{"id":"sstable-tombstone-encoding-0xff","text":"Tombstones are encoded on disk as a single `0xFF` byte in the value position; this is unambiguous because valid value-length fields are 4 bytes big-endian and cannot start with `0xFF` at realistic value sizes.","truth_value":"IN","source":"entries/2026/05/28/sstable-and-compaction-sstable.md","source_url":"","source_hash":"","justifications":[],"dependents":[],"metadata":{"example":"TOMBSTONE_FLAG = 0xFF\n# tombstone entries: key present, value = 0xFF marker"},"explanation":{"steps":[{"node":"sstable-tombstone-encoding-0xff","truth_value":"IN","reason":"premise"}]}}