CODEWITHSUNDEEP
git
Martin Blore
Martin Blore

Reputation: 2195

Get specific files from a GIT remote branch

Is it possible to pull from a remote repository but only selectively take files from that remote that I'm interested in? I don't want to simply pull down the entire branch.

Thanks.

Upvotes: 12

Views: 18770

Answers (2)

Christopher
Christopher

Reputation: 44244

A "remote branch" is nothing more than a commit pointer and the affiliated pack data. Just git fetch <remote> and then if you want to view diffs between files on the remote and your local, you can do so with:

git diff <local_branch> <remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>

This would in many cases be, for example, git diff master origin/master -- <file>. You could also see the commit differences with git log:

git log <local_branch>..<remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>

so... git log master..origin/master -- <file>

Finally if you just want to checkout a particular version of a file from the remote (this wouldn't be ideal; much better to merge the remote branch with git merge <remote>/<remote_branch> or git pull), use:

git checkout <remote>/<remote_branch> -- <file>

Upvotes: 19

manojlds
manojlds

Reputation: 301157

No you have to fetch the entire branch, but may choose to checkout specific files.

Upvotes: -1

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