sparse-checkout

Git · Reference cheat sheet

📋 Overview

Sparse-checkout checks out only a subset of paths from a wide repository (monorepos). Combine with partial clone (--filter=blob:none) to reduce network and disk use. Cone mode is the recommended pattern.

🔧 Core concepts

• Cone mode — directory-based patterns (default/recommended).
• Patterns — include dirs like apps/web and always root files needed.
• Init — sparse-checkout init --cone then set / add.
• Partial clone — fetch blobs on demand with filters.
• Disable — sparse-checkout disable restores full tree.

💡 Examples

git clone --filter=blob:none --sparse git@github.com:org/monorepo.git
cd monorepo
git sparse-checkout set apps/web packages/ui

# Add more paths later
git sparse-checkout add packages/utils

# List / reapply
git sparse-checkout list
git sparse-checkout reapply

# Non-cone (legacy patterns) — avoid unless needed
git sparse-checkout init --no-cone
git sparse-checkout set "/*" "!/*/" "/apps/web/"

git sparse-checkout disable

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Tools expecting a full tree (some codegen, IDE indexes) may break — document required paths.
• Non-cone pattern syntax is easy to get wrong — prefer cone directories.
• Sparse + submodules needs explicit submodule paths checked out.
• CI must configure the same sparse set or use full checkout.
• Narrow checkouts can hide files from git status that still exist in history.

🔗 Related

• clone.md
• status.md
• submodule.md
• worktree.md
• gitignore.md
• fetch.md