# create-clone > A template repository cloning tool with support for private GitHub repos. Latest version **0.3.0** (published 2020-03-29) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads ## Install ```sh npm install create-clone pnpm add create-clone yarn add create-clone bun add create-clone ``` Provides the command `create-clone`. ## Health **Score 25/100 (F)** — status: abandoned. Positive: has types; no vulnerabilities; high quality score. Warnings: low downloads; no esm support; pre 1.0. Negative: abandoned; low maintenance score. ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Version | 0.3.0 | | Published | 2020-03-29 | | First published | 2019-09-20 | | Weekly downloads | 0 | | License | MIT | | TypeScript types | bundled | | Module format | CommonJS | | Dependencies | 3 | | Unpacked size | 20.8 KB | | Known vulnerabilities | 0 (+12 in 1 direct dependencies) | | Install scripts | no | | GitHub stars | 10 | | Author | Ryan Murphy | | Maintainers | rdm | | Keywords | templates, git, npx, clone | ## Links - npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/create-clone - Repository: https://github.com/rdmurphy/create-clone - Homepage: https://github.com/rdmurphy/create-clone#readme - Issues: https://github.com/rdmurphy/create-clone/issues - npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/create-clone ## Dependencies (3) - [mri](https://npm.io/package/mri.md) ^1.1.4 - [tar](https://npm.io/package/tar.md) ^6.0.0 - [hosted-git-info](https://npm.io/package/hosted-git-info.md) ^3.0.4 ## Recent versions - 0.3.0 (latest) — 2020-03-29 - 0.2.0 — 2019-12-19 - 0.1.0 — 2019-09-20 ## README

create-clone

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`create-clone` is a template repository scaffolding tool that creates copies of git repositories **with support for private repos**. It taps into the compressed tarball of a repository to quickly pull down a copy without all that extra git cruft. ## Key features - 🎏 Supports GitHub repos, GitHub gists, GitLab and Bitbucket - 💡 Understands GitHub shorthand (`rdmurphy/my-cool-template`) for referring to repositories - 🔐 With proper credentials in place **can clone private repositories on GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket** ## Table of contents - [Setup](#setup) - [Usage](#usage) - [GitHub](#github) - [GitLab](#gitlab) - [Bitbucket](#bitbucket) - [Gist](#gist) - [Private repos](#private-repos) - [GitHub](#github-1) - [GitLab](#gitlab-1) - [Bitbucket](#bitbucket-1) - [What makes this different from `degit`?](#what-makes-this-different-from-degit) - [License](#license) ## Setup `create-clone` requires at least Node 10 to run. This library expects to be used in a global context and makes the most sense when installed globally. ```sh npm install --global create-clone # or yarn global add create-clone ``` This also means it works great when paired with `npx`. ```sh npx create-clone ``` **However!** `create-clone`'s unique name gives it another super power — you can use a special feature of `npm init` and `yarn create`. ```sh npm init clone # or yarn create clone ``` This is most of the reason this library exists. 😶 ## Usage `create-clone` works any git host URLs that [`hosted-git-info`](https://github.com/npm/hosted-git-info) supports. By default the copy of the repository is output into your **current working directory**. A path to a different directory can be provided as the second parameter and will be created if necessary. ```sh # The contents of the repository will be copied into the current directory create-clone user/repository # The contents of the repository will be copied into provided directory (and created if necessary) create-clone user/repository my-new-project ``` By default `create-clone` will stop and not touch a target directory that already contains files, but this can be overriden with `--force`. ```sh # I already have something in the "my-old-project" directory, but I don't care create-clone user/repository my-old-project --force ``` ### GitHub ```sh # shortcuts only available to GitHub create-clone user/repository create-clone user/repository#branch create-clone github:user/repository create-clone github:user/repository.git create-clone github:user/repository#branch create-clone github:user/repository.git#branch # github.com and www.github.com are both supported create-clone https://github.com/user/repository create-clone https://github.com/user/repository.git create-clone https://github.com/user/repository#branch create-clone https://github.com/user/repository.git#branch create-clone git@github.com:user/repository create-clone git@github.com:user/repository.git create-clone git@github.com:user/repository#branch create-clone git@github.com:user/repository.git#branch ``` ### GitLab ```sh create-clone gitlab:user/repository create-clone gitlab:user/repository.git create-clone gitlab:user/repository#branch create-clone gitlab:user/repository.git#branch # gitlab.com and www.gitlab.com are both supported create-clone https://gitlab.com/user/repository create-clone https://gitlab.com/user/repository.git create-clone https://gitlab.com/user/repository#branch create-clone https://gitlab.com/user/repository.git#branch create-clone git@gitlab.com:user/repository create-clone git@gitlab.com:user/repository.git create-clone git@gitlab.com:user/repository#branch create-clone git@gitlab.com:user/repository.git#branch ``` ### Bitbucket ```sh create-clone bitbucket:user/repository create-clone bitbucket:user/repository.git create-clone bitbucket:user/repository#branch create-clone bitbucket:user/repository.git#branch # bitbucket.org and www.bitbucket.org are both supported create-clone https://bitbucket.org/user/repository create-clone https://bitbucket.org/user/repository.git create-clone https://bitbucket.org/user/repository#branch create-clone https://bitbucket.org/user/repository.git#branch create-clone git@bitbucket.org:user/repository create-clone git@bitbucket.org:user/repository.git create-clone git@bitbucket.org:user/repository#branch create-clone git@bitbucket.org:user/repository.git#branch ``` ### Gist ```sh create-clone gist:user/hash create-clone gist:user/hash.git create-clone gist:user/hash#branch create-clone gist:user/hash.git#branch create-clone git@gist.github.com:hash.git create-clone git+https://gist.github.com:hash.git create-clone git+https://gist.github.com:hash.git create-clone https://gist.github.com/user/hash create-clone https://gist.github.com/user/hash.git create-clone https://gist.github.com/user/hash#branch create-clone https://gist.github.com/user/hash.git#branch create-clone git@gist.github.com:user/hash create-clone git@gist.github.com:user/hash.git create-clone git@gist.github.com:user/hash#branch create-clone git@gist.github.com:user/hash.git#branch ``` ## Private repos GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket all have varying methods for authenticating against their services, so each one needs slightly different permissions and keys. > Fun fact — Private GitHub gists are already supported without any additional authentication because they're only "private" as long as no one else has the URL. [This is a documented feature](https://help.github.com/en/articles/creating-gists#about-gists)! ### GitHub `create-clone` requires a [GitHub personal access token](https://help.github.com/en/articles/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line) with read access for repositories and/or gists. Once you have this token, it needs to be available in your environment at `GITHUB_TOKEN`. In your `.bashrc`/`.zshrc`/preferred shell config: ```sh export GITHUB_TOKEN= ``` `create-clone` will check for this environment variable when attempting to clone a GitHub repository or gist and [include it as an authorization header](https://developer.github.com/v3/#authentication) in the request. `create-clone` will be able to clone any private GitHub repo your account can access. ### GitLab GitLab also has [personal access tokens](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/profile/personal_access_tokens.html), but because access to the archive of a private repository is only available [via the GitLab API](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/repositories.html#get-file-archive), your token needs to be [given the scope of `api` access](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/profile/personal_access_tokens.html#limiting-scopes-of-a-personal-access-token), _not_ `read_repository`. Once you have this token, it needs to be available in your environment at `GITLAB_TOKEN`. In your `.bashrc`/`.zshrc`/preferred shell config: ```sh export GITLAB_TOKEN= ``` `create-clone` will check for this environment variable when attempting to clone a GitLab repository and [include it as an authorization header](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/README.html#personal-access-tokens) in the request. `create-clone` will be able to clone any private GitLab repo your account can access. ### Bitbucket This is the funky one. Bitbucket does not have the equivalent of a personal access token, so we need to use what it calls an [app password](https://confluence.atlassian.com/bitbucket/app-passwords-828781300.html). The _only_ permission your app password needs is `Repositories -> Read`. However, because we are using what's essentially a single-purpose password, we also need to include your Bitbucket username as part of the request. To accomplish this, we need to set up **two** environmental variables: `BITBUCKET_USER` for your username, and `BITBUCKET_TOKEN` for your app password. In your `.bashrc`/`.zshrc`/preferred shell config: ```sh export BITBUCKET_USER= export BITBUCKET_TOKEN= ``` `create-clone` will check for this environment variable when attempting to clone a Bitbucket repository and include it as the [user and password](https://developer.atlassian.com/bitbucket/api/2/reference/meta/authentication#app-pw) of the request. `create-clone` will be able to clone any private Bitbucket repo your account can access. ## What makes this different from [`degit`](https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit)? Honestly? Not a whole lot. This was mostly me wanting to be able to do something cool like `npm init clone `/`yarn create clone `. The most notable difference is `create-clone` **does not** have a caching layer like `degit` does. In practice I've not found that to be a major issue, but it may be a big deal for some folks! `degit` also has a [cool actions framework layered on top](https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit#actions). ## License MIT --- _Source: https://npm.io/package/create-clone · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._