OGG… How do I git clone a specific branch?

NoteTL;DR

• git clone <url>#<branch> is not Git syntax. It is the npm-style dependency notation. Pass the branch with -b (--branch)
• Add --single-branch to fetch only that branch’s history, and --depth 1 to fetch only its latest commit
• Already cloned? Just git switch <branch>

# check out release/1.0 right after cloning
git clone -b release/1.0 https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

# fetch only release/1.0
git clone -b release/1.0 --single-branch https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

# fetch only the latest commit of release/1.0
git clone -b release/1.0 --single-branch --depth 1 https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

# already cloned
git switch release/1.0

🎯 Goal

• Clone a repository with a specific branch checked out
• Choose between a full, single-branch, and shallow clone

🔎 Objective

You want the release/1.0 branch of sample-app, not the default branch. Writing the branch after a #, the way package.json does, looks natural:

# ❌ does not select a branch
git clone https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git#release/1.0

• npm install github:example-org/sample-app#release/1.0 understands #<branch>, but git clone does not.
• Git has no branch part in its URL syntax, so #release/1.0 is just part of the URL

Solution: using git clone -b

NoteCheck out a specific branch

git clone -b release/1.0 https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

This is a normal clone. Git fetches every branch, as usual, but checks out release/1.0 instead of the remote’s default branch.

Option	Meaning
-b <name>, --branch <name>	Check out <name> instead of the branch the remote’s HEAD points to. <name> can also be a tag; you then get a detached HEAD at that tag

Fetch only that branch

git clone -b release/1.0 --single-branch https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

--single-branch fetches only the history reachable from release/1.0, and sets the remote’s fetch refspec so that later git fetch runs also track only that branch.

Fetch only the latest commit

git clone -b release/1.0 --single-branch --depth 1 https://github.com/example-org/sample-app.git

--depth 1 cuts the history down to the tip commit. Use this when you need the files but not the history, e.g. in CI or to try out a build. It is the fastest option for large repositories.

Option	Meaning
--single-branch	Fetch only the branch given by -b (or the remote’s default branch when -b is omitted). Later git fetch runs track only that branch
--depth <n>	Create a shallow clone with only the last <n> commits. Implies --single-branch unless you pass --no-single-branch
--no-single-branch	Fetch the tips of all branches, even with --depth

Since --depth already implies --single-branch, writing both is redundant, but harmless. Keeping --single-branch in the command makes the intent explicit.

Which one to use

Command	Branches fetched	History fetched	Use when
git clone -b <branch>	All	Full	You work on this branch but may switch to others
git clone -b <branch> --single-branch	<branch> only	Full	You only care about this branch, but need its log, blame, etc.
git clone -b <branch> --depth 1	<branch> only	Latest commit	You only need the files (CI, a quick build)