Git 2.31 introduces several significant enhancements aimed at improving performance and usability. A key feature is the background maintenance mode, which optimizes repository health without interrupting user interactions by pre-fetching objects and updating commit-graph files hourly, while loose objects are repacked nightly. The update also introduces an on-disk reverse index, which significantly speeds up the process of printing object sizes by allowing Git to access object bytes directly from the disk, reducing the time difference between printing an object's contents and its size. The release further enhances usability with improvements like the init.defaultBranch configuration for empty repositories, allowing cloned repositories to respect the default branch name set by the remote, and the clone.defaultRemoteName configuration to rename the default remote from "origin." Additionally, Git now includes a --disk-usage option in git rev-list for analyzing branch sizes, and a -I<regex> option for ignoring certain pattern matches in line changes. These advancements, along with the optimized rename detection in merge operations, reflect Git's ongoing commitment to refining its functionality and performance.