Mason,

On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 11:16:11AM +0100, Ivan J. wrote:

> >     c. snag each relevant Packages, Release, Contents file

> >

> >         TBD: What's the minimal set of files I need to regenerate, beyond
> >         the Packages files?

>
> The files that need to be generated are "Packages" and "Release". In the
> 21st century, you'll also want "InRelease" to sign these repositories,
> and definitely compress the "Packages" files with gzip or xz.

I would also add to this the Sources and Contents files and Translations files
in i18n/.

Perhaps look at https://pkgmaster.devuan.org/merged/. As far as I can see,
everything there is necessary.

Best wishes

Mark