git clone

Clone a repository into a new directory

Synopsis

git clone [--template=<template-directory>]
          [-l] [-s] [--no-hardlinks] [-q] [-n] [--bare] [--mirror]
          [-o <name>] [-b <name>] [-u <upload-pack>] [--reference <repository>]
          [--dissociate] [--separate-git-dir <git-dir>]
          [--depth <depth>] [--[no-]single-branch] [--no-tags]
          [--recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]] [--[no-]shallow-submodules]
          [--[no-]remote-submodules] [--jobs <n>] [--sparse] [--[no-]reject-shallow]
          [--filter=<filter-spec>] [--also-filter-submodules]] [--] <repository>
          [<directory>]

Description

Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository, and creates and checks out an initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository’s currently active branch.

After the clone, a plain git fetch without arguments will update all the remote-tracking branches, and a git pull without arguments will in addition merge the remote default branch into the current branch.

Common Usage

1. Clone a repository

   Clone a repository from GitHub:

   git clone https://github.com/git/git.git
   
2. Clone into a specific directory

   Specify the target directory name:

   git clone https://github.com/git/git.git my-git
   
3. Clone a specific branch

   Clone only a specific branch:

   git clone -b main --single-branch https://github.com/git/git.git
   

Options

--depth <depth>

Create a shallow clone with a history truncated to the specified number of commits.

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/git/git.git

Shallow clones are faster and use less disk space. Perfect for CI/CD environments.

-b <name>, --branch <name>

Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the default branch, point it to the specified branch.

git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

--single-branch

Clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch.

git clone --single-branch --branch main https://github.com/user/repo.git

-o <name>, --origin <name>

Instead of using the remote name origin, use the specified name.

git clone -o upstream https://github.com/git/git.git

--bare

Make a bare Git repository - without a working directory.

git clone --bare https://github.com/user/repo.git

--mirror

Set up a mirror of the source repository - implies --bare.

git clone --mirror https://github.com/user/repo.git

--recurse-submodules

Initialize and clone submodules within the repository.

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/user/repo.git

-q, --quiet

Operate quietly - suppress progress reporting.

git clone --quiet https://github.com/user/repo.git

Examples

Clone from different protocols

HTTPS

git clone https://github.com/git/git.git

Shallow clone for faster download

# Clone only the latest commit
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/torvalds/linux.git

# Later, if you need the full history
cd linux
git fetch --unshallow

Clone with submodules

# Clone repository and all submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Or clone first, then initialize submodules
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git
cd repo
git submodule update --init --recursive

Related Commands

• git init - Create an empty Git repository
• git fetch - Download objects and refs from another repository
• git pull - Fetch from and integrate with another repository