GitPick

Clone exactly what you need aka straightforward project scaffolding!

📦 Zero dependencies / Un/packed (<35/15kb) / Faster and more features yet drop-in replacement for degit

Just copy-and-paste any GitHub URL - no editing required (shorthands work too) - to clone individual files, folders, branches, commits, raw content or even entire repositories without the .git directory.

Unlike other tools that force you to tweak URLs or follow strict formats to clone files, folders, branches or commits GitPick works seamlessly with any URL.

📖 Some Examples

See Quick Usage for to learn more.

# clone a repo without .git
npx gitpick owner/repo
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo
# clone a folder aka tree
npx gitpick owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/folder
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/folder
# clone a file aka blob
npx gitpick owner/repo/blob/main/path/to/file
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo/blob/main/path/to/file
# clone a branch
npx gitpick owner/repo -b canary
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo -b canary
npx gitpick owner/repo/tree/canary
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/canary
# clone a commit SHA
npx gitpick owner/repo -b cc8e93
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo/commit/cc8e93
# clone submodules
npx gitpick owner/repo -r
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo -r
# clone a private repo
npx gitpick https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo

✨ Features

🔍 Clone individual files or folders from any GitHub repository
⚙️ Auto-detects branches and target directory (if not specified) like git clone
🧠 Use shorthands TanStack/router or full URL's https://github.com/TanStack/router
🗑️ Overwrite or replace existing files without a prompt using -o | --overwrite
📦 Can easily clone all submodules with -r | --recursive
🔁 Sync changes remotely with --watch using intervals (e.g., 15s, 1m, 1h)
🔐 Seamlessly works with both public and private repositories using a PAT

🚀 Quick Usage

npx gitpick <url/shorthand> [target] [options]

[target] and [options] are optional, if not specified, GitPick fallbacks to the default behavior of git clone

Examples:

npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo          # repo without .git
npx gitpick owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/folder    # a folder aka tree
npx gitpick owner/repo/blob/main/path/to/file      # a file aka blob

npx gitpick <url/shorthand>                        # default git behavior
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> [target]               # with optional target
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> -b [branch/SHA]        # branch or commit SHA
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> -o                     # overwrite if exists
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> -r                     # clone submodules
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> -w 30s                 # sync every 30 seconds
npx gitpick https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo  # private repository

🔧 Options

-b, --branch       Branch/SHA to clone
-o, --overwrite    Skip overwrite prompt
-r, --recursive    Clone submodules
-w, --watch [time] Watch the repository and sync every [time]
                   (e.g. 1h, 30m, 15s)
-h, --help         display help for command
-v, --version      display the version number

🔐 Private Repos

Use a GitHub personal access token (create one 👉 here) with repo -> contents: read-only permission:

npx gitpick https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo

📦 Install Globally (Optional)

npm install -g gitpick
gitpick <url/shorthand> [target] [options]

🛠 More Tools

Check out more projects at github.com/nrjdalal

🔗 Related Projects

tiged - community driven fork of degit
giget - alternative approach

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome — any help is appreciated!

Fork the repo and create a branch (use descriptive names, e.g. feat/ or fix/).
Make your changes, add tests if applicable, and run the checks:
- bun install
- bun run sync:external
- bun test
Follow the existing code style and commit message conventions (use conventional commits: feat, fix, docs, chore).
Open a PR describing the change, motivation, and any migration notes; link related issues.
For breaking changes or large features, open an issue first to discuss the approach.
By contributing you agree to the MIT license and the project's Code of Conduct.

Thank you for helping improve GitPick!

📄 License

MIT – LICENSE