git clone <repository> [directory]

Clone a repository into a new directory

Arguments

NameDescription
repositoryGit library to be cloned
directorySpecify the new directory name or target folder

Options

NameDescription
-l, --localBypasses the normal git aware transport mechanism
--no-hardlinksForce the cloning process from a repository on a local filesystem to copy the files under the .git/objects directory instead of using hardlinks
-s, --shared
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--dry-runDo nothing; only show what would happen
--reference <repository>If the reference repository is on the local machine, automatically setup
--reference-if-able <repository>If the reference repository is on the local machine, automatically setup. Non existing directory is skipped with a warning
--dissociateBorrow the objects from reference repositories specified with the --reference options only to reduce network transfer, and stop borrowing from them after a clone is made by making necessary local copies of borrowed objects
-q, --quietOperate quietly. Progress is not reported to the standard error stream
-v, --verboseRun verbosely. Does not affect the reporting of progress status to the standard error stream
--progressProgress status is reported on the standard error stream by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless --quiet is specified. This flag forces progress status even if the standard error stream is not directed to a terminal
--server-option <option>Transmit the given string to the server when communicating using protocol version 2. The given string must not contain a NUL or LF character. The server’s handling of server options, including unknown ones, is server-specific. When multiple --server-option=<option> are given, they are all sent to the other side in the order listed on the command line
-n, --no-checkoutNo checkout of HEAD is performed after the clone is complete
--bareMake a bare Git repository. That is, instead of creating <directory> and placing the administrative files in <directory>/.git, make the <directory> itself the $GIT_DIR. This obviously implies the --no-checkout because there is nowhere to check out the working tree. Also the branch heads at the remote are copied directly to corresponding local branch heads, without mapping them to refs/remotes/origin/. When this option is used, neither remote-tracking branches nor the related configuration variables are created
--sparseInitialize the sparse-checkout file so the working directory starts with only the files in the root of the repository. The sparse-checkout file can be modified to grow the working directory as needed
--filter <filter spec>Use the partial clone feature and request that the server sends a subset of reachable objects according to a given object filter. When using --filter, the supplied <filter-spec> is used for the partial clone filter. For example, --filter=blob:none will filter out all blobs (file contents) until needed by Git. Also, --filter=blob:limit=<size> will filter out all blobs of size at least <size>. For more details on filter specifications, see the --filter option in git-rev-list[1]
--mirrorSet up a mirror of the source repository. This implies --bare. Compared to --bare, --mirror not only maps local branches of the source to local branches of the target, it maps all refs (including remote-tracking branches, notes etc.) and sets up a refspec configuration such that all these refs are overwritten by a git remote update in the target repository
-o, --origin <name>Instead of using the remote name origin to keep track of the upstream repository, use <name>. Overrides clone.defaultRemoteName from the config
-b, --branch <branch name>Instead of pointing the newly created HEAD to the branch pointed to by the cloned repository’s HEAD, point to <name> branch instead. In a non-bare repository, this is the branch that will be checked out. --branch can also take tags and detaches the HEAD at that commit in the resulting repository
-u, --upload-pack <upload pack>When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed via ssh, this specifies a non-default path for the command run on the other end
--template <template directory>Specify the directory from which templates will be used
-c, --config <key=value>Set a configuration variable in the newly-created repository; this takes effect immediately after the repository is initialized, but before the remote history is fetched or any files checked out. The key is in the same format as expected by git-config[1] (e.g., core.eol=true). If multiple values are given for the same key, each value will be written to the config file. This makes it safe, for example, to add additional fetch refspecs to the origin remote. Due to limitations of the current implementation, some configuration variables do not take effect until after the initial fetch and checkout. Configuration variables known to not take effect are: remote.<name>.mirror and remote.<name>.tagOpt. Use the corresponding --mirror and --no-tags options instead
--depth <date>Create a shallow clone with a history truncated to the specified number of commits. Implies --single-branch unless --no-single-branch is given to fetch the histories near the tips of all branches. If you want to clone submodules shallowly, also pass --shallow-submodules
--shallow-since <date>Create a shallow clone with a history after the specified time
--shallow-exclude <revision>Create a shallow clone with a history, excluding commits reachable from a specified remote branch or tag. This option can be specified multiple times
--single-branchClone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch, either specified by the --branch option or the primary branch remote’s HEAD points at. Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the initial cloning. If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any branch when --single-branch clone was made, no remote-tracking branch is created
--no-single-branchDo not clone only the history leading to the tip of a single branch, either specified by the --branch option or the primary branch remote’s HEAD points at. Further fetches into the resulting repository will only update the remote-tracking branch for the branch this option was used for the initial cloning. If the HEAD at the remote did not point at any branch when --single-branch clone was made, no remote-tracking branch is created
--no-tagsDon’t clone any tags, and set remote.<remote>.tagOpt=--no-tags in the config, ensuring that future git pull and git fetch operations won’t follow any tags. Subsequent explicit tag fetches will still work, (see git-fetch[1])
--recurse-submodules [pathspec]After the clone is created, initialize and clone submodules within based on the provided pathspec. If no pathspec is provided, all submodules are initialized and cloned. This option can be given multiple times for pathspecs consisting of multiple entries
--shallow-submodulesAll submodules which are cloned will be shallow with a depth of 1
--no-shallow-submodulesDisable --shallow-submodules
--remote-submodulesAll submodules which are cloned will use the status of the submodule’s remote-tracking branch to update the submodule, rather than the superproject’s recorded SHA-1. Equivalent to passing --remote to git submodule update
--no-remote-submodulesDisable --remote-submodules
-j, --jobs [n]The number of submodules fetched at the same time. Defaults to the submodule.fetchJobs option
--separate-git-dir <git dir>Instead of placing the cloned repository where it is supposed to be, place the cloned repository at the specified directory, then make a filesystem-agnostic Git symbolic link to there. The result is Git repository can be separated from working tree