degit — straightforward project scaffolding

degit makes copies of git repositories. When you run degit some-user/some-repo, it will find the latest commit on https://github.com/some-user/some-repo and download the associated tar file to the platform-appropriate cache directory if it doesn't already exist locally. On Linux/BSD this follows XDG_CACHE_HOME when set and otherwise uses ~/.cache/degit; on macOS it uses ~/Library/Caches/degit; on Windows it uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\degit. (This is much quicker than using git clone, because you're not downloading the entire git history.)

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later (see engines in package.json)
• Bun 1.3.14 when developing this repository (see packageManager in package.json)

End users can still install the published package with npm (npm install -g degit). For a dev clone of this repo, use Bun so the lockfile and bunfig.toml apply; minimumReleaseAge is set to 14 days so installs skip very fresh publishes.

git clone https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit.git
cd degit
bun install
bun run build

See docs/CONTRIBUTING.md for how to contribute. docs/SECURITY.md explains how to report vulnerabilities. AGENTS.md summarizes setup and commands for tooling and coding agents. When verifying production CLI bugs, reproduce with the published package (for example npx degit@latest ...) rather than running the raw repository source directly. When you change development workflow, CI, or contributor-facing instructions, update README.md, docs/CONTRIBUTING.md, and AGENTS.md together so they stay consistent.

A small proof-of-concept docs-sync workflow also runs on PRs that change src/**/*.ts or assets/help.md, using OpenRouter through Claude Code Action. It expects OPENROUTER_API_KEY and OPENROUTER_ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL repository secrets.

Installation

npm install -g degit

Usage

Basics

The simplest use of degit is to download the default branch of a repo from GitHub to the current working directory:

degit user/repo

# these commands are equivalent
degit github:user/repo
degit git@github.com:user/repo
degit https://github.com/user/repo

Or you can download from GitLab and BitBucket:

# download from GitLab
degit gitlab:user/repo
degit git@gitlab.com:user/repo
degit https://gitlab.com/user/repo

# download from BitBucket
degit bitbucket:user/repo
degit git@bitbucket.org:user/repo
degit https://bitbucket.org/user/repo

# download from Sourcehut
degit git.sr.ht/user/repo
degit git@git.sr.ht:user/repo
degit https://git.sr.ht/user/repo

Specify a tag, branch or commit

When you omit a ref, degit uses the repository's default branch.

degit user/repo#dev       # branch
degit user/repo#v1.2.3    # release tag
degit user/repo#1234abcd  # commit hash

Create a new folder for the project

If the second argument is omitted, the repo will be cloned to the current directory.

degit user/repo my-new-project

Specify a subdirectory

To clone a specific subdirectory instead of the entire repo, just add it to the argument:

degit user/repo/subdirectory

HTTPS proxying

If you have an https_proxy environment variable, Degit will use it.

Private repositories

Use --mode=git to clone private repos over SSH. This mode is much slower than fetching a tarball, which is why it is not the default.

Note: this clones over SSH, not HTTPS.

See all options

degit --help

Pull requests are very welcome!

Wait, isn't this just git clone --depth 1?

A few salient differences:

• If you git clone, you get a .git folder that pertains to the project template, rather than your project. You can easily forget to re-init the repository, and end up confusing yourself
• Caching and offline support (if you already have a .tar.gz file for a specific commit, you don't need to fetch it again).
• Less to type (degit user/repo instead of git clone --depth 1 ssh://git@github.com/user/repo)
• Composability via actions
• Future capabilities — interactive mode, friendly onboarding and postinstall scripts

ESM API

You can also use degit inside a Node script:

import degit from 'degit';

const emitter = degit('user/repo', {
	cache: true,
	force: true,
	verbose: true,
});

emitter.on('info', (info) => {
	console.log(info.message);
});

emitter.clone('path/to/dest').then(() => {
	console.log('done');
});

Actions

You can manipulate repositories after they have been cloned with actions, specified in a degit.json file that lives at the top level of the working directory. Currently, there are two actions — clone and remove. Additional actions may be added in future.

clone

// degit.json
[
	{
		"action": "clone",
		"src": "user/another-repo"
	}
]

This will clone user/another-repo, preserving the contents of the existing working directory. This allows you to, say, add a new README.md or starter file to a repo that you do not control. The cloned repo can contain its own degit.json actions.

remove

// degit.json
[
	{
		"action": "remove",
		"files": ["LICENSE"]
	}
]

Remove a file at the specified path.

See also

• zel by Vu Tran
• gittar by Luke Edwards
• gitpick - by Neeraj Dalal

License

MIT