How to Clone a Single Branch in Git

In collaborative projects, it's often unnecessary to clone an entire Git repository. However, if you only need to work on one specific branch, then cloning just one branch can help save time, bandwidth, and storage. In this tutorial, I will explain what it means to clone a single branch in Git, why you might choose to do so, and the step-by-step methods to clone a single branch.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Git and Branches
2. Why Clone a Single Branch?
3. Prerequisites
4. Cloning a Specific Branch Using --branch Option with --single-branch
5. Example Scenario
6. Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Introduction to Git and Branches

Git, a popular version control system, helps teams efficiently manage and collaborate on software development projects. Git organizes code using repositories (or "repos") that can have multiple branches, such as:

• main or master (the primary branch)
• Feature branches (e.g., feature/add-login, feature/update-api)
• Release branches (e.g., release/1.0)

Branches enable teams to work on multiple features or bug fixes concurrently, each in a separate isolated environment. Cloning an entire repository usually copies all branches, which can be resource-intensive if you only need to work on one specific branch.

Why Clone a Single Branch?

There are several reasons to consider cloning only one branch-

1. Save Time and Bandwidth: When a repository has numerous branches and a large history, downloading all branches can take time and consume unnecessary bandwidth.
2. Save Disk Space: By cloning a single branch, you avoid downloading data from branches you don't need, which is especially useful for large repositories.
3. Isolate Work: Cloning only a single branch can help to isolate your work to that branch, reducing the risk of unintentional modifications to other branches.

By default, Git clones all branches. However we can instruct Git to clone only a specific branch using the --single-branch and --branch options.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:
1) Git installed on your system (version 1.7.10 or later supports --single-branch).
2) Access to the repository you intend to clone, whether it's hosted on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or any other Git-based platform.

Cloning a Specific Branch

To clone a single branch in Git and we use git clone command along with two options - 

• --branch: Specifies the branch you want to clone.
• --single-branch: Ensures that only the specified branch is cloned, not the entire repository.

Syntax

git clone --branch <branch-name> --single-branch <repository-url>

Parameters

• <branch-name>: The name of the branch you want to clone.
• <repository-url>: The URL of the repository you're cloning.

Step to Clone a Single Branch in Git

1) Identify the Branch: Determine the branch name you want to clone. You can view the branches of a repository using git branch -r if you already have access to it.

2) Run the Clone Command: Replace <branch-name> and <repository-url> with the branch you want and the repository URL, respectively.

git clone --branch feature-branch --single-branch https://github.com/username/repository.git

In this example, only feature-branch will be cloned, and you won't have access to other branches unless you fetch them later.

3) Verify the Clone: Once cloned then navigate into the repository's directory and use git branch command to confirm that only the specified branch exists locally.

cd repository
git branch

Output should show only feature-branch.

Note: If you wish to switch to or view other branches later, you will need to fetch them explicitly using git fetch.

Example Scenario

Suppose you are part of a team working on a large application with multiple feature branches. You've been assigned to work on a specific branch, say ui-updates, which involve UI improvements. Here's how you would clone only that branch -

1) Locate the Repository: Obtain the URL of the repository from GitHub (e.g. https://github.com/pankaj-bind/todo-list-application.git)

2) Clone the Branch:

git clone --branch ui-updates --single-branch https://github.com/pankaj-bind/todo-list-application.git

3) Check the Branch:

cd todo-list-application
git branch

You should see only ui-updates listed.

4) Work on the Branch: You can now make your changes, commit, and push them directly to ui-updates.

This method ensures you do not have other branches cluttering your local environment, saving space and making your workflow more focused.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Here are some issues that you may encounter while cloning a specific branch -

1) Incorrect Branch Name: If you specify a branch name that doesn't exist, Git will throw an error. Double-check branch name or view all branches using-

git ls-remote --heads <repository-url>

2) Fetching Additional Branches: If you later decide to fetch additional branches, then you can use:-

git fetch origin <other-branch-name>

3) Switching to a Different Branch: When you need to switch to a different branch then you have to ensure it's fetched first. For example:

git fetch origin another-branch
git checkout another-branch