Clone

You might say

Here's a project URL. How do I download the whole codebase to my computer so I can edit it?

Create a local copy of a remote repository and its historyClone downloads a repository, creates a working directory, and configures the original location as a remote. It is normally the first step when joining an existing project. Check the destination path and repository source before running it.

Know first

Terminal Git

Remote repositoryFiles and commit history

Create a local copyclone→

New local repositoryReady to work on your computer

git clone <repository-url>

Clone creates a new local repository from a remote repository, including its files, branches, and commit history. After cloning once, use pull to bring later remote commits into that local repository.

When to use it

Start work on an existing repository
Download a full project history
Create a fresh local working copy
Set up the default remote automatically

When NOT to use it

Clone into a directory that already contains important files
Download code from an untrusted source and run it immediately
Clone again every time the remote changes
Assume private dependencies and environment settings are included

Anatomy

https://github.com/maya-lee/my-first-page.git

An HTTPS URL works without setting up an SSH key first.

The Git hosting service, such as GitHub or Gitee

The repository owner; after a fork, this segment becomes your account name

The repository name, which also becomes the local folder name by default

Variants

git clone

git clone https://github.com/maya-lee/my-first-page.git

Download working files, repository metadata, and reachable commit history

clone + 名字

git clone

my-app

Want to change the name of the local folder

Download ZIP

Code ▾ → Download ZIP

When you only need working files and no Git history

Fork

Upper right of the webpage ⑂ Fork

When you need to create a remote copy under your own account

Typical use cases

Join a project

my-first-page <> Code ▾

HTTPSSSHGitHub CLI

https://github.com/maya-lee/my-first-page.git 📋 Copy URL

Set up a new computer

zsh — ~/projects

$ git clone https://github.com/maya-lee/my-first-page.git Cloning into 'my-first-page'... remote: Enumerating objects: 36, done. remote: Counting objects: 100% (36/36), done. Receiving objects: 100% (36/36), 12.4 KiB | 2.1 MiB/s, done. Created a local repository at ~/projects/my-first-page

Review an open-source repository

zsh — my-first-page

$ git log --oneline e7b2d48 Fix button alignment on mobile a3f9c21 Finish the home-page navigation b4c5d67 Home page basic version 0f1e2d3 Initialize project After cloning, use git log to view the commit history

Create a clean working copy

maya-lee / my-first-page ⑂ Fork 12

⑂

xiaoli / my-first-page

forked from maya-lee/my-first-page

A fork is a separate repository under your account. Clone the fork locally before working on it and pushing commits to it.