GitPick

Clone exactly what you need aka straightforward project scaffolding!

📦 Zero dependencies / Un/packed (~72/26kb) / Faster and more features yet drop-in replacement for degit

Just copy-and-paste any GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Codeberg 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.

You can also try Interactive Mode. Browse any repo right in your terminal. See every file, pick what you want, skip what you don't. Just gitpick owner/repo -i and you're in. No more guessing paths.

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Table of Contents

• Some Examples
• Features
• Quick Usage
• Options
• Interactive Mode
• Private Repos
• Config File
• .gitpickignore
• Install Globally
• Used By
• Related Projects
• Contributing

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📖 Some Examples

See Quick Usage to learn more.

# interactive mode - browse and pick files/folders
npx gitpick owner/repo -i
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo -i
# 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
# clone from GitLab
npx gitpick https://gitlab.com/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://gitlab.com/owner/repo/-/tree/main/path/to/folder
# clone from Bitbucket
npx gitpick https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo/src/main/path/to/folder
# clone from Codeberg
npx gitpick https://codeberg.org/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://codeberg.org/owner/repo/src/branch/main/path/to/folder
# dry run (preview without cloning)
npx gitpick owner/repo --dry-run
npx gitpick owner/repo -i --dry-run

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✨ Features

• 🔍 Clone individual files or folders from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Codeberg
• 🧠 Use shorthands TanStack/router or full URL's https://github.com/TanStack/router
• 🔥 Interactive mode - browse and cherry-pick files/folders with -i | --interactive
• ⚙️ Auto-detects branches and target directory (if not specified) like git clone
• 🔐 Seamlessly works with both public and private repositories using a PAT
• 📦 Can easily clone all submodules with -r | --recursive
• 🚫 .gitpickignore at the root of the picked path excludes matching paths from the copy (gitignore-style patterns)
• 🧱 Initialize the cloned output as a fresh git repo with --init
• 💾 Commit with --commit "<msg>" (or --auto-commit, which uses chore: gitpick'ed) - implies --init
• 🔁 Sync changes remotely with --watch using intervals (e.g., 15s, 1m, 1h)
• 🔎 Preview what would be cloned with --dry-run before cloning
• 🌳 View cloned file structure as a colored tree with --tree
• 🗑️ Overwrite or replace existing files without a prompt using -o | --overwrite
• 📋 Config file support (.gitpick.json / .gitpick.jsonc) for multi-path picks
• 🔇 Silent mode with --quiet for CI pipelines, debug mode with --verbose

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🚀 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> --dry-run               # preview without cloning
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> -w 30s                  # sync every 30 seconds
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> --init                  # initialize as a new git repository
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> --auto-commit           # Commit with message "chore: gitpick'ed"
npx gitpick <url/shorthand> --commit "gitpick'ed"   # Commit with a message
npx gitpick https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo   # private repository
npx gitpick https://gitlab.com/owner/repo           # GitLab
npx gitpick https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo        # Bitbucket
npx gitpick https://codeberg.org/owner/repo         # Codeberg

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🔧 Options

-i, --interactive   Browse and pick files/folders interactively
-b, --branch        Branch/SHA to clone
-o, --overwrite     Skip overwrite prompt
-r, --recursive     Clone submodules
    --fast          Fetch via archive/raw HTTP instead of git clone (faster)
-q, --quiet         Suppress all output except errors
-n, --dry-run       Show what would be cloned without cloning
-w, --watch [time]  Watch the repository and sync every [time]
                    (e.g. 1h, 30m, 15s)
    --init          Initialize the cloned output as a new git repository
    --auto-commit   Commit with message "chore: gitpick'ed" (implies --init)
    --commit <msg>  Commit with <msg> (implies --init)
    --tree          List copied files as a tree
    --verbose       Show detailed clone information
-h, --help          display help for command
-v, --version       display the version number

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⚡ Fast Mode (--fast)

By default GitPick uses git clone, so a pick is byte-for-byte what a checkout gives you. Pass --fast (or set GITPICK_FAST=1 for a whole CI fleet) to fetch through the host's archive / raw HTTP endpoints instead: no git process, typically 2-4x faster, and (in a 100-repo differential test) byte-identical to a clone.

npx gitpick owner/repo --fast            # download + extract the tarball
GITPICK_FAST=1 npx gitpick owner/repo    # opt in fleet-wide

Three cases where a --fast pick can differ from a clone (all are how every archive-based tool, e.g. degit, behaves, which is why it's opt-in):

• .gitattributes export-ignore / export-subst: host archives honor these (they omit paths / expand keywords); a clone does not. Common in PHP/Composer repos.
• core.autocrlf on Windows: archives store blobs verbatim (LF); a clone would CRLF-normalize.
• Symlink-hostile Windows: --fast warns and skips a symlink it can't create; a clone may fail or write git's text stub instead.

--recursive (submodules) always uses a clone.

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🔥 Interactive Mode

New in v5.0. Browse any repository's file tree in your terminal and cherry-pick exactly the files and folders you want.

npx gitpick owner/repo -i
npx gitpick owner/repo -i -b canary
npx gitpick https://github.com/owner/repo -i
npx gitpick https://gitlab.com/owner/repo -i
npx gitpick https://codeberg.org/owner/repo -i

Navigate with arrow keys, space to select, enter to expand a folder or preview a file, . to select all, c to confirm, q to quit. File previews come with syntax highlighting for 38 languages. Works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Codeberg, public and private repos.

Pick from a local folder

Interactive mode also works on any folder already on your machine, so you can use GitPick as a local file cherry-picker:

npx gitpick -i                 # browse the current directory
npx gitpick -i my-app          # browse cwd, copy the selection into ./my-app
npx gitpick ./src -i my-app    # browse ./src, copy the selection into ./my-app

Inside a git repo it respects your .gitignore (via git ls-files) and preserves symlinks when copying.

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🔐 Private Repos

Use a personal access token with read-only contents permission. Works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Codeberg:

npx gitpick https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://<token>@gitlab.com/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://<token>@bitbucket.org/owner/repo
npx gitpick https://<token>@codeberg.org/owner/repo

Or use environment variables (recommended for CI):

export GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxxx    # or GH_TOKEN
export GITLAB_TOKEN=glpat-xxxx
export BITBUCKET_TOKEN=xxxx
export CODEBERG_TOKEN=xxxx

npx gitpick owner/private-repo  # token is picked up automatically

Create a GitHub token 👉 here with repo -> contents: read-only permission.

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📋 Config File

Create a .gitpick.json or .gitpick.jsonc in your project to pick multiple files/folders in one command:

// .gitpick.jsonc
[
  // clone a repo without .git
  "owner/repo",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo",
  // clone a folder aka tree
  "owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/folder",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/path/to/folder",
  // clone a file aka blob
  "owner/repo/blob/main/path/to/file",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo/blob/main/path/to/file",
  // clone a branch
  "owner/repo -b canary",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo -b canary",
  "owner/repo/tree/canary",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/canary",
  // clone a commit SHA
  "owner/repo -b cc8e93",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo/commit/cc8e93",
  // clone submodules
  "owner/repo -r",
  "https://github.com/owner/repo -r",
  // clone a private repo
  "https://<token>@github.com/owner/repo",
  // GitLab
  "https://gitlab.com/owner/repo",
  "https://gitlab.com/owner/repo/-/tree/main/path/to/folder",
  // Bitbucket
  "https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo",
  "https://bitbucket.org/owner/repo/src/main/path/to/folder",
  // Codeberg
  "https://codeberg.org/owner/repo",
  "https://codeberg.org/owner/repo/src/branch/main/path/to/folder",
]

Then just run:

npx gitpick

Each entry follows the same <url> [target] syntax as the CLI. All entries are cloned with -o (overwrite) by default.

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🚫 .gitpickignore

Add a .gitpickignore file at the root of the path you are picking to keep matching files out of the copy. It uses gitignore-style patterns, so the syntax is already familiar:

# .gitpickignore lives at the root of the picked folder or repo

# any .log file, at any depth
*.log

# a directory named node_modules, anywhere (trailing slash means directory only)
node_modules/

# only the dist at the picked root (a leading slash anchors the pattern)
/dist

# every png under docs, at any depth
docs/**/*.png

# re-include a file an earlier rule excluded (! negates, last match wins)
!docs/logo.png

• The file must sit at the root of what you pick - the folder for a tree URL, or the repo root for a full clone.
• * matches within a path segment, ** spans directories, ? matches a single character, and a trailing / limits a rule to directories.
• A leading or embedded / anchors a pattern to the picked root; otherwise it matches by basename at any depth.
• Full-line # comments and blank lines are ignored, and the .gitpickignore file itself is never copied.

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📦 Install Globally (Optional)

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

This installs two commands, gitpick and degit, so existing degit owner/repo workflows keep working unchanged.

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🌍 Used By

• Major: Storybook, TanStack Router, ElectricSQL, Alchemy, Porto, oidc-spa, Fidely UI
• Other: hono-better-auth, vite-hono-ssr, tanstack-start-cf, constructa-starter-min, tanstack-starter, react-shadcn-starter, open-store

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🛠 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 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