Bits of .NET

Cloning huge repo when you only need one folder wastes time and disk. Sparse checkout downloads only what you need.

Clone with Sparse Checkout:

# Clone repository (no files yet)
git clone --no-checkout https://github.com/user/repo.git
cd repo

# Enable sparse checkout
git sparse-checkout init --cone

# Specify folders you want
git sparse-checkout set frontend/src backend/api

# Checkout (only specified folders downloaded)
git checkout main

Result:
Full repo: 5 GB, 100,000 files
Your clone: 500 MB, 10,000 files
= 10x less!

Add More Folders Later:

git sparse-checkout add docs

See Current Sparse Checkout:

git sparse-checkout list

Essential for monorepos!