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 pyjamas
Installation
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 is master.
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.
degit user/repo my-new-project
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.gitfolder 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.gzfile for a specific commit, you don't need to fetch it again). - Less to type (
degit user/repoinstead 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 a degit.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
License
MIT.