Sparse-Checkout & Partial Clone Recipes

Quick reference commands for git sparse-checkout and filtered partial clones.

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1. Fast CI Single-Directory Clone

# Blobless shallow clone with targeted directory population
git clone --filter=blob:none --no-checkout --depth 1 <REPO_URL> workspace
cd workspace
git sparse-checkout init --cone
git sparse-checkout set <DIR_PATH_1> <DIR_PATH_2>
git checkout <BRANCH>

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2. Existing Repository: Shrink to Sparse Set

# Switch existing repository to cone mode
git sparse-checkout init --cone

# Restrict working directory to specific services
git sparse-checkout set services/billing infrastructure/terraform

# Append an additional directory
git sparse-checkout add packages/shared-types

# Verify active cone directories
git sparse-checkout list

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3. Restore Full Working Tree

# Disable sparse checkout and download all working tree files
git sparse-checkout disable

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4. Worktree-Specific Sparse Configurations

# Enable multi-worktree config isolation
git config extensions.worktreeConfig true

# Create worktree and isolate cone
git worktree add ../service-auth-wt feature/auth-refactor
cd ../service-auth-wt
git sparse-checkout init --cone
git sparse-checkout set services/auth

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5. Clean Conflicted Sparse Merges

# After resolving merge conflicts in paths outside the cone
git add <conflicted-files>
git merge --continue
git sparse-checkout reapply