What is this?
degit is a command-line tool that makes copies of git repositories. Run degit some-user/some-repo and it downloads the latest commit's tar file into the current directory — no git history attached, which makes it much quicker than git clone for scaffolding a project from a template.
degit is a command-line tool that makes copies of git repositories. Run degit some-user/some-repo and it downloads the latest commit's tar file into the current directory — no git history attached, which makes it much quicker than git clone for scaffolding a project from a template.Why use this instead of git clone --depth 1?It skips the history so downloads are faster, leaves no .git folder behind, and caches tar archives for offline reuse, all with less typing. You also get composable post-clone actions via degit.json plus built-in subdirectory, file-filter, and alias support.
It skips the history so downloads are faster, leaves no .git folder behind, and caches tar archives for offline reuse, all with less typing. You also get composable post-clone actions via degit.json plus built-in subdirectory, file-filter, and alias support.How do I use it?Run degit user/repo to download a repo's default branch into the current directory, or give it a second argument to land the copy in a new folder. You can also pin a specific tag, branch, or commit as the source.
Run degit user/repo to download a repo's default branch into the current directory, or give it a second argument to land the copy in a new folder. You can also pin a specific tag, branch, or commit as the source.What do I need installed to run it?Node.js 20 or later. Public HTTPS sources work without a local git binary, but SSH and private repositories still need git on your PATH — and degit falls back to SSH cloning if a tarball fetch or extraction fails.
Node.js 20 or later. Public HTTPS sources work without a local git binary, but SSH and private repositories still need git on your PATH — and degit falls back to SSH cloning if a tarball fetch or extraction fails.Where do downloaded copies end up?Tar snapshots are saved to a platform-appropriate cache directory and reused if they already exist locally, so downloading the same template again doesn't re-fetch it from the network.
Tar snapshots are saved to a platform-appropriate cache directory and reused if they already exist locally, so downloading the same template again doesn't re-fetch it from the network.What can degit.json do?It defines composable actions that run after the copy. The full set of actions, along with the complete CLI reference and the ESM API, is documented in docs/USAGE.md.
It defines composable actions that run after the copy. The full set of actions, along with the complete CLI reference and the ESM API, is documented in docs/USAGE.md.What happens if the destination folder already has files?The README doesn't spell out the CLI's behavior for that case, but the bundled agent skill is explicitly written to avoid overwriting a non-empty destination without confirmation.
The README doesn't spell out the CLI's behavior for that case, but the bundled agent skill is explicitly written to avoid overwriting a non-empty destination without confirmation.Are there similar tools worth knowing about?The README's see-also section lists zel by Vu Tran, gittar by Luke Edwards, and gitpick by Neeraj Dalal as related projects.
The README's see-also section lists zel by Vu Tran, gittar by Luke Edwards, and gitpick by Neeraj Dalal as related projects.What are similar projects?cz-cli, epiq, git-extras, lazygit, diff-so-fancy, vim-fugitive, skills, gitui
cz-cli, epiq, git-extras, lazygit, diff-so-fancy, vim-fugitive, skills, gituiWhich topics is it in?boilerplate, version-control, git, skills, utility, command-line, agent-skills, productivity, free, npm, terminal, automation
boilerplate, version-control, git, skills, utility, command-line, agent-skills, productivity, free, npm, terminal, automation