degit — straightforward project scaffolding
degit makes copies of git repositories. When you run
degit some-user/some-repo
, it will find the latest commit on https://github.com/some-user/some-repo and download the associated tar file to ~/.degit/some-user/some-repo/commithash.tar.gz
if it doesn't already exist locally. (This is much quicker than using git clone
, because you're not downloading the entire git history.)Requires Node 8 or above, because
async
and await
are the cat's pyjamasInstallation
npm install -g degit
Usage
Basics
The simplest use of degit is to download the master branch of a repo from GitHub to the current working directory:degit user/repo
# these commands are equivalent
degit github:user/repo
degit git@github.com:user/repo
degit https://github.com/user/repo
Or you can download from GitLab and BitBucket:
# download from GitLab
degit gitlab:user/repo
degit git@gitlab.com:user/repo
degit https://gitlab.com/user/repo
# download from BitBucket
degit bitbucket:user/repo
degit git@bitbucket.org:user/repo
degit https://bitbucket.org/user/repo
# download from Sourcehut
degit git.sr.ht/user/repo
degit git@git.sr.ht:user/repo
degit https://git.sr.ht/user/repo
Specify a tag, branch or commit
The default branch ismaster
.degit user/repo#dev # branch
degit user/repo#v1.2.3 # release tag
degit user/repo#1234abcd # commit hash
````
### Create a new folder for the project
If the second argument is omitted, the repo will be cloned to the current directory.
```bash
degit user/repo my-new-project
Specify a subdirectory
To clone a specific subdirectory instead of the entire repo, just add it to the argument:degit user/repo/subdirectory
HTTPS proxying
If you have anhttps_proxy
environment variable, Degit will use it.Private repositories
Private repos can be cloned by specifying--mode=git
(the default is tar
). In this mode, Degit will use git
under the hood. It's much slower than fetching a tarball, which is why it's not the default.Note: this clones over SSH, not HTTPS.
See all options
degit --help
Not supported
- Private repositories
Pull requests are very welcome!
Wait, isn't this just git clone --depth 1
?
A few salient differences:- If you
git clone
, you get a.git
folder that pertains to the project template, rather than your project. You can easily forget to re-init the repository, and end up confusing yourself - Caching and offline support (if you already have a
.tar.gz
file for a specific commit, you don't need to fetch it again). - Less to type (
degit user/repo
instead ofgit clone --depth 1 git@github.com:user/repo
) - Composability via actions
- Future capabilities — interactive mode, friendly onboarding and postinstall scripts
JavaScript API
You can also use degit inside a Node script:const degit = require('degit');
const emitter = degit('user/repo', {
cache: true,
force: true,
verbose: true,
});
emitter.on('info', info => {
console.log(info.message);
});
emitter.clone('path/to/dest').then(() => {
console.log('done');
});
Actions
You can manipulate repositories after they have been cloned with actions, specified in adegit.json
file that lives at the top level of the working directory. Currently, there are two actions — clone
and remove
. Additional actions may be added in future.clone
// degit.json
[
{
"action": "clone",
"src": "user/another-repo"
}
]
This will clone
user/another-repo
, preserving the contents of the existing working directory. This allows you to, say, add a new README.md or starter file to a repo that you do not control. The cloned repo can contain its own degit.json
actions.remove
// degit.json
[
{
"action": "remove",
"files": ["LICENSE"]
}
]
Remove a file at the specified path.
See also
- zel by Vu Tran
- gittar by Luke Edwards