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bashbeginner

Git Clone Specific Branch

Clone a specific branch from a remote repository without fetching all branches and history.

bash
# Clone a specific branch only
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Clone a specific branch with only that branch's history
git clone -b develop --single-branch https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Clone into a specific directory
git clone -b develop https://github.com/user/repo.git ./my-project

# Clone a specific branch with limited depth
git clone -b develop --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Clone a tag
git clone -b v1.0.0 --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

# After single-branch clone, add other branches if needed
git remote set-branches --add origin main
git fetch origin main
git checkout main

# Verify which branch is checked out
git branch -a

Use Cases

  • Cloning only a deployment branch for CI/CD
  • Reducing clone time for large repositories
  • Checking out a specific release tag

Tags

#git#clone#branch#repository

Related Snippets

Similar patterns you can reuse in the same workflow.

bashbeginner

Rename Git Branch (Local and Remote)

Commands to rename a local and remote Git branch including updating tracking references.

#git#branch
bashbeginner

Delete Remote Git Branch

Commands to delete local and remote branches, prune stale references, and clean up merged branches.

#git#branch
bashbeginner

Undo Last Git Commit (Soft and Hard)

Git commands to undo the last commit while keeping changes staged, unstaged, or fully discarded.

#git#undo
bashintermediate

Git Rebase Workflow Example

Step-by-step git rebase workflow to keep feature branches up to date with main branch cleanly.

#git#rebase