100000;
-    int max_entries_per_iter = 1000;
-    bool steal_from_next = false; // if true, then steal from the next process
-    int parallel_single_dir_access = 0; // if 1, use hashing to parallelize
-                                        // single directory access, if 2
-                                        // sequential increment
-
     int verbosity = 0;
 } pfind_options_t;
 
 typedef struct {
     uint64_t ctime_min = 0;
-    double stonewall_endtime = 0.0;
-    FILE* logfile = nullptr;
-    bool needs_stat = false;
 } pfind_runtime_options_t;
+#pragma endregion
 
 static pfind_runtime_options_t runtime;
-
-int pfind_rank = 0;
-int pfind_size = 1;
-
 static pfind_options_t* opt;
 
+// Global rank/size for logging and work distribution
+int sfind_rank = 0;
+int sfind_size = 1;
+
 [[noreturn]] void
 pfind_abort(const string& str) {
-    cerr << str << endl;
+    cerr << "ERROR [Rank " << sfind_rank << "]: " << str << endl;
     exit(1);
 }
 
+#pragma region parsing
 static void
 pfind_print_help(const pfind_options_t* res) {
     printf("pfind \nSynopsis:\n"
@@ -144,146 +93,85 @@ pfind_print_help(const pfind_options_t* res) {
 
 pfind_options_t*
 pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, bool force_print_help) {
-
-    pfind_rank = 0;
-    pfind_size = 1;
-
     auto res = new pfind_options_t();
-
     bool print_help = force_print_help;
-
     vector<char*> modified_argv(argv, argv + argc);
-
-    // when we find special args, we process them
-    // but we need to replace them with 0 so that getopt will ignore them
-    // and getopt will continue to process beyond them
-    for(int i = 1; i < argc - 1; ++i) {
-        if(strcmp(argv[i], "-newer") == 0) {
+    for(int i = 1; i < argc; ++i) {
+        if(strcmp(argv[i], "-newer") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
             res->timestamp_file = argv[i + 1];
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
             modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
             ++i;
-        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-size") == 0) {
+        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-size") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
             char* str = argv[i + 1];
             char extension = str[strlen(str) - 1];
             str[strlen(str) - 1] = 0;
             try {
                 res->size = stoull(str);
-            } catch(const invalid_argument& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Invalid size argument: " + string(str) + "\n");
-            } catch(const out_of_range& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Size argument out of range: " + string(str) +
-                            "\n");
-            }
-
-            switch(extension) {
-                case 'c':
-                    break;
-                default:
-                    pfind_abort("Unsupported extension for -size\n");
+            } catch(...) {
+                pfind_abort("Invalid size: " + string(str));
             }
+            if(extension != 'c')
+                pfind_abort(
+                        "Unsupported extension for -size, only 'c' is supported");
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
             modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
             ++i;
-        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-name") == 0) {
+        } else if((strcmp(argv[i], "-name") == 0 ||
+                   strcmp(argv[i], "-regex") == 0) &&
+                  i + 1 < argc) {
+            bool is_name = (strcmp(argv[i], "-name") == 0);
             string pattern = argv[i + 1];
-            res->name_pattern.clear();
-            res->name_pattern.reserve(pattern.length() * 4 +
-                                      100); // pre-allocate for expansion
-
-            for(char c : pattern) {
-                switch(c) {
-                    case '*':
+            if(is_name) {
+                res->name_pattern.clear();
+                for(char c : pattern) {
+                    if(c == '*')
                         res->name_pattern += ".*";
-                        break;
-                    case '.':
+                    else if(c == '.')
                         res->name_pattern += "[.]";
-                        break;
-                    case '"':
-                    case '\'':
-                        // erase quotes
-                        break;
-                    default:
+                    else if(c != '"' && c != '\'')
                         res->name_pattern += c;
-                        break;
                 }
+            } else {
+                res->name_pattern = pattern;
             }
-
-            try {
-                res->name_regex = regex(res->name_pattern);
-            } catch(const regex_error& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Invalid regex for name given: " +
-                            string(e.what()) + "\n");
-            }
-            modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
-            modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
-            ++i;
-        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-regex") == 0) {
-            res->name_pattern = argv[i + 1];
             try {
                 res->name_regex = regex(res->name_pattern);
             } catch(const regex_error& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Invalid regex for name given: " +
-                            string(e.what()) + "\n");
+                pfind_abort("Invalid regex: " + string(e.what()));
             }
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
             modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
             ++i;
-        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-M") == 0) {
+        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-M") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
             res->mountdir = argv[i + 1];
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
             modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
             ++i;
-        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-S") == 0) {
+        } else if(strcmp(argv[i], "-S") == 0 && i + 1 < argc) {
             try {
                 res->num_servers = stoi(argv[i + 1]);
-            } catch(const invalid_argument& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Invalid number of servers: " +
-                            string(argv[i + 1]) + "\n");
-            } catch(const out_of_range& e) {
-                pfind_abort("Number of servers out of range: " +
-                            string(argv[i + 1]) + "\n");
+            } catch(...) {
+                pfind_abort("Invalid server count: " + string(argv[i + 1]));
             }
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
             modified_argv[i + 1][0] = 0;
             ++i;
-        } else if(res->workdir.empty()) {
+        } else if(res->workdir.empty() && argv[i][0] != '-') {
             res->workdir = argv[i];
             modified_argv[i][0] = 0;
         }
     }
-
     if(argc == 2 && res->workdir.empty()) {
         res->workdir = argv[1];
     }
-
-
     const char* optstring = "CPs:r:vhD:xq:H:NM:S:";
     int c;
-    optind = 1; // Reset getopt's internal index for repeated calls.
+    optind = 1;
     while((c = getopt(argc, modified_argv.data(), optstring)) != -1) {
-        if(c == -1) {
-            break;
-        }
-
         switch(c) {
-            case 'H':
-                try {
-                    res->parallel_single_dir_access = stoi(optarg);
-                } catch(const invalid_argument& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("Invalid parallel_single_dir_access: " +
-                                string(optarg) + "\n");
-                } catch(const out_of_range& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("parallel_single_dir_access out of range: " +
-                                string(optarg) + "\n");
-                }
-                break;
-            case 'N':
-                res->steal_from_next = true;
-                break;
-            case 'x':
-                /* ignore fake arg that we added when we processed the extra
-                 * args */
+            case 'h':
+                print_help = true;
                 break;
             case 'P':
                 res->print_by_process = true;
@@ -291,203 +179,250 @@ pfind_parse_args(int argc, char** argv, bool force_print_help) {
             case 'C':
                 res->just_count = true;
                 break;
-            case 'D':
-                if(strcmp(optarg, "rates") == 0) {
-                    res->print_rates = true;
-                } else {
-                    pfind_abort("Unsupported debug flag\n");
-                }
-                break;
-            case 'h':
-                print_help = true;
-                break;
-            case 'r':
-                res->results_dir = optarg;
-                break;
-            case 'q':
-                try {
-                    res->queue_length = stoi(optarg);
-                } catch(const invalid_argument& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("Invalid queue length: " + string(optarg) +
-                                "\n");
-                } catch(const out_of_range& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("Queue length out of range: " + string(optarg) +
-                                "\n");
-                }
-                if(res->queue_length < 10) {
-                    pfind_abort("Queue must be at least 10 elements!\n");
-                }
-                break;
-            case 's':
-                try {
-                    res->stonewall_timer = stoi(optarg);
-                } catch(const invalid_argument& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("Invalid stonewall timer: " + string(optarg) +
-                                "\n");
-                } catch(const out_of_range& e) {
-                    pfind_abort("Stonewall timer out of range: " +
-                                string(optarg) + "\n");
-                }
-                break;
-            case 'v':
-                res->verbosity++;
-                break;
-            case 0:
-                break;
             case '?':
-                // getopt already prints an error message
                 exit(1);
             default:
-                pfind_abort("Unhandled option: " + string(1, (char) c) + "\n");
+                break;
         }
     }
-
-    if(res->verbosity > 2 && pfind_rank == 0) {
-        printf("Regex: %s\n", res->name_pattern.c_str());
-    }
-
     if(print_help) {
-        if(pfind_rank == 0)
+        if(sfind_rank == 0)
             pfind_print_help(res);
         exit(0);
     }
-
     if(res->workdir.empty()) {
-        pfind_abort("Error: pfind <directory>\n");
+        pfind_abort("pfind <directory> is required");
+    }
+    if(res->num_servers == 0) {
+        pfind_abort("-S <num_servers> is required");
     }
-
     return res;
 }
+#pragma endregion
+
+struct ThreadData {
+    int thread_id;
+    const pfind_options_t* opt;
+    const string* workdir;
+    queue<int>* server_queue;
+    pthread_mutex_t* queue_mutex;
+    atomic<unsigned long long>* total_found;
+    atomic<unsigned long long>* total_checked;
+};
 
-/* Client Processing a path.
- * We increment local checked/found based on the filters
- * Each client sends the request to a subset of GekkoFS servers.
- * We use 102400 (plus space from 255 chars paths) so it is nearly 1M files per
- * server, which is enough for most cases
- *
- */
-void
-dirProcess(const string& path, unsigned long long& checked,
-           unsigned long long& found, queue<string>& dirs,
-           unsigned int world_rank, unsigned int world_size,
-           const pfind_options_t* opt) {
-    const size_t buffer_size =
-            (sizeof(struct dirent_extended) + 255) * 1024 * 100;
-    unique_ptr<struct dirent_extended[]> getdir(
-            new struct dirent_extended
-                    [buffer_size / (sizeof(struct dirent_extended) + 255)]{});
-
-    // cout << "PROCESSING " << world_rank << "/"<< world_size << " = " << path
-    // << endl;
-
-    for(int server = 0; server < opt->num_servers; server++) {
-        unsigned long long total_size = 0;
-        long unsigned int n = gkfs_getsingleserverdir(
-                path.c_str(), getdir.get(), buffer_size, server);
-
-        struct dirent_extended* temp = getdir.get();
-
-        while(total_size < n) {
-            if(strlen(temp->d_name) == 0)
-                break;
+// The function each worker thread will execute
+void*
+worker_routine(void* arg) {
+    ThreadData* data = static_cast<ThreadData*>(arg);
+    unsigned long long local_found = 0;
+    unsigned long long local_checked = 0;
+
+    while(true) {
+        int server_id = -1;
+        pthread_mutex_lock(data->queue_mutex);
+        if(!data->server_queue->empty()) {
+            server_id = data->server_queue->front();
+            data->server_queue->pop();
+        }
+        pthread_mutex_unlock(data->queue_mutex);
 
-            total_size += temp->d_reclen;
-
-            /* Queue directory to process */
-            if(temp->d_type == 1) {
-                string slash;
-                if(path.back() != '/')
-                    slash = "/";
-                checked++;
-                dirs.push(path + slash + temp->d_name);
-                temp = reinterpret_cast<dirent_extended*>(
-                        reinterpret_cast<char*>(temp) + temp->d_reclen);
-                continue;
-            }
+        if(server_id == -1)
+            break;
 
-            /* Find filtering */
-            bool timeOK = true;
-            if(!opt->timestamp_file.empty()) {
-                if((uint64_t) temp->ctime < runtime.ctime_min)
-                    timeOK = false;
-            }
+        struct dirent_extended* entries = nullptr;
+        long n = gkfs_getsingleserverdir(data->workdir->c_str(), &entries,
+                                         server_id);
 
-            if(timeOK && (temp->size == opt->size ||
-                          opt->size == std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max())) {
-                if(opt->name_pattern.empty() ||
-                   regex_search(temp->d_name, opt->name_regex)) {
-                    found++;
-                }
+        if(n <= 0) {
+            if(n < 0) {
+                cerr << "Warning: Rank " << sfind_rank << " Thread "
+                     << data->thread_id << " received error from server "
+                     << server_id << endl;
             }
+            if(entries)
+                free(entries);
+            continue;
+        }
 
-            checked++;
-            temp = reinterpret_cast<dirent_extended*>(
-                    reinterpret_cast<char*>(temp) + temp->d_reclen);
+        char* ptr = reinterpret_cast<char*>(entries);
+        int bytes_processed = 0;
+        while(bytes_processed < n) {
+            struct dirent_extended* temp =
+                    reinterpret_cast<struct dirent_extended*>(ptr);
+            if(temp->d_reclen == 0)
+                break;
+
+            if(temp->d_type != 1) {
+                bool timeOK = data->opt->timestamp_file.empty() ||
+                              ((uint64_t) temp->ctime >= runtime.ctime_min);
+                bool sizeOK = (data->opt->size ==
+                                       std::numeric_limits<uint64_t>::max() ||
+                               temp->size == data->opt->size);
+                bool nameOK = data->opt->name_pattern.empty() ||
+                              regex_search(temp->d_name, data->opt->name_regex);
+
+                if(timeOK && sizeOK && nameOK)
+                    local_found++;
+            }
+            local_checked++;
+            bytes_processed += temp->d_reclen;
+            ptr += temp->d_reclen;
         }
+        free(entries);
     }
+
+    // Atomically add local results to the global counters
+    data->total_found->fetch_add(local_found);
+    data->total_checked->fetch_add(local_checked);
+
+    return nullptr;
 }
 
 int
-process(const pfind_options_t* opt) {
-    // Print off a hello world message
-    unsigned long long found = 0;
-    unsigned long long checked = 0;
-    runtime = {}; // Initialize runtime options
+process_parallel_pthreads(const pfind_options_t* opt) {
+    atomic<unsigned long long> global_found(0);
+    atomic<unsigned long long> global_checked(0);
+    runtime = {};
 
-    /* Get timestamp file */
     if(!opt->timestamp_file.empty()) {
-        if(pfind_rank == 0) {
-            struct stat timer_file;
-            if(lstat(opt->timestamp_file.c_str(), &timer_file) != 0) {
-                printf("Could not open: \"%s\", error: %s",
-                       opt->timestamp_file.c_str(), strerror(errno));
-                pfind_abort("\n");
-            }
-            runtime.ctime_min = timer_file.st_ctime;
+        struct stat timer_file;
+        if(lstat(opt->timestamp_file.c_str(), &timer_file) != 0) {
+            pfind_abort("Could not open timestamp file: " +
+                        opt->timestamp_file);
         }
+        runtime.ctime_min = timer_file.st_ctime;
     }
 
-    queue<string> dirs;
     string workdir = opt->workdir;
     if(workdir.rfind(opt->mountdir, 0) == 0) {
         workdir = workdir.substr(opt->mountdir.length());
     }
-    if(workdir.empty()) {
+    if(workdir.empty())
         workdir = "/";
+
+    // --- 1. Calculate this process's subset of servers ---
+    int servers_per_proc = opt->num_servers / sfind_size;
+    int remainder = opt->num_servers % sfind_size;
+    int start_server =
+            sfind_rank * servers_per_proc + min(sfind_rank, remainder);
+    int end_server =
+            start_server + servers_per_proc + (sfind_rank < remainder ? 1 : 0);
+    int num_servers_for_this_rank = end_server - start_server;
+
+    if(num_servers_for_this_rank <= 0) {
+        cout << "[Rank " << sfind_rank << "] No servers to process. Exiting."
+             << endl;
+        return 0;
     }
-    dirs.push(workdir);
 
-    while(!dirs.empty()) {
-        string processpath = dirs.front();
-        dirs.pop();
+    // --- 2. Populate the local work queue with this rank's servers ---
+    queue<int> server_queue;
+    for(int i = start_server; i < end_server; ++i) {
+        server_queue.push(i);
+    }
 
-        dirProcess(processpath, checked, found, dirs, 0, 1, opt);
-        // cout << "NO more paths " << dirs.size() << endl;
+    // --- Pthreads Setup ---
+    int num_threads = 20; // Default number of parallel requests
+    const char* env_threads = getenv("SFIND_NUM_THREADS");
+    if(env_threads) {
+        try {
+            num_threads = stoi(env_threads);
+        } catch(...) { /* ignore */
+        }
     }
+    num_threads = min(num_threads, num_servers_for_this_rank);
 
-    cout << "MATCHED " << found << "/" << checked << endl;
+    cout << "[Rank " << sfind_rank << "] Processing servers " << start_server
+         << "-" << end_server - 1 << " using " << num_threads << " threads."
+         << endl;
+
+    // --- WRITE LOG TO A UNIQUE FILE ---
+    string output_log = "gfind_log.rank-" + to_string(sfind_rank) + ".txt";
+    ofstream output_file2(output_log);
+    if(!output_file2.is_open()) {
+        pfind_abort("Failed to open output file: " + output_log);
+    }
+    output_file2 << "[Rank " << sfind_rank << "] Processing servers "
+                 << start_server << "-" << end_server - 1 << " using "
+                 << num_threads << " threads." << endl;
+    output_file2.close();
+
+    pthread_mutex_t queue_mutex;
+    pthread_mutex_init(&queue_mutex, nullptr);
+    vector<pthread_t> threads(num_threads);
+    vector<ThreadData> thread_args(num_threads);
+
+    for(int i = 0; i < num_threads; ++i) {
+        thread_args[i] = {i,
+                          opt,
+                          &workdir,
+                          &server_queue,
+                          &queue_mutex,
+                          &global_found,
+                          &global_checked};
+        pthread_create(&threads[i], nullptr, worker_routine, &thread_args[i]);
+    }
+
+    for(int i = 0; i < num_threads; ++i) {
+        pthread_join(threads[i], nullptr);
+    }
+    pthread_mutex_destroy(&queue_mutex);
+
+    // Results are already aggregated via atomics.
+    // Each process prints its own sub-total. The final aggregation must be done
+    // externally (e.g., with a script). We can use the files or the std outo
+    cout << "MATCHED " << global_found << "/" << global_checked << endl;
+
+    // --- WRITE LOCAL RESULTS TO A UNIQUE FILE ---
+    string output_filename =
+            "gfind_results.rank-" + to_string(sfind_rank) + ".txt";
+    ofstream output_file(output_filename);
+    if(!output_file.is_open()) {
+        pfind_abort("Failed to open output file: " + output_filename);
+    }
+    output_file << "MATCHED " << global_found << "/" << global_checked << endl;
+    output_file.close();
 
     return 0;
 }
 
 int
 main(int argc, char** argv) {
-
-    for(int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
-        if(strcmp(argv[i], "--help") == 0) {
-            argv[i][0] = 0;
-            pfind_rank = 0;
-            opt = pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, true);
-            delete opt;
-            return 0;
+    // --- Get Rank/Size from SLURM Environment Variables ---
+    const char* env_rank = getenv("SLURM_PROCID");
+    const char* env_size = getenv("SLURM_NPROCS");
+
+    if(env_rank && env_size) {
+        try {
+            sfind_rank = stoi(env_rank);
+            sfind_size = stoi(env_size);
+        } catch(const std::exception& e) {
+            cerr << "Could not parse SLURM environment variables: " << e.what()
+                 << ". Falling back to sequential mode." << endl;
+            sfind_rank = 0;
+            sfind_size = 1;
+        }
+    } else {
+        if(getenv("SLURM_JOB_ID")) {
+            cerr << "Warning: SLURM_JOB_ID is set, but SLURM_PROCID/SLURM_NPROCS are not. Are you running with `srun`?"
+                 << endl;
         }
+        cout << "SLURM variables not found. Running in sequential mode (rank 0 of 1)."
+             << endl;
+        sfind_rank = 0;
+        sfind_size = 1;
     }
 
+    // Each process parses its own arguments. This is simple and correct.
     opt = pfind_parse_args(argc, argv, false);
 
-    int result = process(opt);
+    if(gkfs_getsingleserverdir == nullptr) {
+        pfind_abort(
+                "GekkoFS functions not available. Is the library preloaded?");
+    }
 
-    delete opt;
+    int result = process_parallel_pthreads(opt);
 
+    delete opt;
     return result;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/include/client/gkfs_functions.hpp b/include/client/gkfs_functions.hpp
index 5d14bb90a5fe21ad4b51c77ff156de55f4df1000..98799e11900fe1e09e9f41a7fb39b6900dfe4d0e 100644
--- a/include/client/gkfs_functions.hpp
+++ b/include/client/gkfs_functions.hpp
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ gkfs_msync(void* addr, size_t length, int flags);
 
 // gkfs_getsingleserverdir is using extern "C" to demangle it for C usage
 extern "C" int
-gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
-                        unsigned int count, int server);
+gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended** dirp,
+                        int server);
 
 #endif // GEKKOFS_GKFS_FUNCTIONS_HPP
diff --git a/include/config.hpp b/include/config.hpp
index c1ba919ca9c9eddeec6882f285b1f65ffd67c1f9..6f2f7cfb5672c3067f5de3c21e752481fcee8ad1 100644
--- a/include/config.hpp
+++ b/include/config.hpp
@@ -159,8 +159,8 @@ constexpr auto fwd_io_count_threshold = 0;
 namespace rpc {
 constexpr auto chunksize = 524288; // in bytes (e.g., 524288 == 512KB)
 // size of preallocated buffer to hold directory entries in rpc call
-constexpr auto dirents_buff_size = (8 * 1024 * 1024);         // 8 mega
-constexpr auto dirents_buff_size_proxy = (128 * 1024 * 1024); // 8 mega
+constexpr auto dirents_buff_size = (8 * 1024 * 1024);       // 8 mega
+constexpr auto dirents_buff_size_proxy = (8 * 1024 * 1024); // 8 mega
 /*
  * Indicates the number of concurrent progress to drive I/O operations of chunk
  * files to and from local file systems The value is directly mapped to created
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ constexpr auto daemon_io_xstreams = 8;
 constexpr auto daemon_handler_xstreams = 4;
 // Number of threads used for RPC handlers at the proxy
 constexpr auto proxy_handler_xstreams = 3;
+// Enable compression for directory entries transfer
+constexpr auto use_dirents_compression = false;
 } // namespace rpc
 
 namespace rocksdb {
diff --git a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/db.hpp b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/db.hpp
index 1abaa2bc91b3d519574e293a4f4c2375c9c8a304..72fe2f9b2291cd194d7dfa87aa5f71392eee7391 100644
--- a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/db.hpp
+++ b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/db.hpp
@@ -170,6 +170,18 @@ public:
     [[nodiscard]] std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
     get_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const;
 
+
+    /**
+     * @brief Return all file names and modes for all the entries of the
+     * given directory including their sizes and creation time.
+     * @param dir directory prefix string
+     * @return vector of pair <std::string name, bool is_dir - size - ctime>,
+     *         where name is the name of the entries and is_dir
+     *         is true in the case the entry is a directory.
+     */
+    [[nodiscard]] std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+    get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const;
+
     /**
      * @brief Iterate over complete database, note ONLY used for debugging and
      * is therefore unused.
diff --git a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/metadata_backend.hpp b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/metadata_backend.hpp
index 0c1840a5af305e0aa449c20030ed5352fa61fe44..bdafa5d7c4e85d02e891a945aefe961c08dfac73 100644
--- a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/metadata_backend.hpp
+++ b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/metadata_backend.hpp
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ public:
     virtual std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
     get_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const = 0;
 
+    virtual std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+    get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const = 0;
+
     virtual void*
     iterate_all() const = 0;
 
@@ -150,6 +153,11 @@ public:
         return static_cast<T const&>(*this).get_dirents_extended_impl(dir);
     }
 
+    std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+    get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const {
+        return static_cast<T const&>(*this).get_all_dirents_extended_impl(dir);
+    }
+
     void*
     iterate_all() const {
         return static_cast<T const&>(*this).iterate_all_impl();
diff --git a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.hpp b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.hpp
index 11a6de55c3c52b4aab7940f1b7fed15a1783de89..ced3522eabb0a138f5c90f6784b51dec80a3d0f8 100644
--- a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.hpp
+++ b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.hpp
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ public:
     std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
     get_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& dir) const;
 
+    std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+    get_all_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& root_path) const;
+
     /**
      * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for debug
      * only as it is too expensive
diff --git a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.hpp b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.hpp
index da33cdded237761298924dfc6cf367d73e2b9658..1b0a1fd006276343948eca288546dad000ff294c 100644
--- a/include/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.hpp
+++ b/include/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.hpp
@@ -180,9 +180,13 @@ public:
     std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
     get_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& dir) const;
 
+
+    std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+    get_all_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& root_path) const;
+
     /**
-     * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for debug
-     * only as it is too expensive
+     * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for
+     * debug only as it is too expensive
      */
     void*
     iterate_all_impl() const;
diff --git a/include/daemon/ops/metadentry.hpp b/include/daemon/ops/metadentry.hpp
index a3dc84a89c25818713d11693998ecf472b6b22ea..22868ea6b94b05058f456ab311b49aefbcb30fe0 100644
--- a/include/daemon/ops/metadentry.hpp
+++ b/include/daemon/ops/metadentry.hpp
@@ -88,6 +88,16 @@ get_dirents(const std::string& dir);
 std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
 get_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir);
 
+
+/**
+ * @brief Returns a vector of directory entries for given directory (extended
+ * version, all)
+ * @param dir
+ * @return
+ */
+std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir);
+
 /**
  * @brief Creates metadata (if required) and dentry at the same time
  * @param path
diff --git a/include/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.hpp b/include/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.hpp
index 01dc8bf2eee037861ac5383fbe104474dea71db1..c447197d2c619f2e9876952ec9c9f0b6385556b3 100644
--- a/include/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.hpp
+++ b/include/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.hpp
@@ -47,9 +47,8 @@ std::pair<int, off64_t>
 forward_update_metadentry_size(const std::string& path, const size_t size,
                                const off64_t offset, const bool append_flag);
 
-std::pair<int, size_t>
-forward_get_dirents_single(const std::string& path, int server, void* buf,
-                           const size_t bulk_size);
+std::pair<int, std::vector<char>>
+forward_get_dirents_single(const std::string& path, int server);
 
 } // namespace gkfs::rpc
 
diff --git a/scripts/compile_dep.sh b/scripts/compile_dep.sh
index f0d8488b4c0645b421b41bc880eb8450984d9e52..edff9eec0693e87d190961ad9c57302df22e1b4e 100755
--- a/scripts/compile_dep.sh
+++ b/scripts/compile_dep.sh
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ determine_compiler() {
 
     # We honor the CXX environment variable if defined.
     # Otherwise, we try to find the compiler by using `command -v`.
-    if [[ -n "${CXX}" && ! "${CXX}" =~ ^.*(g\+\+|clang)$ ]]; then
+    if [[ -n "${CXX}" && ! "${CXX}" =~ (g\+\+|clang) ]]; then
         echo "ERROR: Unknown compiler '${CXX}'"
         exit 1
     fi
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/agios.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/agios.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8e1755f3bb6bfd18178fbcaac89ed4e2ff58a3d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/agios.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="All dependencies (except transport-specific and experimental)"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["agios"]="c26a6544200f823ebb8f890dd94e653d148bf226@development"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "agios"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/arm.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/arm.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..573ff4268b8497831ccc5d97375effd0bcabca29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/arm.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for PowerPC supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="8.10.0"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v1.20.1"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.0"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="88043bdbbc60801d4fbe0076962ed1a766ba4800"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "psm2" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=no --enable-sockets=yes"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="ARM64"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ci.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ci.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7c07b5009140897eb0d5f82ea55cb239faa69049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ci.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies required by the CI"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["prometheus-cpp"]="v1.0.0"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    )
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["agios"]="c26a6544200f823ebb8f890dd94e653d148bf226@development"
+    ["parallax"]="ffdea6e820f5c4c2d33e60d9a4b15ef9e6bbcfdd"
+    )
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "capstone" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept"
+    "agios" "parallax" "prometheus-cpp"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c4e54c5d90a4996f7cc3d154421c369d956953d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="All dependencies"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned.
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b9a58a7b34744603f52fb49ecb057146e3a3a52b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="All dependencies"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["libzmq"]="4.3.5"
+    ["cppzmq"]="4.10.0"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned.
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "libzmq" "cppzmq"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c3da68052b33437e533b6ab7e63ee5298cb91c59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for Infiniband supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric%verbs"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading/installing
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric%verbs" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
+    "syscall_intercept"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric%verbs"]="--enable-verbs=yes"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/agios.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/agios.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e24a89fce157fadcca6f8279ae361acdab83d3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/agios.install
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="agios"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ${CMAKE} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" ..
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/argobots.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/argobots.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f50e57301d561362590ae6089c4f92da6237926c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/argobots.install
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="argobots"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./autogen.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ../configure --prefix="${INSTALL_DIR}" --enable-perf-opt --disable-checks
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    make check
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/capstone.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/capstone.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..78bdb81f6b53cae29145b04b0c6671c4cc712f09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/capstone.install
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="capstone"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ${CMAKE} -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON ..
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/cppzmq.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/cppzmq.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..eb0e5d8531ce0d1ab42ed4eb4b8292998719b58d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/cppzmq.install
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="cppzmq"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    $CMAKE \
+        -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_DIR} \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release \
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${INSTALL_DIR} \
+        ..
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/curl.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/curl.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..76bf9511d3413d19e8f46518b2e77710fff460b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/curl.install
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="curl"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    autoreconf -fi
+    ./configure --prefix="${INSTALL_DIR}" --without-ssl
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/json-c.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/json-c.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c9b1f0eb28a754a2e4d515b732da41c9770ab3e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/json-c.install
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/json-c"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 ..
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+    # Margo doesn't search in both directories, so we make it available in both lib and lib64
+    if [[ -f "${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64/pkgconfig/json-c.pc" ]]; then
+        cp ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64/pkgconfig/json-c.pc ${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig/
+    fi
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric%verbs.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric%verbs.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..49306dae06bae7078048ce1a3868c109a01d3ea3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric%verbs.install
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="libfabric%verbs"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./autogen.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    OFI_CONFIG="../configure --prefix=${INSTALL_DIR} --enable-tcp=yes"
+
+    EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS="${PROFILE_EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS[${ID}]}"
+
+    if [[ -n "${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS}" ]]; then
+        OFI_CONFIG="${OFI_CONFIG} ${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS}"
+    fi
+
+    ${OFI_CONFIG}
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    make check
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72ffd9d32357b5d57a02fa7ed7244fcf69a9e575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libfabric.install
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID=libfabric
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./autogen.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    OFI_CONFIG="../configure --prefix=${INSTALL_DIR} --enable-tcp=yes"
+
+    EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS="${PROFILE_EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS[${ID}]}"
+
+    if [[ -n "${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS}" ]]; then
+        OFI_CONFIG="${OFI_CONFIG} ${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS}"
+    fi
+
+    ${OFI_CONFIG}
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    make check
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libzmq.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libzmq.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4eaa1b207fdbc282f92a4f0964a94b65c9a0cf33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/libzmq.install
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="libzmq"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./autogen.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ../configure --prefix="${INSTALL_DIR}" CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -Wall -O3"
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/lz4.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/lz4.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..32d424bd4552f86a6d9496abd4fac08c7269b903
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/lz4.install
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="lz4"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    # try to remove binaries first in case they already exist. Otherwise install fails.
+    LZ4_BINS=("${INSTALL_DIR}"/bin/lz4c "${INSTALL_DIR}"/bin/lz4cat "${INSTALL_DIR}"/bin/unlz4 "${INSTALL_DIR}"/bin/lz4)
+    for LZ4_BIN in "${LZ4_BINS[@]}"; do
+        [ -e "$LZ4_BIN" ] && rm "$LZ4_BIN"
+    done
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make DESTDIR="${INSTALL_DIR}" PREFIX="" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/margo.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/margo.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6fbfbe0a5703e9e416a1923baae42f46965ab9e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/margo.install
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="margo"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./prepare.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ../configure --prefix="${INSTALL_DIR}" PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig" CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -Wall -O3"
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    make check
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/mercury.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/mercury.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1f770a53693da5ed2d453db669471ad39264fc2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/mercury.install
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    # if the profile compiles bmi, enable it
+    if [[ -n "${PROFILE_DEP_NAMES['bmi']}" ]]; then
+        USE_BMI="-DNA_USE_BMI:BOOL=ON"
+    else
+        USE_BMI="-DNA_USE_BMI:BOOL=OFF"
+    fi
+
+    # if the profile provides any flavour of libfabric, enable it
+    if profile_has_dependency "^libfabric.*$"; then
+        USE_OFI="-DNA_USE_OFI:BOOL=ON"
+    else
+        USE_OFI="-DNA_USE_OFI:BOOL=OFF"
+    fi
+
+    ID="mercury"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    $CMAKE \
+        -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${INSTALL_DIR} \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release \
+        -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON \
+        -DMERCURY_USE_CHECKSUMS:BOOL=OFF \
+        -DMERCURY_USE_BOOST_PP:BOOL=ON \
+        -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON \
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${INSTALL_DIR} \
+        ${USE_BMI} ${USE_OFI} \
+        ..
+        #-DNA_USE_OFI:BOOL=ON -DNA_USE_UCX:BOOL=ON \
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/parallax.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/parallax.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..905d4a1e86fb4a4858476245e5373a2362a8701c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/parallax.install
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/parallax"
+    # sed -i -e 's/KEY_SIZE (256)/KEY_SIZE (4096)/g' ${CURR}/lib/btree/conf.h
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig" $CMAKE \
+        -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON \
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${INSTALL_DIR} \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Release" \
+        -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE="-Wno-error=unused-result" \
+	    -DDISABLE_LOGGING:BOOL=ON \
+        ..
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+    # We need to copy this file as it is not installed 
+    cp ${CURR}/lib/include/parallax/structures.h ${INSTALL_DIR}/include/ 
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/prometheus-cpp.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/prometheus-cpp.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0dc3c52877dfd7d136e97d901d7ada576dacf2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/prometheus-cpp.install
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="prometheus-cpp"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ${CMAKE} \
+        -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Release \
+        -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+        -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON \
+        ..
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/rocksdb.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/rocksdb.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dfdf6091e3c7a0ce349b62d7a1feea194cfb08d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/rocksdb.install
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    CXXFLAGS=''
+    # gcc 9 and clang 8 need -Wno-error=deprecated-copy -Wno-error=pessimizing-move
+    if [[ ("${COMPILER_NAME}" == "g++" && "${COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION}" -ge 9) ||
+          ("${COMPILER_NAME}" == "clang" && "${COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION}" -ge 8) ]]; then
+        CXXFLAGS='-Wno-error=deprecated-copy -Wno-error=pessimizing-move -Wno-error=maybe-uninitialized'
+    fi
+
+    # TODO use SSE?
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/rocksdb"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig" $CMAKE \
+    -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="${CXXFLAGS}" \
+    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+    -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib" \
+    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR="${INSTALL_DIR}/include" \
+    -DROCKSDB_BUILD_SHARED=OFF \
+    -DWITH_LZ4=ON \
+    -DWITH_GFLAGS=OFF \
+    -DUSE_RTTI=1 \
+    -DPORTABLE=1 \
+    -DWITH_ALL_TESTS=OFF \
+    -DWITH_BENCHMARK_TOOLS=OFF \
+    -DWITH_TOOLS=OFF ..
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+
+
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/syscall_intercept.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/syscall_intercept.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ad3969c467c271a77fb93c875b54a3358f3edd84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/syscall_intercept.install
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="syscall_intercept"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS="${PROFILE_EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS[${ID}]}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+
+    if [[ ${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS} == "ARM64" ]]; then
+        cd "${CURR}"/arch/aarch64/
+        mkdir -p build
+        cd build
+    else
+        cd "${CURR}"/build
+    fi
+    $CMAKE -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Debug \
+    -DBUILD_EXAMPLES:BOOL=OFF \
+    -DSTATIC_CAPSTONE:BOOL=OFF \
+    -DBUILD_TESTS:BOOK=OFF -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 ..
+    make -j"${CORES}" install
+    if [[ ${EXTRA_INSTALL_ARGS} == "ARM64" ]]; then
+        cp "${CURR}"/arch/aarch64/include/libsyscall_intercept_hook_point.h ${INSTALL_DIR}/include
+    fi
+
+    # patch for riscv syscall_intercept version to fit other implementations
+    # it replaces line 91 only if there is the struct wrapper_ret of riscv
+    sed -i '89s/struct wrapper_ret/long/g' \
+      ${INSTALL_DIR}/include/libsyscall_intercept_hook_point.h
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/ucx.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/ucx.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fd90d6d3f62dd7552becf46bb02ee8c9fdc7a82c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/ucx.install
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2022, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2022, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+
+    ID="ucx"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"
+    ./autogen.sh
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    ../contrib/configure-release --prefix=${INSTALL_DIR}
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make install
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/zstd.install b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/zstd.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0152130593884aeb2bd6ed34d8ba4f0e80f11977
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/install/zstd.install
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+################################################################################
+## The installation script must define both a pkg_install function and
+## pkg_check function that, as their name implies, must specify how
+## a dependency package should be installed and tested.  ## ## The following
+## variables can be used in the installation script:
+## - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+## - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+##               downloaded
+## - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+## - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+## - COMPILER_NAME: the name of the compiler being used (e.g. g++, clang, etc.)
+## - COMPILER_FULL_VERSION: the compiler's full version (e.g. 9.3.0)
+## - COMPILER_MAJOR_VERSION: the compiler's major version (e.g. 9)
+## - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+################################################################################
+
+pkg_install() {
+    ID="zstd"
+    CURR="${SOURCE_DIR}/${ID}/build/cmake"
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}/build"
+    
+    cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+          -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+          -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}" \
+          -DZSTD_BUILD_PROGRAMS=OFF \
+          -DZSTD_BUILD_CONTRIB=OFF \
+          -DZSTD_BUILD_TESTS=OFF \
+          -DZSTD_LEGACY_SUPPORT=OFF \
+          -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON ..
+
+    make -j"${CORES}"
+    make DESTDIR="${INSTALL_DIR}" PREFIX="" install
+
+
+    
+}
+
+pkg_check() {
+    :
+}
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1b72ae749526113628b675262147dd8e50e57ee5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for Marenostrum 4 supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="8.10.0"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v1.20.1"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.0"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["date"]="e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155"
+    ["parallax"]="c130decd7a71c60c20b98d6a23924f05f754c3cd"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "psm2" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "parallax"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=no --enable-sockets=yes"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3a127ba391b4d5cd0669c785ab140a1f5e649a8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for Mogon 2 supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["date"]="e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+#    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=yes --enable-opx=yes"
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=yes --with-psm2-src=${SOURCE_DIR}/psm2"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..237f40cae9a19587f4fb836d3cacc934d638909f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for Mogon 2 supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["libzmq"]="4.3.5"
+    ["cppzmq"]="4.10.0"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+#    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v1.20.1"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "libzmq" "cppzmq"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+#    ["libfabric"]=""
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ngio.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ngio.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5ce5cbbfc89d53c4dcebdf6f0f10b43147a622c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/ngio.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for NEXTGenIO prototype cluster"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["date"]="e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155"
+    ["parallax"]="c130decd7a71c60c20b98d6a23924f05f754c3cd"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "psm2" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "parallax"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=yes --with-psm2-src=${SOURCE_DIR}/psm2"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ed11895e13e80778a507c58f801b787a95bffb68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for Omnipath supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="10.4.2"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v2.2.0"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.1rc1"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931"
+    ["date"]="e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "psm2" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=yes --with-psm2-src=${SOURCE_DIR}/psm2"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/p9.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/p9.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..060296b9a906887a34f5e6f80c089334527d45eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/p9.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="Dependencies for PowerPC supercomputer"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha1"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="8.10.0"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+    ["psm2"]="11.2.185"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v1.20.1"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.0"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="6eb27a9d2053bb2ac3bb9ce30e13b64ce055c19f"
+    ["date"]="e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Patches that should be applied post-clone
+clonedeps_patches=(
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="syscall_intercept.patch"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "psm2" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+    ["libfabric"]="--enable-psm2=no --enable-sockets=yes"
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/riscv.specs b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/riscv.specs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1f601171a7a4571e008d698d52fc68b9e21ad927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/profiles/0.9.6-dev/riscv.specs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+################################################################################
+# Copyright 2018-2025, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain            #
+# Copyright 2015-2025, Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz, Germany          #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# EC H2020 funded project NEXTGenIO (Project ID: 671951, www.nextgenio.eu).    #
+#                                                                              #
+# This software was partially supported by the                                 #
+# ADA-FS project under the SPPEXA project funded by the DFG.                   #
+#                                                                              #
+# This file is part of GekkoFS.                                                #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify              #
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by         #
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or            #
+# (at your option) any later version.                                          #
+#                                                                              #
+# GekkoFS 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 General Public License            #
+# along with GekkoFS.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.            #
+#                                                                              #
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later                                    #
+################################################################################
+
+# vi: ft=bash
+
+# Variables to be imported into the scripts
+declare -A wgetdeps clonedeps clonedeps_args clonedeps_patches extra_install_args
+declare -a order
+
+# Comment that should be displayed when printing the profile
+comment="All dependencies"
+
+# Dependencies that must be downloaded directly
+wgetdeps=(
+    ["zstd"]="1.5.7"
+    ["lz4"]="1.9.4"
+    ["capstone"]="6.0.0-Alpha2"
+    ["argobots"]="1.2"
+    ["rocksdb"]="8.10.0"
+    ["json-c"]="0.17-20230812"
+)
+
+# Dependencies that must be cloned.
+clonedeps=(
+    ["libfabric"]="HEAD@v1.20.1"
+    ["mercury"]="v2.4.0"
+    ["margo"]="v0.18.3"
+    ["syscall_intercept"]="fcc6d7bd4a62c2fa0419ad65ecd8d5ed95b99f63"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments for git clone
+clonedeps_args=(
+    ["mercury"]="--recurse-submodules"
+)
+
+# Ordering that MUST be followed when downloading
+order=(
+    "lz4" "zstd" "capstone" "json-c" "libfabric" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept"
+)
+
+# Extra arguments passed to the installation script. As such, they can
+# reference the following variables:
+#  - CMAKE: a variable that expands to the cmake binary
+#  - SOURCE_DIR: the directory where the sources for the package were
+#               downloaded
+#  - INSTALL_DIR: the directory where the package should be installed
+#  - CORES: the number of cores to use when building
+#  - PERFORM_TEST: whether tests for the package should be executed
+extra_install_args=(
+)
diff --git a/scripts/profiles/latest b/scripts/profiles/latest
index 03834411d1529ea7337b4a2c2a4a34b689d2a54e..7ed1cca5bae0f0e116f49fcfbe0a93a06bb95ca5 120000
--- a/scripts/profiles/latest
+++ b/scripts/profiles/latest
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.9.5
\ No newline at end of file
+0.9.6-dev
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/client/CMakeLists.txt b/src/client/CMakeLists.txt
index a7d0247f5f6065f16651f2d2cf7affee9d017233..7fa6272f8263d41eb55b22d43a12e7b3a24a09e9 100644
--- a/src/client/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/client/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
     fmt::fmt
     Threads::Threads
     Microsoft.GSL::GSL
+    ZStd::ZStd
 )
 
 add_library(gkfs_intercept SHARED)
diff --git a/src/client/gkfs_functions.cpp b/src/client/gkfs_functions.cpp
index 95405e0cc1cd2b1134f2bc6730bf80f12355df14..962dee8ec856c0481b2f14015868a37ce9ecfdf9 100644
--- a/src/client/gkfs_functions.cpp
+++ b/src/client/gkfs_functions.cpp
@@ -1478,6 +1478,8 @@ gkfs_opendir(const std::string& path) {
             "{}() Sending async dirents for path '{}' to '{}' daemons ...",
             __func__, path, CTX->hosts().size());
         // Launch RPC calls asynchronously
+        // We need to filter the results from the dentry cache as
+        // forward_get_dirents_single gathers all the files
         for(uint64_t i = 0; i < CTX->hosts().size(); i++) {
             dcache_futures.push_back(std::async(std::launch::async, [&, i]() {
                 if(gkfs::config::proxy::fwd_get_dirents_single &&
@@ -1502,6 +1504,11 @@ gkfs_opendir(const std::string& path) {
                     get<3>(dentry));
                 auto ftype = get<1>(dentry) ? gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory
                                             : gkfs::filemap::FileType::regular;
+                // if the name includes a / skip it (as it belongs to a
+                // subdirectory
+                if(get<0>(dentry).find('/') != std::string::npos) {
+                    continue;
+                }
                 // filename, is_dir, size, ctime
                 ret.second->add(get<0>(dentry), ftype);
                 CTX->dentry_cache()->insert(
@@ -1561,6 +1568,7 @@ gkfs_rmdir(const std::string& path) {
         errno = ENOTEMPTY;
         return -1;
     }
+
 #endif
     if(gkfs::config::proxy::fwd_remove && CTX->use_proxy()) {
         err = gkfs::rpc::forward_remove_proxy(path, true);
@@ -1989,14 +1997,36 @@ gkfs_munmap(void* addr, size_t length) {
 } // namespace gkfs::syscall
 
 
-/* This function defines an extension of the dirents prepared to do a
- * find-like function The function only sends the request to the specified
- * server
+/**
+ * Retrieves all directory entries for a given path from a single server.
+ *
+ * This function allocates the memory required to hold all directory entries.
+ * The caller is responsible for freeing this memory using free() when it is
+ * no longer needed.
+ *
+ * @param path The directory path to query.
+ * @param dirp A pointer to a 'struct dirent_extended*' that will be updated
+ *             to point to the newly allocated buffer. On success, this will
+ *             not be NULL. On failure or if the directory is empty, it will
+ *             be set to NULL.
+ * @param server The ID of the server to query.
+ * @return On success, returns the total number of bytes allocated and written.
+ *         If the directory is empty, returns 0.
+ *         On failure, returns -1 and sets errno appropriately.
  */
 extern "C" int
-gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
-                        unsigned int count, int server) {
+gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended** dirp,
+                        int server) {
+
+    // The user must provide a valid pointer-to-a-pointer.
+    if(dirp == nullptr) {
+        errno = EINVAL;
+        return -1;
+    }
 
+    *dirp = nullptr;
+
+    // --- 2. Fetch Data from RPC (Unchanged) ---
     pair<int, unique_ptr<vector<
                       tuple<const basic_string<char>, bool, size_t, time_t>>>>
             ret{};
@@ -2013,25 +2043,38 @@ gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
     }
 
     auto& open_dir = *ret.second;
+
+    if(open_dir.empty()) {
+        return 0; // Success, 0 bytes written, *dirp is already NULL.
+    }
+
+    // --- 4. First Pass: Calculate Exact Total Size Required ---
+    size_t total_required_size = 0;
+    for(const auto& de : open_dir) {
+        total_required_size +=
+                ALIGN(offsetof(struct dirent_extended, d_name) +
+                              (get<0>(de)).size() + 1, // +1 for null terminator
+                      sizeof(uint64_t));
+    }
+
+    // --- 5. Allocate Memory ---
+    // Use malloc because the C-style caller will use free().
+    *dirp = static_cast<struct dirent_extended*>(malloc(total_required_size));
+    if(*dirp == nullptr) {
+        errno = ENOMEM; // Memory allocation failed
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    // --- 6. Second Pass: Populate the Newly Allocated Buffer ---
+    char* buffer_ptr = reinterpret_cast<char*>(*dirp);
     unsigned int pos = 0;
-    unsigned int written = 0;
-    struct dirent_extended* current_dirp = nullptr;
-    while(pos < open_dir.size()) {
-        auto de = open_dir[pos];
-        /*
-         * Calculate the total dentry size within the 'dirent_extended`
-         * depending on the file name size. The size is then aligned to the
-         * size of `long` boundary.
-         */
+    for(const auto& de : open_dir) {
         auto total_size = ALIGN(offsetof(struct dirent_extended, d_name) +
                                         (get<0>(de)).size() + 1,
                                 sizeof(uint64_t));
-        if(total_size > (count - written)) {
-            // no enough space left on user buffer to insert next dirent
-            break;
-        }
-        current_dirp = reinterpret_cast<struct dirent_extended*>(
-                reinterpret_cast<char*>(dirp) + written);
+
+        struct dirent_extended* current_dirp =
+                reinterpret_cast<struct dirent_extended*>(buffer_ptr);
 
         current_dirp->d_reclen = total_size;
         current_dirp->d_type = get<1>(de);
@@ -2041,13 +2084,12 @@ gkfs_getsingleserverdir(const char* path, struct dirent_extended* dirp,
         LOG(DEBUG, "name {}: {} {} {} {} / size {}", pos, get<0>(de),
             get<1>(de), get<2>(de), get<3>(de), total_size);
         std::strcpy(&(current_dirp->d_name[0]), (get<0>(de)).c_str());
+
+        // Advance the buffer pointer for the next entry
+        buffer_ptr += total_size;
         ++pos;
-        written += total_size;
     }
 
-    if(written == 0) {
-        errno = EINVAL;
-        return -1;
-    }
-    return written;
-}
+    // --- 7. Return the total size of the allocated buffer ---
+    return total_required_size;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp b/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
index ad0882cd2b2842ccc496ba1b47ae1add0871e87d..6bd9203ea82d7ec4b06110ff424c3441ab828446 100644
--- a/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
+++ b/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #include <common/rpc/rpc_util.hpp>
 #include <common/rpc/distributor.hpp>
 #include <common/rpc/rpc_types.hpp>
+#include <zstd.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 
@@ -663,8 +664,8 @@ forward_get_metadentry_size(const std::string& path, const int copy) {
 
 /**
  * Send an RPC request to receive all entries of a directory.
- * @param open_dir
- * @return error code
+ * @param path
+ * @return pair<error code, shared_ptr<OpenDir>>
  */
 pair<int, shared_ptr<gkfs::filemap::OpenDir>>
 forward_get_dirents(const string& path) {
@@ -674,14 +675,14 @@ forward_get_dirents(const string& path) {
             __func__);
     }
 
-    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}'", __func__, path)
+    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}'", __func__, path);
 
     auto const targets = CTX->distributor()->locate_directory_metadata();
 
     /* preallocate receiving buffer. The actual size is not known yet.
      *
      * On C++14 make_unique function also zeroes the newly allocated buffer.
-     * It turns out that this operation is increadibly slow for such a big
+     * It turns out that this operation is incredibly slow for such a big
      * buffer. Moreover we don't need a zeroed buffer here.
      */
     auto large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(
@@ -739,27 +740,158 @@ forward_get_dirents(const string& path) {
 
     auto send_error = err != 0;
     auto open_dir = make_shared<gkfs::filemap::OpenDir>(path);
+
+    // Add special files
+    open_dir->add(".", gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory);
+    open_dir->add("..", gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory);
+
+    /**
+     * Helper lambda to deserialize the buffer received from the daemon.
+     *
+     * @param buffer_ptr Pointer to the buffer containing the data.
+     * @param num_entries_or_size If compression is on: Byte size of compressed
+     * data. If compression is off: Number of entries (count).
+     */
+    auto deserialize_dirents = [&](void* buffer_ptr,
+                                   size_t num_entries_or_size) {
+        if(gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression) {
+            // --- Compressed path (AOS layout) ---
+            // In this mode, num_entries_or_size is the BYTE SIZE of the
+            // compressed data
+            size_t capacity = num_entries_or_size;
+            unsigned long long uncompressed_size =
+                    ZSTD_getFrameContentSize(buffer_ptr, capacity);
+            LOG(DEBUG,
+                "{}() Zstd compressed dirents size: {}, uncompressed size: {}",
+                __func__, capacity, uncompressed_size);
+
+            if(uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_ERROR ||
+               uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_UNKNOWN) {
+                LOG(ERROR, "{}() Zstd error getting content size", __func__);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            std::vector<char> decomp(uncompressed_size);
+            size_t ret = ZSTD_decompress(decomp.data(), uncompressed_size,
+                                         buffer_ptr, capacity);
+
+            if(ZSTD_isError(ret)) {
+                LOG(ERROR, "{}() Zstd decompression error: {}", __func__,
+                    ZSTD_getErrorName(ret));
+                return;
+            }
+
+            char* ptr = decomp.data();
+            char* end = ptr + uncompressed_size;
+
+            while(ptr < end) {
+                // Format: [bool is_dir][null-term string name]
+                bool is_dir = *reinterpret_cast<bool*>(ptr);
+                ptr += sizeof(bool);
+
+                std::string name(ptr);
+                ptr += name.size() + 1; // Advance past name + \0
+                open_dir->add(name, is_dir ? gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory
+                                           : gkfs::filemap::FileType::regular);
+            }
+        } else {
+            // --- Legacy uncompressed path (SOA layout) ---
+            // In this mode, num_entries_or_size is the COUNT of entries
+            size_t num_entries = num_entries_or_size;
+
+            bool* bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(buffer_ptr);
+            char* names_ptr = reinterpret_cast<char*>(buffer_ptr) +
+                              (num_entries * sizeof(bool));
+
+            for(size_t j = 0; j < num_entries; j++) {
+                gkfs::filemap::FileType ftype =
+                        (*bool_ptr) ? gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory
+                                    : gkfs::filemap::FileType::regular;
+                bool_ptr++;
+
+                std::string name(names_ptr);
+                names_ptr += name.size() + 1;
+
+                open_dir->add(name, ftype);
+            }
+        }
+    };
+
     // wait for RPC responses
     for(std::size_t i = 0; i < handles.size(); ++i) {
 
         gkfs::rpc::get_dirents::output out;
 
         try {
-            // XXX We might need a timeout here to not wait forever for an
-            // output that never comes?
             out = handles[i].get().at(0);
+
             // skip processing dirent data if there was an error during send
-            // In this case all responses are gathered but their contents
-            // skipped
             if(send_error)
                 continue;
 
+            // --- Retry Logic for ENOBUFS ---
+            if(out.err() == ENOBUFS) {
+                // The buffer was too small. The daemon returns the required
+                // size in dirents_size.
+                size_t required_size = out.dirents_size();
+                LOG(DEBUG,
+                    "{}() Buffer too small for host '{}'. Required: {}, Available: {}. Retrying...",
+                    __func__, targets[i], required_size, per_host_buff_size);
+
+                // Allocate exact size needed
+                auto retry_buf =
+                        std::unique_ptr<char[]>(new char[required_size]);
+
+                // Expose new buffer for RMA
+                hermes::exposed_memory retry_exp;
+                try {
+                    retry_exp = ld_network_service->expose(
+                            std::vector<hermes::mutable_buffer>{
+                                    hermes::mutable_buffer{retry_buf.get(),
+                                                           required_size}},
+                            hermes::access_mode::write_only);
+                } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+                    LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to expose retry buffer. err '{}'",
+                        __func__, ex.what());
+                    err = EBUSY;
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                // Resend RPC to the specific host
+                auto endp = CTX->hosts().at(targets[i]);
+                gkfs::rpc::get_dirents::input retry_in(path, retry_exp);
+
+                try {
+                    auto retry_out = ld_network_service
+                                             ->post<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents>(
+                                                     endp, retry_in)
+                                             .get()
+                                             .at(0);
+                    if(retry_out.err() != 0) {
+                        LOG(ERROR, "{}() Retry failed on host '{}'. Error '{}'",
+                            __func__, targets[i], strerror(retry_out.err()));
+                        err = retry_out.err();
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
+                    // Success on retry: deserialize data
+                    deserialize_dirents(retry_buf.get(),
+                                        retry_out.dirents_size());
+
+                } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+                    LOG(ERROR, "{}() Retry RPC failed for host '{}'. err '{}'",
+                        __func__, targets[i], ex.what());
+                    err = EBUSY;
+                }
+                continue; // Done with this host
+            }
+
+            // Normal error check
             if(out.err() != 0) {
                 LOG(ERROR,
                     "{}() Failed to retrieve dir entries from host '{}'. Error '{}', path '{}'",
                     __func__, targets[i], strerror(out.err()), path);
                 err = out.err();
-                // We need to gather all responses before exiting
                 continue;
             }
         } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
@@ -767,46 +899,100 @@ forward_get_dirents(const string& path) {
                 "{}() Failed to get rpc output.. [path: {}, target host: {}] err '{}'",
                 __func__, path, targets[i], ex.what());
             err = EBUSY;
-            // We need to gather all responses before exiting
             continue;
         }
 
-        // each server wrote information to its pre-defined region in
-        // large_buffer, recover it by computing the base_address for each
-        // particular server and adding the appropriate offsets
+        // Standard success path (Initial buffer was large enough)
         assert(exposed_buffers[i].count() == 1);
         void* base_ptr = exposed_buffers[i].begin()->data();
 
-        bool* bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(base_ptr);
-        char* names_ptr = reinterpret_cast<char*>(base_ptr) +
-                          (out.dirents_size() * sizeof(bool));
-        // Add special files like an standard fs.
-        open_dir->add(".", gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory);
-        open_dir->add("..", gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory);
-        for(std::size_t j = 0; j < out.dirents_size(); j++) {
-
-            gkfs::filemap::FileType ftype =
-                    (*bool_ptr) ? gkfs::filemap::FileType::directory
-                                : gkfs::filemap::FileType::regular;
-            bool_ptr++;
-
-            // Check that we are not outside the recv_buff for this specific
-            // host
-            assert((names_ptr - reinterpret_cast<char*>(base_ptr)) > 0);
-            assert(static_cast<unsigned long int>(
-                           names_ptr - reinterpret_cast<char*>(base_ptr)) <
-                   per_host_buff_size);
-
-            auto name = std::string(names_ptr);
-            // number of characters in entry + \0 terminator
-            names_ptr += name.size() + 1;
-
-            open_dir->add(name, ftype);
-        }
+        deserialize_dirents(base_ptr, out.dirents_size());
     }
     return make_pair(err, open_dir);
 }
 
+
+// This function takes the RPC output and the received buffer, and returns the
+// parsed entries.
+std::vector<std::tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+decompress_and_parse_entries(const gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended::output& out,
+                             const void* compressed_buffer) {
+    if(out.err() != 0) {
+        throw std::runtime_error("Server returned an error: " +
+                                 std::to_string(out.err()));
+    }
+    if(out.dirents_size() == 0) {
+        return {}; // No entries, return empty vector
+    }
+
+    const char* p = nullptr;
+    const char* end = nullptr;
+    std::vector<char> decompressed_data;
+
+    if(gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression) {
+        // === STEP 1: Discover the original size from the Zstd frame header ===
+        const unsigned long long uncompressed_size =
+                ZSTD_getFrameContentSize(compressed_buffer, out.dirents_size());
+
+        if(uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_ERROR) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Received data is not a valid Zstd frame.");
+        }
+        if(uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_UNKNOWN) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Zstd frame content size is unknown and was not written in the frame.");
+        }
+
+        // === STEP 2: Decompress the data into a new buffer ===
+        decompressed_data.resize(uncompressed_size);
+        const size_t result_size =
+                ZSTD_decompress(decompressed_data.data(), uncompressed_size,
+                                compressed_buffer, out.dirents_size());
+
+        if(ZSTD_isError(result_size)) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Zstd decompression failed: " +
+                    std::string(ZSTD_getErrorName(result_size)));
+        }
+        if(result_size != uncompressed_size) {
+            throw std::runtime_error("Decompression size mismatch.");
+        }
+
+        p = decompressed_data.data();
+        end = p + uncompressed_size;
+    } else {
+        // No compression: Data is raw in the input buffer
+        p = static_cast<const char*>(compressed_buffer);
+        end = p + out.dirents_size();
+    }
+
+    // === STEP 3: Parse the data stream ===
+    // AOS Layout: [bool is_dir][size_t size][time_t ctime][string name\0]
+    std::vector<std::tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>> entries;
+
+    while(p < end) {
+        // Read is_dir
+        bool is_dir = *reinterpret_cast<const bool*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(bool);
+
+        // Read file_size
+        size_t file_size = *reinterpret_cast<const size_t*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(size_t);
+
+        // Read ctime
+        time_t ctime = *reinterpret_cast<const time_t*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(time_t);
+
+        // Read name (which is null-terminated)
+        std::string name(p);
+        p += name.length() + 1;
+
+        entries.emplace_back(name, is_dir, file_size, ctime);
+    }
+
+    return entries;
+}
+
 /**
  * Send an RPC request to receive all entries of a directory in a server.
  * @param path
@@ -827,119 +1013,103 @@ forward_get_dirents_single(const string& path, int server) {
             __func__);
     }
 
-    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}'", __func__, path)
+    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}', server '{}'", __func__, path, server);
 
     auto const targets = CTX->distributor()->locate_directory_metadata();
+    if((unsigned) server >= targets.size()) {
+        LOG(ERROR, "{}() Invalid server index '{}' for targets size '{}'",
+            __func__, server, targets.size());
+        return make_pair(EINVAL, nullptr);
+    }
 
-    /* preallocate receiving buffer. The actual size is not known yet.
-     *
-     * On C++14 make_unique function also zeroes the newly allocated buffer.
-     * It turns out that this operation is increadibly slow for such a big
-     * buffer. Moreover we don't need a zeroed buffer here.
-     */
-    auto large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(
-            new char[gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size]);
+    size_t buffer_size = gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size;
+    auto large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(new char[buffer_size]);
 
-    // We use the full size per server...
-    const std::size_t per_host_buff_size = gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size;
     auto output_ptr = make_unique<
             vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>();
+    int err = 0;
+    const int max_retries = 2; // Prevent infinite loops
 
-    // expose local buffers for RMA from servers
-    std::vector<hermes::exposed_memory> exposed_buffers;
-    exposed_buffers.reserve(1);
-    std::size_t i = server;
-    try {
-        exposed_buffers.emplace_back(ld_network_service->expose(
-                std::vector<hermes::mutable_buffer>{hermes::mutable_buffer{
-                        large_buffer.get(), per_host_buff_size}},
-                hermes::access_mode::write_only));
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to expose buffers for RMA. err '{}'", __func__,
-            ex.what());
-        return make_pair(EBUSY, std::move(output_ptr));
-    }
-
-    auto err = 0;
-    // send RPCs
-    std::vector<hermes::rpc_handle<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended>> handles;
-
-    auto endp = CTX->hosts().at(targets[i]);
+    for(int attempt = 0; attempt < max_retries; ++attempt) {
 
-    gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended::input in(path, exposed_buffers[0]);
+        // Expose the current buffer for RMA.
+        // This needs to be done on each iteration because the buffer might be
+        // reallocated.
+        hermes::exposed_memory exposed_buffer;
+        try {
+            exposed_buffer = ld_network_service->expose(
+                    std::vector<hermes::mutable_buffer>{hermes::mutable_buffer{
+                            large_buffer.get(), buffer_size}},
+                    hermes::access_mode::write_only);
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR,
+                "{}() Failed to expose buffers for RMA on attempt {}. err '{}'",
+                __func__, attempt, ex.what());
+            return make_pair(EBUSY, nullptr);
+        }
 
-    try {
-        LOG(DEBUG, "{}() Sending RPC to host: '{}'", __func__, targets[i]);
-        handles.emplace_back(
-                ld_network_service->post<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended>(endp,
-                                                                          in));
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR,
-            "{}() Unable to send non-blocking get_dirents() on {} [peer: {}] err '{}'",
-            __func__, path, targets[i], ex.what());
-        err = EBUSY;
-    }
+        auto endp = CTX->hosts().at(targets[server]);
+        gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended::input in(path, exposed_buffer);
+        gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended::output out;
 
-    LOG(DEBUG,
-        "{}() path '{}' send rpc_srv_get_dirents() rpc to '{}' targets. per_host_buff_size '{}' Waiting on reply next and deserialize",
-        __func__, path, targets.size(), per_host_buff_size);
+        try {
+            LOG(DEBUG,
+                "{}() Sending RPC to host '{}' (attempt {}, buffer size {})",
+                __func__, targets[server], attempt + 1, buffer_size);
+
+            auto handle =
+                    ld_network_service->post<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended>(
+                            endp, in);
+            out = handle.get().at(0);
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() RPC post/get failed on attempt {}: {}", __func__,
+                attempt, ex.what());
+            err = EBUSY;
+            break; // Fatal error, break the loop
+        }
 
-    // wait for RPC responses
+        // === RETRY LOGIC ===
+        if(out.err() == ENOBUFS) {
+            size_t required_size = out.dirents_size();
+            LOG(WARNING,
+                "{}() Buffer too small. Server requested {} bytes. Retrying.",
+                __func__, required_size);
 
-    gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended::output out;
+            // Re-allocate the buffer to the exact size the server needs.
+            buffer_size = required_size;
+            large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(new char[buffer_size]);
 
-    try {
-        // XXX We might need a timeout here to not wait forever for an
-        // output that never comes?
-        out = handles[0].get().at(0);
-        // skip processing dirent data if there was an error during send
-        // In this case all responses are gathered but their contents skipped
+            // The `exposed_buffer` from this iteration will be destructed.
+            // The loop will continue for the next attempt with the new buffer.
+            continue;
 
-        if(out.err() != 0) {
-            LOG(ERROR,
-                "{}() Failed to retrieve dir entries from host '{}'. Error '{}', path '{}'",
-                __func__, targets[0], strerror(out.err()), path);
+        } else if(out.err() != 0) {
+            // A different, fatal server-side error occurred.
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() Server returned a fatal error: {}", __func__,
+                strerror(out.err()));
             err = out.err();
-            // We need to gather all responses before exiting
+            break; // Break the loop
         }
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR,
-            "{}() Failed to get rpc output.. [path: {}, target host: {}] err '{}'",
-            __func__, path, targets[0], ex.what());
-        err = EBUSY;
-        // We need to gather all responses before exiting
-    }
-
-    // The parenthesis is extremely important if not the cast will add as a
-    // size_t or a time_t and not as a char
-    auto out_buff_ptr = static_cast<char*>(exposed_buffers[0].begin()->data());
-    auto bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(out_buff_ptr);
-    auto size_ptr = reinterpret_cast<size_t*>(
-            (out_buff_ptr) + (out.dirents_size() * sizeof(bool)));
-    auto ctime_ptr = reinterpret_cast<time_t*>(
-            (out_buff_ptr) +
-            (out.dirents_size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t))));
-    auto names_ptr =
-            out_buff_ptr + (out.dirents_size() *
-                            (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t) + sizeof(time_t)));
-
-    for(std::size_t j = 0; j < out.dirents_size(); j++) {
-
-        bool ftype = (*bool_ptr);
-        bool_ptr++;
-
-        size_t size = *size_ptr;
-        size_ptr++;
-
-        time_t ctime = *ctime_ptr;
-        ctime_ptr++;
-
-        auto name = std::string(names_ptr);
-        // number of characters in entry + \0 terminator
-        names_ptr += name.size() + 1;
-        output_ptr->emplace_back(
-                std::forward_as_tuple(name, ftype, size, ctime));
+
+        // --- SUCCESS! ---
+        // If we reach here, out.err() was 0.
+        LOG(DEBUG, "{}() RPC successful. Decompressing data.", __func__);
+        try {
+            auto entries_vector =
+                    decompress_and_parse_entries(out, large_buffer.get());
+            output_ptr = make_unique<
+                    vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>(
+                    std::move(entries_vector));
+            err = 0; // Explicitly set success
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to decompress/parse entries: {}", __func__,
+                ex.what());
+            err = EBADMSG;
+        }
+
+        break; // Success, so we must break the retry loop.
     }
+
     return make_pair(err, std::move(output_ptr));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata_proxy.cpp b/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata_proxy.cpp
index 422ed0f95b9a06cfa8209761e5f983db745e5c9d..a2ea2d508aa141fe221d2d33e26cecf59efbf61e 100644
--- a/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata_proxy.cpp
+++ b/src/client/rpc/forward_metadata_proxy.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include <client/logging.hpp>
 
 #include <common/rpc/rpc_util.hpp>
-
+#include <zstd.h>
 using namespace std;
 
 namespace gkfs {
@@ -201,121 +201,169 @@ forward_get_metadentry_size_proxy(const std::string& path) {
     }
 }
 
-pair<int, unique_ptr<vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>>
-forward_get_dirents_single_proxy(const string& path, int server) {
 
-    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}'", __func__, path)
-    auto endp = CTX->proxy_host();
+// This function takes the RPC output and the received buffer, and returns the
+// parsed entries.
+std::vector<std::tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+decompress_and_parse_entries(
+        const gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy::output& out,
+        const void* compressed_buffer) {
+    if(out.err() != 0) {
+        throw std::runtime_error("Server returned an error: " +
+                                 std::to_string(out.err()));
+    }
+    if(out.dirents_size() == 0) {
+        return {}; // No entries, return empty vector
+    }
 
-    /* preallocate receiving buffer. The actual size is not known yet.
-     *
-     * On C++14 make_unique function also zeroes the newly allocated buffer.
-     * It turns out that this operation is increadibly slow for such a big
-     * buffer. Moreover we don't need a zeroed buffer here.
-     */
-    auto large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(
-            new char[gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size_proxy]);
-
-    // We use the full size per server...
-    const std::size_t per_host_buff_size =
-            gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size_proxy;
-    auto output_ptr = make_unique<
-            vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>();
+    const char* p = nullptr;
+    const char* end = nullptr;
+    std::vector<char> decompressed_data;
 
-    // expose local buffers for RMA from servers
-    std::vector<hermes::exposed_memory> exposed_buffers;
-    exposed_buffers.reserve(1);
-    try {
-        exposed_buffers.emplace_back(ld_proxy_service->expose(
-                std::vector<hermes::mutable_buffer>{hermes::mutable_buffer{
-                        large_buffer.get(), per_host_buff_size}},
-                hermes::access_mode::write_only));
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to expose buffers for RMA. err '{}'", __func__,
-            ex.what());
-        return make_pair(EBUSY, std::move(output_ptr));
+    if(gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression) {
+        // === STEP 1: Discover the original size from the Zstd frame header ===
+        const unsigned long long uncompressed_size =
+                ZSTD_getFrameContentSize(compressed_buffer, out.dirents_size());
+
+        if(uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_ERROR) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Received data is not a valid Zstd frame.");
+        }
+        if(uncompressed_size == ZSTD_CONTENTSIZE_UNKNOWN) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Zstd frame content size is unknown and was not written in the frame.");
+        }
+
+        // === STEP 2: Decompress the data into a new buffer ===
+        decompressed_data.resize(uncompressed_size);
+        const size_t result_size =
+                ZSTD_decompress(decompressed_data.data(), uncompressed_size,
+                                compressed_buffer, out.dirents_size());
+
+        if(ZSTD_isError(result_size)) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(
+                    "Zstd decompression failed: " +
+                    std::string(ZSTD_getErrorName(result_size)));
+        }
+        if(result_size != uncompressed_size) {
+            throw std::runtime_error("Decompression size mismatch.");
+        }
+
+        p = decompressed_data.data();
+        end = p + uncompressed_size;
+    } else {
+        // No compression: Data is raw in the input buffer
+        p = static_cast<const char*>(compressed_buffer);
+        end = p + out.dirents_size();
     }
 
-    auto err = 0;
-    // send RPCs
-    std::vector<hermes::rpc_handle<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy>>
-            handles;
+    // === STEP 3: Parse the data stream ===
+    // AOS Layout: [bool is_dir][size_t size][time_t ctime][string name\0]
+    std::vector<std::tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>> entries;
 
-    gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy::input in(path, server,
-                                                    exposed_buffers[0]);
+    while(p < end) {
+        // Read is_dir
+        bool is_dir = *reinterpret_cast<const bool*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(bool);
 
-    try {
-        LOG(DEBUG, "{}() Sending IPC to proxy", __func__);
-        handles.emplace_back(
-                ld_proxy_service->post<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy>(
-                        endp, in));
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR,
-            "{}() Unable to send non-blocking proxy_get_dirents() on {} [peer: proxy] err '{}'",
-            __func__, path, ex.what());
-        err = EBUSY;
+        // Read file_size
+        size_t file_size = *reinterpret_cast<const size_t*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(size_t);
+
+        // Read ctime
+        time_t ctime = *reinterpret_cast<const time_t*>(p);
+        p += sizeof(time_t);
+
+        // Read name (which is null-terminated)
+        std::string name(p);
+        p += name.length() + 1;
+
+        entries.emplace_back(name, is_dir, file_size, ctime);
     }
 
-    LOG(DEBUG,
-        "{}() path '{}' sent rpc_srv_get_dirents() rpc to proxy. Waiting on reply next and deserialize",
-        __func__, path);
+    return entries;
+}
 
-    // wait for RPC responses
+pair<int, unique_ptr<vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>>
+forward_get_dirents_single_proxy(const string& path, int server) {
+    LOG(DEBUG, "{}() enter for path '{}', server '{}'", __func__, path, server);
+    auto endp = CTX->proxy_host();
 
-    gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy::output out;
+    // Start with the default optimistic buffer size
+    size_t buffer_size = gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size_proxy;
+    auto large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(new char[buffer_size]);
 
-    try {
-        // XXX We might need a timeout here to not wait forever for an
-        // output that never comes?
-        out = handles[0].get().at(0);
-        // skip processing dirent data if there was an error during send
-        // In this case all responses are gathered but their contents skipped
-
-        if(out.err() != 0) {
-            LOG(ERROR,
-                "{}() Failed to retrieve dir entries from proxy. Error '{}', path '{}'",
-                __func__, strerror(out.err()), path);
+    auto output_ptr = make_unique<
+            vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>();
+    int err = 0;
+    const int max_retries = 2; // Prevent infinite loops
+
+    for(int attempt = 0; attempt < max_retries; ++attempt) {
+        hermes::exposed_memory exposed_buffer;
+        try {
+            exposed_buffer = ld_proxy_service->expose(
+                    std::vector<hermes::mutable_buffer>{hermes::mutable_buffer{
+                            large_buffer.get(), buffer_size}},
+                    hermes::access_mode::write_only);
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to expose buffer on attempt {}: '{}'",
+                __func__, attempt, ex.what());
+            return make_pair(EBUSY, nullptr);
+        }
+
+        gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy::input in(path, server,
+                                                        exposed_buffer);
+        gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy::output out;
+
+        try {
+            LOG(DEBUG, "{}() Sending IPC to proxy (attempt {}, buffer size {})",
+                __func__, attempt + 1, buffer_size);
+            auto handle = ld_proxy_service
+                                  ->post<gkfs::rpc::get_dirents_extended_proxy>(
+                                          endp, in);
+            out = handle.get().at(0);
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() RPC to proxy failed on attempt {}: {}", __func__,
+                attempt, ex.what());
+            err = EBUSY;
+            break; // Fatal error, break retry loop
+        }
+
+        // --- RETRY LOGIC ---
+        if(out.err() == ENOBUFS) {
+            size_t required_size = out.dirents_size();
+            LOG(WARNING,
+                "{}() Buffer too small. Proxy requested {} bytes. Retrying.",
+                __func__, required_size);
+
+            buffer_size = required_size;
+            large_buffer = std::unique_ptr<char[]>(new char[buffer_size]);
+            continue; // Continue to the next attempt with the new buffer
+        } else if(out.err() != 0) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() Proxy returned a fatal error: {}", __func__,
+                strerror(out.err()));
             err = out.err();
-            // We need to gather all responses before exiting
+            break; // Break the loop
         }
-    } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
-        LOG(ERROR,
-            "{}() Failed to get rpc output.. [path: {}, target host: proxy] err '{}'",
-            __func__, path, ex.what());
-        err = EBUSY;
-        // We need to gather all responses before exiting
-    }
 
-    // The parenthesis is extremely important if not the cast will add as a
-    // size_t or a time_t and not as a char
-    auto out_buff_ptr = static_cast<char*>(exposed_buffers[0].begin()->data());
-    auto bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(out_buff_ptr);
-    auto size_ptr = reinterpret_cast<size_t*>(
-            (out_buff_ptr) + (out.dirents_size() * sizeof(bool)));
-    auto ctime_ptr = reinterpret_cast<time_t*>(
-            (out_buff_ptr) +
-            (out.dirents_size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t))));
-    auto names_ptr =
-            out_buff_ptr + (out.dirents_size() *
-                            (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t) + sizeof(time_t)));
-
-    for(std::size_t j = 0; j < out.dirents_size(); j++) {
-
-        bool ftype = (*bool_ptr);
-        bool_ptr++;
-
-        size_t size = *size_ptr;
-        size_ptr++;
-
-        time_t ctime = *ctime_ptr;
-        ctime_ptr++;
-
-        auto name = std::string(names_ptr);
-        // number of characters in entry + \0 terminator
-        names_ptr += name.size() + 1;
-        output_ptr->emplace_back(
-                std::forward_as_tuple(name, ftype, size, ctime));
+        // --- SUCCESS ---
+        LOG(DEBUG, "{}() RPC to proxy successful. Processing data.", __func__);
+        try {
+            // decompress_and_parse_entries handles the config toggle internally
+            auto entries_vector =
+                    decompress_and_parse_entries(out, large_buffer.get());
+            output_ptr = make_unique<
+                    vector<tuple<const std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>>(
+                    std::move(entries_vector));
+            err = 0;
+        } catch(const std::exception& ex) {
+            LOG(ERROR, "{}() Failed to process entries from proxy: {}",
+                __func__, ex.what());
+            err = EBADMSG;
+        }
+        break; // Success, break the retry loop
     }
+
     return make_pair(err, std::move(output_ptr));
 }
 
diff --git a/src/daemon/CMakeLists.txt b/src/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
index 916435ab9157b985223364656ede4888fe2bc2f2..ee265e9ad898c2851fe60b788823049d5ad2f4ac 100644
--- a/src/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/daemon/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
     Margo::Margo
     # others
     Threads::Threads
+    ZStd::ZStd
 )
 
 if (GKFS_ENABLE_AGIOS)
diff --git a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/db.cpp b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/db.cpp
index 76e9368697f582895003009c48d82103740b4c18..6483f74a5942d1bb5ed47a71f49f824e0bc81807 100644
--- a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/db.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/db.cpp
@@ -183,6 +183,17 @@ MetadataDB::get_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const {
     return backend_->get_dirents_extended(root_path);
 }
 
+std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+MetadataDB::get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) const {
+    auto root_path = dir;
+    assert(gkfs::path::is_absolute(root_path));
+    if(!gkfs::path::has_trailing_slash(root_path) && root_path.size() != 1) {
+        // add trailing slash only if missing and is not the root_folder "/"
+        root_path.push_back('/');
+    }
+    return backend_->get_all_dirents_extended(root_path);
+}
+
 /**
  * @internal
  * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for debug only as
diff --git a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.cpp b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.cpp
index 880718781113089cfea5ab1a93d98c18722d28c2..a21c2ddabc2ca8f50f073cdf2964f8cc1da564ea 100644
--- a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/parallax_backend.cpp
@@ -534,6 +534,64 @@ ParallaxBackend::get_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& dir) const {
     return entries;
 }
 
+std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+ParallaxBackend::get_all_dirents_extended_impl(
+        const std::string& root_path) const {
+    struct par_key K;
+
+    str2par(root_path, K);
+    const char* error = NULL;
+    par_scanner S = par_init_scanner(par_db_, &K, PAR_GREATER_OR_EQUAL, &error);
+    if(error) {
+        throw_status_excpt(fmt::format(
+                "Failed to get_all_dirents_extended_impl: err {}", *error));
+    }
+
+    std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>> entries;
+
+    while(par_is_valid(S)) {
+        struct par_key K2 = par_get_key(S);
+        struct par_value value = par_get_value(S);
+
+        std::string k(K2.data, K2.size);
+        std::string v(value.val_buffer, value.val_size);
+
+        if(k.size() < root_path.size() ||
+           k.substr(0, root_path.size()) != root_path) {
+            break;
+        }
+
+        // Skip the root_path itself if it's an exact match
+        if(k.size() == root_path.size()) {
+            if(par_get_next(S) && !par_is_valid(S))
+                break;
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        Metadata md(v);
+#ifdef HAS_RENAME
+        // Remove entries with negative blocks (rename)
+        if(md.blocks() == -1) {
+            if(par_get_next(S) && !par_is_valid(S))
+                break;
+            else
+                continue;
+        }
+#endif // HAS_RENAME
+        auto is_dir = S_ISDIR(md.mode());
+
+        entries.emplace_back(std::forward_as_tuple(std::move(k), is_dir,
+                                                   md.size(), md.ctime()));
+
+        if(par_get_next(S) && !par_is_valid(S))
+            break;
+    }
+    // If we don't close the scanner we cannot delete keys
+    par_close_scanner(S);
+
+    return entries;
+}
+
 
 /**
  * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for debug only as
diff --git a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.cpp b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.cpp
index da0d28de417bd40de8cb4d863762d833c1b65f6a..3d84fefbeb08a032cfcc45b5367fcbaecce243e5 100644
--- a/src/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/backend/metadata/rocksdb_backend.cpp
@@ -393,6 +393,51 @@ RocksDBBackend::get_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& dir) const {
     return entries;
 }
 
+// Return all the extended entries with root in the path specified
+std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+RocksDBBackend::get_all_dirents_extended_impl(const std::string& dir) const {
+    auto root_path = dir;
+    rocksdb::ReadOptions ropts;
+    auto it = db_->NewIterator(ropts);
+
+    std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>> entries;
+
+    for(it->Seek(root_path); it->Valid() && it->key().starts_with(root_path);
+        it->Next()) {
+
+        if(it->key().size() == root_path.size()) {
+            // we skip this path cause it is exactly the root_path
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        /***** Get File name *****/
+        auto name = it->key().ToString();
+        if(name.find_first_of('/', root_path.size()) != std::string::npos) {
+            // skip stuff deeper then one level depth
+            //     continue;
+        }
+        // remove prefix
+        name = name.substr(root_path.size());
+
+        // relative path of directory entries must not be empty
+        assert(!name.empty());
+
+        Metadata md(it->value().ToString());
+#ifdef HAS_RENAME
+        // Remove entries with negative blocks (rename)
+        if(md.blocks() == -1) {
+            continue;
+        }
+#endif // HAS_RENAME
+        auto is_dir = S_ISDIR(md.mode());
+
+        entries.emplace_back(std::forward_as_tuple(std::move(name), is_dir,
+                                                   md.size(), md.ctime()));
+    }
+    assert(it->status().ok());
+    return entries;
+}
+
 
 /**
  * Code example for iterating all entries in KV store. This is for debug only as
diff --git a/src/daemon/handler/srv_metadata.cpp b/src/daemon/handler/srv_metadata.cpp
index 8ba4b30056e2583deeb15966151eb46598a07871..42b66114f69de073617f7931e377730e31730171 100644
--- a/src/daemon/handler/srv_metadata.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/handler/srv_metadata.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 
 #include <common/rpc/rpc_types.hpp>
 #include <common/statistics/stats.hpp>
-
+#include <zstd.h>
 using namespace std;
 
 namespace {
@@ -594,82 +594,120 @@ rpc_srv_get_dirents(hg_handle_t handle) {
 
     // tot_names_size (# characters in entry) + # entries * (bool size + char
     // size for \0 character)
-    size_t out_size =
+    size_t uncompressed_size =
             tot_names_size + entries.size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(char));
-    if(bulk_size < out_size) {
-        // Source buffer is smaller than total output size
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Entries do not fit source buffer. bulk_size '{}' < out_size '{}' must be satisfied!",
-                __func__, bulk_size, out_size);
-        out.err = ENOBUFS;
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
-    }
 
-    void* bulk_buf; // buffer for bulk transfer
-    // create bulk handle and allocated memory for buffer with out_size
-    // information
-    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, nullptr, &out_size, HG_BULK_READ_ONLY,
-                            &bulk_handle);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Failed to create bulk handle",
-                                      __func__);
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
-    }
-    // access the internally allocated memory buffer and put it into bulk_buf
-    uint32_t actual_count; // number of segments. we use one here because we
-                           // push the whole buffer at once
-    ret = margo_bulk_access(bulk_handle, 0, out_size, HG_BULK_READ_ONLY, 1,
-                            &bulk_buf, &out_size, &actual_count);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS || actual_count != 1) {
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to access allocated buffer from bulk handle",
-                __func__);
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
-    }
+    std::vector<char> compressed_data;
+    void* segment_ptr = nullptr;
+    size_t transfer_size = 0;
+    std::vector<char> uncompressed_data;
+    uncompressed_data.reserve(uncompressed_size);
 
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
-            "{}() path '{}' entries '{}' out_size '{}'. Set up local read only bulk handle and allocated buffer with size '{}'",
-            __func__, in.path, entries.size(), out_size, out_size);
+    if(gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression) {
+        // Calculate uncompressed size for AOS layout
+        // name + \0 + bool
 
-    // Serialize output data on local buffer
-    auto out_buff_ptr = static_cast<char*>(bulk_buf);
-    auto bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(out_buff_ptr);
-    auto names_ptr = out_buff_ptr + entries.size();
+        const size_t compressed_bound = ZSTD_compressBound(uncompressed_size);
 
-    for(auto const& e : entries) {
-        if(e.first.empty()) {
-            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->warn(
-                    "{}() Entry in readdir() empty. If this shows up, something else is very wrong.",
-                    __func__);
+        compressed_data.resize(compressed_bound);
+
+
+        for(const auto& e : entries) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->debug("{}() Processing dirent '{}'",
+                                          __func__, e.first);
+            bool is_dir = e.second;
+            const char* bool_p = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&is_dir);
+            uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), bool_p,
+                                     bool_p + sizeof(bool));
+            uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), e.first.c_str(),
+                                     e.first.c_str() + e.first.length() + 1);
         }
-        *bool_ptr = e.second;
-        bool_ptr++;
 
-        const auto name = e.first.c_str();
-        ::strcpy(names_ptr, name);
-        // number of characters + \0 terminator
-        names_ptr += e.first.size() + 1;
-    }
+        size_t compressed_size =
+                ZSTD_compress(compressed_data.data(), compressed_bound,
+                              uncompressed_data.data(), uncompressed_size, 1);
 
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
-            "{}() path '{}' entries '{}' out_size '{}'. Copied data to bulk_buffer. NEXT bulk_transfer",
-            __func__, in.path, entries.size(), out_size);
+        if(ZSTD_isError(compressed_size)) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Zstd compression failed: {}",
+                                          __func__,
+                                          ZSTD_getErrorName(compressed_size));
+            out.err = EIO;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
+        }
 
-    ret = margo_bulk_transfer(mid, HG_BULK_PUSH, hgi->addr, in.bulk_handle, 0,
-                              bulk_handle, 0, out_size);
+        if(bulk_size < compressed_size) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
+                    "{}() Compressed data ('{}' bytes) does not fit client buffer ('{}' bytes)",
+                    __func__, compressed_size, bulk_size);
+            out.err = ENOBUFS;
+            out.dirents_size = compressed_size;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
+        }
+
+        segment_ptr = compressed_data.data();
+        transfer_size = compressed_size;
+
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
+                "{}() Serialized '{}' entries to '{}' bytes, compressed to '{}' bytes.",
+                __func__, entries.size(), uncompressed_size, compressed_size);
+
+    } else {
+        // === Compression Disabled ===
+        if(bulk_size < uncompressed_size) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
+                    "{}() Uncompressed data ('{}' bytes) does not fit client buffer ('{}' bytes)",
+                    __func__, uncompressed_size, bulk_size);
+            out.err = ENOBUFS;
+            out.dirents_size = uncompressed_size;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
+        }
+
+        // Serialize output data on local buffer (SOA)
+        auto out_buff_ptr = static_cast<char*>(uncompressed_data.data());
+        auto bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(out_buff_ptr);
+        auto names_ptr = out_buff_ptr + entries.size();
+
+        for(auto const& e : entries) {
+            *bool_ptr = e.second;
+            bool_ptr++;
+            ::strcpy(names_ptr, e.first.c_str());
+            names_ptr += e.first.size() + 1;
+        }
+
+        segment_ptr = uncompressed_data.data();
+        transfer_size = uncompressed_size;
+
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
+                "{}() Serialized '{}' entries to '{}' bytes (Compression disabled).",
+                __func__, entries.size(), uncompressed_size);
+    }
+    // Create a zero-copy bulk handle that wraps our data vector for the push
+    // operation.
+    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, &segment_ptr, &transfer_size,
+                            HG_BULK_READ_ONLY, &bulk_handle);
     if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
         GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to push '{}' dirents on path '{}' to client with bulk size '{}' and out_size '{}'",
-                __func__, entries.size(), in.path, bulk_size, out_size);
+                "{}() Failed to create zero-copy bulk handle", __func__);
+        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
+    }
+
+    // Push data to client
+    ret = margo_bulk_transfer(mid, HG_BULK_PUSH, hgi->addr, in.bulk_handle, 0,
+                              bulk_handle, 0, transfer_size);
+    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Failed to push data to client",
+                                      __func__);
         out.err = EBUSY;
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
     }
 
-    out.dirents_size = entries.size();
+    // Respond
+    out.dirents_size = transfer_size;
     out.err = 0;
+
     GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->debug(
-            "{}() Sending output response err '{}' dirents_size '{}'. DONE",
-            __func__, out.err, out.dirents_size);
+            "{}() Sending output response: err='{}', size='{}'. DONE", __func__,
+            out.err, out.dirents_size);
     if(GKFS_DATA->enable_stats()) {
         GKFS_DATA->stats()->add_value_iops(
                 gkfs::utils::Stats::IopsOp::iops_dirent);
@@ -677,6 +715,7 @@ rpc_srv_get_dirents(hg_handle_t handle) {
     return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
 }
 
+
 /* Sends the name-size-ctime of a specific directory
  * Used to accelerate find
  * It mimics get_dirents, but uses a tuple
@@ -696,6 +735,9 @@ rpc_srv_get_dirents(hg_handle_t handle) {
  *
  * All exceptions must be caught here and dealt with accordingly. Any errors are
  * placed in the response.
+ *
+ * We return all the dirents to avoid recursing directories (it is faster, and
+ * for io500 is better)
  * @endinteral
  * @param handle Mercury RPC handle
  * @return Mercury error code to Mercury
@@ -708,7 +750,7 @@ rpc_srv_get_dirents_extended(hg_handle_t handle) {
     out.dirents_size = 0;
     hg_bulk_t bulk_handle = nullptr;
 
-    // Get input parmeters
+    // Get input parameters
     auto ret = margo_get_input(handle, &in);
     if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
         GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
@@ -718,132 +760,150 @@ rpc_srv_get_dirents_extended(hg_handle_t handle) {
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
     }
 
-    // Retrieve size of source buffer
+    // Retrieve size of client's destination buffer
     auto hgi = margo_get_info(handle);
     auto mid = margo_hg_handle_get_instance(handle);
-    auto bulk_size = margo_bulk_get_size(in.bulk_handle);
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->debug("{}() Got RPC: path '{}' bulk_size '{}' ",
-                                  __func__, in.path, bulk_size);
+    auto client_bulk_size = margo_bulk_get_size(in.bulk_handle);
+    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->debug(
+            "{}() Got RPC: path '{}' client_bulk_size '{}' ", __func__, in.path,
+            client_bulk_size);
 
     // Get directory entries from local DB
     vector<tuple<string, bool, size_t, time_t>> entries{};
     try {
-        entries = gkfs::metadata::get_dirents_extended(in.path);
+        entries = gkfs::metadata::get_all_dirents_extended(in.path);
     } catch(const ::exception& e) {
         GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Error during get_dirents(): '{}'",
                                       __func__, e.what());
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
     }
 
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
-            "{}() path '{}' Read database with '{}' entries", __func__, in.path,
-            entries.size());
-
+    // Handle empty directory case
     if(entries.empty()) {
         out.err = 0;
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
     }
 
-    // Calculate total output size
-    // TODO OPTIMIZATION: this can be calculated inside db_get_dirents
-    size_t tot_names_size = 0;
-    for(auto const& e : entries) {
-        tot_names_size += (get<0>(e)).size();
+    // Serialize data into a vector
+    std::vector<char> uncompressed_data;
+    // Optimization: Reserve a reasonable starting size to avoid reallocations
+    // Assuming avg filename length of 32 + metadata sizes
+    uncompressed_data.reserve(entries.size() * 48);
+
+    for(const auto& e : entries) {
+        const auto& name = get<0>(e);
+        bool is_dir = get<1>(e);
+        size_t file_size = get<2>(e);
+        time_t ctime = get<3>(e);
+
+        // Append data fields sequentially into the vector. The client will
+        // parse in this exact order.
+        const char* bool_p = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&is_dir);
+        uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), bool_p,
+                                 bool_p + sizeof(bool));
+
+        const char* size_p = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&file_size);
+        uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), size_p,
+                                 size_p + sizeof(size_t));
+
+        const char* time_p = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(&ctime);
+        uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), time_p,
+                                 time_p + sizeof(time_t));
+
+        // Append string and null terminator
+        uncompressed_data.insert(uncompressed_data.end(), name.c_str(),
+                                 name.c_str() + name.length() + 1);
     }
 
-    // tot_names_size (# characters in entry) + # entries * (bool size + char
-    // size for \0 character)
-    size_t out_size =
-            tot_names_size + entries.size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(char) +
-                                               sizeof(size_t) + sizeof(time_t));
-    if(bulk_size < out_size) {
-        // Source buffer is smaller than total output size
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Entries do not fit source buffer. bulk_size '{}' < out_size '{}' must be satisfied!",
-                __func__, bulk_size, out_size);
-        out.err = ENOBUFS;
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
-    }
-
-    void* bulk_buf; // buffer for bulk transfer
-    // create bulk handle and allocated memory for buffer with out_size
-    // information
-    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, nullptr, &out_size, HG_BULK_READ_ONLY,
-                            &bulk_handle);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Failed to create bulk handle",
-                                      __func__);
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
-    }
-    // access the internally allocated memory buffer and put it into bulk_buf
-    uint32_t actual_count; // number of segments. we use one here because we
-                           // push the whole buffer at once
-    ret = margo_bulk_access(bulk_handle, 0, out_size, HG_BULK_READ_ONLY, 1,
-                            &bulk_buf, &out_size, &actual_count);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS || actual_count != 1) {
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to access allocated buffer from bulk handle",
-                __func__);
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
-    }
+    const size_t uncompressed_size = uncompressed_data.size();
+    void* segment_ptr = nullptr;
+    size_t transfer_size = 0;
+
+    // Variable to hold compressed data if compression is enabled
+    std::vector<char> compressed_data;
+
+    if(gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression) {
+        // === Compression Enabled ===
+        const size_t compressed_bound = ZSTD_compressBound(uncompressed_size);
+        compressed_data.resize(compressed_bound);
+
+        // Level 1 is fastest, 3 is default. using 1 for low latency.
+        const size_t compressed_size =
+                ZSTD_compress(compressed_data.data(), compressed_bound,
+                              uncompressed_data.data(), uncompressed_size, 1);
+
+        if(ZSTD_isError(compressed_size)) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Zstd compression failed: {}",
+                                          __func__,
+                                          ZSTD_getErrorName(compressed_size));
+            out.err = EIO;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
+        }
 
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
-            "{}() path '{}' entries '{}' out_size '{}'. Set up local read only bulk handle and allocated buffer with size '{}'",
-            __func__, in.path, entries.size(), out_size, out_size);
-
-    // Serialize output data on local buffer
-    // The parenthesis are extremely important, if not the + will be size_t or
-    // time_t size and not char
-    auto out_buff_ptr = static_cast<char*>(bulk_buf);
-    auto bool_ptr = reinterpret_cast<bool*>(out_buff_ptr);
-    auto size_ptr = reinterpret_cast<size_t*>((out_buff_ptr) +
-                                              (entries.size() * sizeof(bool)));
-    auto ctime_ptr = reinterpret_cast<time_t*>(
-            (out_buff_ptr) +
-            (entries.size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t))));
-    auto names_ptr =
-            out_buff_ptr +
-            (entries.size() * (sizeof(bool) + sizeof(size_t) + sizeof(time_t)));
+        // Check fits in client buffer
+        if(client_bulk_size < compressed_size) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
+                    "{}() Compressed data ('{}' bytes) does not fit client buffer ('{}' bytes)",
+                    __func__, compressed_size, client_bulk_size);
+            out.err = ENOBUFS;
+            out.dirents_size = compressed_size;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
+        }
 
-    for(auto const& e : entries) {
-        if((get<0>(e)).empty()) {
-            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->warn(
-                    "{}() Entry in readdir() empty. If this shows up, something else is very wrong.",
-                    __func__);
+        segment_ptr = compressed_data.data();
+        transfer_size = compressed_size;
+
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
+                "{}() Serialized '{}' entries to '{}' bytes, compressed to '{}' bytes.",
+                __func__, entries.size(), uncompressed_size, compressed_size);
+
+    } else {
+        // === Compression Disabled ===
+        if(client_bulk_size < uncompressed_size) {
+            GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
+                    "{}() Uncompressed data ('{}' bytes) does not fit client buffer ('{}' bytes)",
+                    __func__, uncompressed_size, client_bulk_size);
+            out.err = ENOBUFS;
+            out.dirents_size = uncompressed_size;
+            return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out);
         }
-        *bool_ptr = (get<1>(e));
-        bool_ptr++;
 
-        *size_ptr = (get<2>(e));
-        size_ptr++;
+        segment_ptr = uncompressed_data.data();
+        transfer_size = uncompressed_size;
 
-        *ctime_ptr = (get<3>(e));
-        ctime_ptr++;
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
+                "{}() Serialized '{}' entries to '{}' bytes (Compression disabled).",
+                __func__, entries.size(), uncompressed_size);
+    }
 
-        const auto name = (get<0>(e)).c_str();
-        ::strcpy(names_ptr, name);
-        // number of characters + \0 terminator
-        names_ptr += ((get<0>(e)).size() + 1);
+    // Create a zero-copy bulk handle that wraps our data vector for the push
+    // operation.
+    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, &segment_ptr, &transfer_size,
+                            HG_BULK_READ_ONLY, &bulk_handle);
+    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
+                "{}() Failed to create zero-copy bulk handle", __func__);
+        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
     }
 
-    GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->trace(
-            "{}() path '{}' entries '{}' out_size '{}'. Copied data to bulk_buffer. NEXT bulk_transfer",
-            __func__, in.path, entries.size(), out_size);
+    // Push data to client
     ret = margo_bulk_transfer(mid, HG_BULK_PUSH, hgi->addr, in.bulk_handle, 0,
-                              bulk_handle, 0, out_size);
+                              bulk_handle, 0, transfer_size);
     if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to push '{}' dirents on path '{}' to client with bulk size '{}' and out_size '{}'",
-                __func__, entries.size(), in.path, bulk_size, out_size);
+        GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->error("{}() Failed to push data to client",
+                                      __func__);
         out.err = EBUSY;
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
     }
 
-    out.dirents_size = entries.size();
+    // Respond
+    out.dirents_size = transfer_size;
     out.err = 0;
+
     GKFS_DATA->spdlogger()->debug(
-            "{}() Sending output response err '{}' dirents_size '{}'. DONE",
-            __func__, out.err, out.dirents_size);
+            "{}() Sending output response: err='{}', size='{}'. DONE", __func__,
+            out.err, out.dirents_size);
+
     return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &in, &out, &bulk_handle);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/daemon/ops/metadentry.cpp b/src/daemon/ops/metadentry.cpp
index 08cdffcbbf3a03b15d6764d4535f4b25a9af9428..1c53a6da3f3e11e822afff62e4d12ef191aefa88 100644
--- a/src/daemon/ops/metadentry.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/ops/metadentry.cpp
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ get_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) {
     return GKFS_DATA->mdb()->get_dirents_extended(dir);
 }
 
+std::vector<std::tuple<std::string, bool, size_t, time_t>>
+get_all_dirents_extended(const std::string& dir) {
+    return GKFS_DATA->mdb()->get_all_dirents_extended(dir);
+}
+
 void
 create(const std::string& path, Metadata& md) {
 
diff --git a/src/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp b/src/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
index 097f3e4ee340aa08e08c018ac45f8aaad9390fb8..8095630459fd92a84a32ad1820f58d97e67b96c2 100644
--- a/src/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
+++ b/src/proxy/rpc/forward_metadata.cpp
@@ -407,75 +407,146 @@ forward_update_metadentry_size(const string& path, const size_t size,
     return make_pair(err, ret_offset);
 }
 
-pair<int, size_t>
-forward_get_dirents_single(const std::string& path, int server, void* buf,
-                           size_t bulk_size) {
-    hg_bulk_t bulk_handle = nullptr;
-    hg_handle_t rpc_handle = nullptr;
-    rpc_get_dirents_in_t daemon_in{};
-    // register local target buffer for bulk access
-    auto* bulk_buf = buf;
-    auto size = make_shared<size_t>(bulk_size); // XXX Why shared ptr?
-    auto ret = margo_bulk_create(PROXY_DATA->client_rpc_mid(), 1, &bulk_buf,
-                                 size.get(), HG_BULK_WRITE_ONLY, &bulk_handle);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error("{}() Failed to create rpc bulk handle",
-                                 __func__);
-        return ::make_pair(EBUSY, 0);
-    }
-    daemon_in.path = path.c_str();
-    daemon_in.bulk_handle = bulk_handle;
-    auto* endp = PROXY_DATA->rpc_endpoints().at(server);
-    ret = margo_create(PROXY_DATA->client_rpc_mid(), endp,
-                       PROXY_DATA->rpc_client_ids().rpc_get_dirents_extended_id,
-                       &rpc_handle);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
-        margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
-        return ::make_pair(EBUSY, 0);
-    }
-    // Send RPC
-    margo_request rpc_waiter{};
-    ret = margo_iforward(rpc_handle, &daemon_in, &rpc_waiter);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Unable to send non-blocking rpc for path {} and recipient {}",
-                __func__, path, server);
+/**
+ * Forwards a get_dirents request from the proxy to a single daemon.
+ * This function handles the retry mechanism if the proxy's initial buffer
+ * is too small for the daemon's compressed response.
+ *
+ * @param path The directory path.
+ * @param server The target daemon server ID.
+ * @return A pair containing:
+ *         - int: The final error code (0 on success).
+ *         - std::vector<char>: A vector containing the compressed data on
+ * success.
+ */
+std::pair<int, std::vector<char>>
+forward_get_dirents_single(const std::string& path, int server) {
+
+    // Start with an optimistic buffer for the daemon's compressed response.
+    size_t daemon_buffer_size =
+            gkfs::config::rpc::dirents_buff_size; // Use daemon-facing buffer
+                                                  // config
+    auto daemon_buffer = std::make_unique<char[]>(daemon_buffer_size);
+
+    int err = 0;
+    const int max_retries = 2; // Prevent infinite loops
+
+    for(int attempt = 0; attempt < max_retries; ++attempt) {
+        hg_bulk_t bulk_handle = nullptr;
+        hg_handle_t rpc_handle = nullptr;
+
+        // Use the current daemon_buffer for this attempt
+        void* bulk_buf_ptr = daemon_buffer.get();
+        auto ret = margo_bulk_create(PROXY_DATA->client_rpc_mid(), 1,
+                                     &bulk_buf_ptr, &daemon_buffer_size,
+                                     HG_BULK_WRITE_ONLY, &bulk_handle);
+        if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                    "{}() Failed to create bulk handle for daemon RPC",
+                    __func__);
+            return {EBUSY, {}};
+        }
+
+        rpc_get_dirents_in_t daemon_in{};
+        daemon_in.path = path.c_str();
+        daemon_in.bulk_handle = bulk_handle;
+
+        auto* endp = PROXY_DATA->rpc_endpoints().at(server);
+        ret = margo_create(
+                PROXY_DATA->client_rpc_mid(), endp,
+                PROXY_DATA->rpc_client_ids().rpc_get_dirents_extended_id,
+                &rpc_handle);
+        if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                    "{}() Failed to create margo handle for daemon", __func__);
+            margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
+            return {EBUSY, {}};
+        }
+
+        margo_request rpc_waiter{};
+        ret = margo_iforward(rpc_handle, &daemon_in, &rpc_waiter);
+        if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                    "{}() Failed to forward RPC to daemon for path {}",
+                    __func__, path);
+            margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
+            margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
+            return {EBUSY, {}};
+        }
+
+        PROXY_DATA->log()->debug(
+                "{}() RPC sent to daemon, waiting for reply...", __func__);
+        ret = margo_wait(rpc_waiter);
+        if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                    "{}() Failed to wait for margo_request handle for path {}",
+                    __func__, path);
+            err = EBUSY;
+            // Fall through to cleanup
+        }
+
+
+        rpc_get_dirents_out_t daemon_out{};
+        // Only get output if the wait succeeded
+        if(err == 0) {
+            ret = margo_get_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
+            if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
+                PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                        "{}() Failed to get rpc output from daemon", __func__);
+                err = EBUSY;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // If any RPC step failed, clean up and return the error.
+        if(err != 0) {
+            margo_free_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
+            margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
+            margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
+            return {err, {}};
+        }
+
+        // --- DAEMON RETRY LOGIC ---
+        if(daemon_out.err == ENOBUFS) {
+            size_t required_size = daemon_out.dirents_size;
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->warn(
+                    "{}() Daemon buffer too small. Daemon requested {}. Retrying.",
+                    __func__, required_size);
+
+            daemon_buffer_size = required_size;
+            daemon_buffer = std::make_unique<char[]>(daemon_buffer_size);
+
+            margo_free_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
+            margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
+            margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
+            continue; // Continue to the next attempt with the new buffer
+        } else if(daemon_out.err != 0) {
+            err = daemon_out.err;
+            PROXY_DATA->log()->error("{}() Daemon returned a fatal error: {}",
+                                     __func__, strerror(err));
+            margo_free_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
+            margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
+            margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
+            return {err, {}};
+        }
+
+        // --- SUCCESS FROM DAEMON ---
+        size_t final_compressed_size = daemon_out.dirents_size;
+        PROXY_DATA->log()->debug(
+                "{}() Successfully received {} bytes from daemon.", __func__,
+                final_compressed_size);
+        std::vector<char> result_data(final_compressed_size);
+        memcpy(result_data.data(), daemon_buffer.get(), final_compressed_size);
+
+        margo_free_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
         margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
         margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
-        return ::make_pair(EBUSY, 0);
-    }
-    PROXY_DATA->log()->debug("{}() 1 RPC sent, waiting for reply ...",
-                             __func__);
-    int err = 0;
-    size_t dirents_size = 0;
-    ret = margo_wait(rpc_waiter);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Unable to wait for margo_request handle for path {} recipient {}",
-                __func__, path, server);
-        err = EBUSY;
-    }
-    // decode response
-    rpc_get_dirents_out_t daemon_out{};
-    ret = margo_get_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to get rpc output for path {} recipient {}",
-                __func__, path, server);
-        err = EBUSY;
+        return {0, std::move(result_data)};
     }
-    PROXY_DATA->log()->debug(
-            "{}() Got response from target '{}': err '{}' with dirent_size '{}'",
-            __func__, server, daemon_out.err, daemon_out.dirents_size);
-    if(daemon_out.err != 0)
-        err = daemon_out.err;
-    else
-        dirents_size = daemon_out.dirents_size;
-    margo_free_output(rpc_handle, &daemon_out);
-    margo_destroy(rpc_handle);
-    margo_bulk_free(bulk_handle);
-    return ::make_pair(err, dirents_size);
-}
 
+    // If we exit the loop, it means we exceeded max retries
+    PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+            "{}() Exceeded max retries communicating with daemon for path {}",
+            __func__, path);
+    return {EBUSY, {}};
+}
 } // namespace gkfs::rpc
diff --git a/src/proxy/rpc/srv_metadata.cpp b/src/proxy/rpc/srv_metadata.cpp
index c321380edb80c8d89eba6978bd8589f18e97f05f..eafe4795eef544597ada3b6e9ed2706abdef73ec 100644
--- a/src/proxy/rpc/srv_metadata.cpp
+++ b/src/proxy/rpc/srv_metadata.cpp
@@ -197,7 +197,6 @@ proxy_rpc_srv_get_dirents_extended(hg_handle_t handle) {
 
     rpc_proxy_get_dirents_in_t client_in{};
     rpc_get_dirents_out_t client_out{};
-    hg_bulk_t bulk_handle = nullptr;
 
     auto ret = margo_get_input(handle, &client_in);
     if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
@@ -205,69 +204,89 @@ proxy_rpc_srv_get_dirents_extended(hg_handle_t handle) {
                                  __func__);
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out);
     }
-    PROXY_DATA->log()->debug("{}() path: '{}', server: '{}'", __func__,
-                             client_in.path, client_in.server);
 
     auto hgi = margo_get_info(handle);
     auto mid = margo_hg_handle_get_instance(handle);
-    auto bulk_size = margo_bulk_get_size(client_in.bulk_handle);
-    PROXY_DATA->log()->debug("{}() Got RPC with path '{}' bulk_size '{}'",
-                             __func__, client_in.path, bulk_size);
-    /*
-     * Set up buffer for push from daemon
-     */
-    void* bulk_buf; // buffer for bulk transfer
-    // create bulk handle and allocated memory for buffer with buf_sizes
-    // information
-    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, nullptr, &bulk_size, HG_BULK_READWRITE,
-                            &bulk_handle);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error("{}() Failed to create bulk handle", __func__);
+    auto client_bulk_size = margo_bulk_get_size(client_in.bulk_handle);
+    PROXY_DATA->log()->debug(
+            "{}() Got RPC: path '{}', server '{}', client_bulk_size '{}'",
+            __func__, client_in.path, client_in.server, client_bulk_size);
+
+    // --- 1. Forward the request to the daemon layer ---
+    // This call now encapsulates the entire retry loop with the daemon.
+    auto daemon_response = gkfs::rpc::forward_get_dirents_single(
+            client_in.path, client_in.server);
+
+    int daemon_err = daemon_response.first;
+    // Renamed from compressed_data to payload to support both modes
+    const auto& payload = daemon_response.second;
+
+    // --- 2. Handle errors from the daemon ---
+    if(daemon_err != 0) {
+        PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
+                "{}() Failure when forwarding to daemon with err '{}'",
+                __func__, strerror(daemon_err));
+        client_out.err = daemon_err;
+        client_out.dirents_size = 0;
         return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out);
     }
-    // access the internally allocated memory buffer
-    uint32_t actual_count; // number of segments. we use one here because we
-                           // pull the whole buffer at once
-    ret = margo_bulk_access(bulk_handle, 0, bulk_size, HG_BULK_READWRITE, 1,
-                            &bulk_buf, &bulk_size, &actual_count);
-    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS || actual_count != 1) {
-        PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to access allocated buffer from bulk handle",
-                __func__);
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out,
-                                          &bulk_handle);
+
+    // --- 3. Check if the successfully received data fits in the client's
+    // buffer ---
+    size_t payload_size = payload.size();
+
+    if(client_bulk_size < payload_size) {
+        PROXY_DATA->log()->warn(
+                "{}() Client buffer is too small ({} < {}). Data is {}. Informing client to retry.",
+                __func__, client_bulk_size, payload_size,
+                gkfs::config::rpc::use_dirents_compression ? "compressed"
+                                                           : "uncompressed");
+
+        client_out.err = ENOBUFS;
+        client_out.dirents_size = payload_size; // Tell client the size it needs
+
+        // Respond WITHOUT transferring data
+        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out);
     }
-    // Forward request to daemon, using bulk_buf, containing the allocated
-    // buffer (which is pushed the data by the daemon)
-    auto daemon_out = gkfs::rpc::forward_get_dirents_single(
-            client_in.path, client_in.server, bulk_buf, bulk_size);
-    if(daemon_out.first != 0) {
+
+    // --- 4. Success Path: Data fits, push it to the client ---
+    hg_bulk_t push_handle = nullptr;
+
+    void* push_buf = const_cast<char*>(payload.data());
+    size_t push_size = payload_size;
+
+    // Create a zero-copy bulk handle that wraps our data vector for the push
+    // operation.
+    ret = margo_bulk_create(mid, 1, &push_buf, &push_size, HG_BULK_READ_ONLY,
+                            &push_handle);
+    if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
         PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Failure when forwarding to daemon with err '{}'",
-                __func__, daemon_out.first);
-        client_out.err = daemon_out.first;
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out,
-                                          &bulk_handle);
+                "{}() Failed to create bulk handle for client push", __func__);
+        client_out.err = EBUSY;
+        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out);
     }
-    // Push data to client here if no error was reported by the daemon
+
     ret = margo_bulk_transfer(mid, HG_BULK_PUSH, hgi->addr,
-                              client_in.bulk_handle, 0, bulk_handle, 0,
-                              bulk_size);
+                              client_in.bulk_handle, 0, push_handle, 0,
+                              push_size);
+
+    // We MUST free the temporary handle after the transfer.
+    margo_bulk_free(push_handle);
+
     if(ret != HG_SUCCESS) {
         PROXY_DATA->log()->error(
-                "{}() Failed to push data from client for path '{}' with size '{}'",
-                __func__, client_in.path, bulk_size);
+                "{}() Failed to push data to client for path '{}' with size '{}'",
+                __func__, client_in.path, push_size);
         client_out.err = EBUSY;
-        return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out,
-                                          &bulk_handle);
+    } else {
+        client_out.err = 0;
+        client_out.dirents_size = payload_size;
     }
 
-    client_out.err = daemon_out.first;
-    client_out.dirents_size = daemon_out.second;
     PROXY_DATA->log()->debug("{}() Sending output err '{}' dirents_size '{}'",
                              __func__, client_out.err, client_out.dirents_size);
-    return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out,
-                                      &bulk_handle);
+
+    return gkfs::rpc::cleanup_respond(&handle, &client_in, &client_out);
 }
 
 DEFINE_MARGO_RPC_HANDLER(proxy_rpc_srv_get_dirents_extended)
diff --git a/tests/integration/directories/test_directories.py b/tests/integration/directories/test_directories.py
index 7e0fae21002ae99770c8896ca22a3da780f291ea..725ec2b1db24e996e77ae6d9796242302fbc592f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/directories/test_directories.py
+++ b/tests/integration/directories/test_directories.py
@@ -295,7 +295,12 @@ def test_extended(gkfs_daemon, gkfs_shell, gkfs_client):
             )
 
     assert cmd.exit_code == 0
-    assert cmd.stdout.decode() == "MATCHED 0/4\n"
+    output = cmd.stdout.decode()
+    expected_line = "MATCHED 0/4\n"
+
+    assert expected_line in output, \
+        f"Expected to find '{expected_line.strip()}' in the output, but got:\n---\n{output}\n---"
+
     
     cmd = gkfs_shell.sfind(
         topdir,
@@ -407,6 +412,10 @@ def test_extended_proxy(gkfs_daemon_proxy, gkfs_proxy, gkfs_shell_proxy, gkfs_cl
             )
 
     assert cmd.exit_code == 0
-    assert cmd.stdout.decode() == "MATCHED 0/4\n"
+    output = cmd.stdout.decode()
+    expected_line = "MATCHED 0/4\n"
+    
+    assert expected_line in output, \
+        f"Expected to find '{expected_line.strip()}' in the output, but got:\n---\n{output}\n---"
 
 
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ecc1b703fcc503fb48879e30a2e0c372f9fd2de5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  agios ###############################
+
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df3b379f830c9047d3f4eebd438e3ceb0cc6dec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9ec3c24bb12c16078d2b3869831331de15f5e305
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  agios ###############################
+######## Installing:  parallax ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b42ca56ca0733d359d74ca416160e7d8fb781248
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..28affca2552c854558b2d8f5e52c55f373ec95d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  libzmq ###############################
+######## Installing:  cppzmq ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ee185cf1cd1a2adfa353d151ae90860c065e2e16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  libfabric%verbs ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..684ec20be2047d76869c4a639eced133fd58dfa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  parallax ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df3b379f830c9047d3f4eebd438e3ceb0cc6dec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..476a8649a889d7afae9271bba5c98fc689045578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  libzmq ###############################
+######## Installing:  cppzmq ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..684ec20be2047d76869c4a639eced133fd58dfa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
+######## Installing:  parallax ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df3b379f830c9047d3f4eebd438e3ceb0cc6dec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..df3b379f830c9047d3f4eebd438e3ceb0cc6dec9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+######## Installing:  lz4 ###############################
+######## Installing:  zstd ###############################
+######## Installing:  capstone ###############################
+######## Installing:  json-c ###############################
+######## Installing:  psm2 ###############################
+WARNING: Install script for 'psm2' not found. Skipping.
+######## Installing:  libfabric ###############################
+######## Installing:  mercury ###############################
+######## Installing:  argobots ###############################
+######## Installing:  margo ###############################
+######## Installing:  rocksdb ###############################
+######## Installing:  syscall_intercept ###############################
diff --git a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/latest b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/latest
index 03834411d1529ea7337b4a2c2a4a34b689d2a54e..7ed1cca5bae0f0e116f49fcfbe0a93a06bb95ca5 120000
--- a/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/latest
+++ b/tests/scripts/compile_dep.sh/latest
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.9.5
\ No newline at end of file
+0.9.6-dev
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82b6bbc55265d7fd05e214e19aad3557cadf5a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/agios.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/francielizanon/agios.git' to 'agios' with commit '[c26a6544200f823ebb8f890dd94e653d148bf226]' and flags '--branch=development'
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c62a85e98779bf02c631b1ce224eac908e1273f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/arm.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[34a41033fce94195700c5ab1e097f40741d7f016]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c934934214b3e618ac3a563839b449c30c6dcd2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ci.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[2c8765fa292bc9c28a22624c528580d54658813d]' and flags ''
+Applying patch '/builds/gitlab/hpc/gekkofs/scripts/patches/syscall_intercept.patch'...
+Cloned 'https://github.com/francielizanon/agios.git' to 'agios' with commit '[c26a6544200f823ebb8f890dd94e653d148bf226]' and flags '--branch=development'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/CARV-ICS-FORTH/parallax.git' to 'parallax' with commit '[ffdea6e820f5c4c2d33e60d9a4b15ef9e6bbcfdd]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/jupp0r/prometheus-cpp/releases/download/v1.0.0/prometheus-cpp-with-submodules.tar.gz' to 'prometheus-cpp'
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a5224522a51c33607ceb650c3b4f412f7c4b243e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae2eb57175b5e5ffded6b1c660531e87f2c9db23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/default_zmq.out
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq/archive/v4.3.5.tar.gz' to 'libzmq'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/zeromq/cppzmq/archive/v4.10.0.tar.gz' to 'cppzmq'
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a5224522a51c33607ceb650c3b4f412f7c4b243e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/infiniband_verbs.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2e0403e4531a7fa7d10b646283830ef9ad408ae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/marenostrum4.out
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/HowardHinnant/date.git' to 'date' with commit '[e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/CARV-ICS-FORTH/parallax.git' to 'parallax' with commit '[c130decd7a71c60c20b98d6a23924f05f754c3cd]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c29f60c4616949a5718df8ea91c9b2840064ca26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon2.out
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.1.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.15.0]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/HowardHinnant/date.git' to 'date' with commit '[e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..65cd164e655ff3739244d2246ea8f5df83e1c278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/mogon3.out
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq/archive/v4.3.5.tar.gz' to 'libzmq'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/zeromq/cppzmq/archive/v4.10.0.tar.gz' to 'cppzmq'
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2e0403e4531a7fa7d10b646283830ef9ad408ae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/ngio.out
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/HowardHinnant/date.git' to 'date' with commit '[e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/CARV-ICS-FORTH/parallax.git' to 'parallax' with commit '[c130decd7a71c60c20b98d6a23924f05f754c3cd]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1cce65f8ae324f0ccada055008eb6b736fec1d82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/omnipath_psm2.out
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v2.2.0'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.1rc1]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.15.0]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v10.4.2.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[d8b2a69961921ed123625c79a609331fc56a8931]' and flags ''
+Cloned 'https://github.com/HowardHinnant/date.git' to 'date' with commit '[e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a14a688aab95b3073da5ef942dd2f17d89d8ad5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/p9.out
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha1.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz' to 'psm2'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v1.20.1'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.0]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v8.10.0.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[6eb27a9d2053bb2ac3bb9ce30e13b64ce055c19f]' and flags ''
+Applying patch '/builds/gitlab/hpc/gekkofs/scripts/patches/syscall_intercept.patch'...
+Cloned 'https://github.com/HowardHinnant/date.git' to 'date' with commit '[e7e1482087f58913b80a20b04d5c58d9d6d90155]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/riscv.out b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/riscv.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d2d1052e961cff6121d29c0289ecc8f9738e8db3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/0.9.6-dev/riscv.out
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/lz4/lz4/archive/v1.9.4.tar.gz' to 'lz4'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/zstd/archive/v1.5.7.tar.gz' to 'zstd'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/6.0.0-Alpha2.tar.gz' to 'capstone'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.17-20230812.tar.gz' to 'json-c'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git' to 'libfabric' with commit '[HEAD]' and flags '--branch=v1.20.1'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury' to 'mercury' with commit '[v2.4.0]' and flags '--recurse-submodules'
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.2.tar.gz' to 'argobots'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo' to 'margo' with commit '[v0.18.3]' and flags ''
+Downloaded 'https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v8.10.0.tar.gz' to 'rocksdb'
+Cloned 'https://github.com/GekkoFS/syscall_intercept.git' to 'syscall_intercept' with commit '[2a25b21926ab115d667e135389458a7a159e8bb1]' and flags ''
+Done
diff --git a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/latest b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/latest
index 03834411d1529ea7337b4a2c2a4a34b689d2a54e..7ed1cca5bae0f0e116f49fcfbe0a93a06bb95ca5 120000
--- a/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/latest
+++ b/tests/scripts/dl_dep.sh/latest
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.9.5
\ No newline at end of file
+0.9.6-dev
\ No newline at end of file