How to remove git related data from a git clone?

Question

I want to clone a specific branch of a git repository and copy it to my own private git repository. The original repository is very huge and has a lot of branches, which I don't need at all. I also don't need any file history. Forking is not an option, because forked repositories are not allowed to be private on github.

After running

git clone https://example.com/repo.git -b my-branch

how can I get rid of all git-specific information in the local copy, keep only my-branch, as if I just created the contained files?

Justin Howard · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-05 02:03:19Z

7

You can simply delete the .git directory and re-initialize the repository.

rm -rf .git # Delete all git information
git init # Recreate an empty repo
git add --all # Re-add all the files to the index
git commit -m 'Initial fork from example.com/repo.git'

answered Dec 5, 2014 at 2:03

Justin Howard

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1 Comment

wondering Over a year ago

My specific issue was apparently a second .git directory in a sub-directory. Thanks!

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