I'd like to git clone the contents of a repository I have on GitHub. When I git clone (git@github:me/name.git...) I get a folder called name/ and inside name I have my contents... How do I get JUST the contents?
261
votes
possible duplicate of How do you clone a git repository into a specific folder?
– bryanbraun
To actually skip downloading unneeded objects to save network resources: stackoverflow.com/questions/600079/…
– Ciro Santilli 新疆再教育营六四事件法轮功郝海东
6 Answers
355
votes
If the current directory is empty, you can do that with:
git clone [email protected]:me/name.git .
(Note the . at the end to specify the current directory.) Of course, this also creates the .git directory in your current folder, not just the source code from your project.
This optional [directory] parameter is documented in the git clone manual page, which points out that cloning into an existing directory is only allowed if that directory is empty.
168
votes
Unfortunately, this doesn't work if there are other, non-related directories already in the same dir. Looking for a solution. The error message is: "fatal: destination path '.' already exists...".
The solution in this case is:
git init
git remote add origin [email protected]:me/name.git
git pull origin master
This recipe works even if there are other directories in the one you want to checkout in.
41
votes
If the folder is not empty, a slightly modified version of @JohnLittle's answer worked for me:
git init
git remote add origin https://github.com/me/name.git
git pull origin master
As @peter-cordes pointed out, the only difference is using https protocol instead of git, for which you need to have SSH keys configured.
20
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