degit — straightforward project scaffolding

degit makes copies of git repositories. When you run degit some-user/some-repo, it finds the latest commit on https://github.com/some-user/some-repo and downloads the associated tar file to the platform-appropriate cache directory if it doesn’t already exist locally. (This is much quicker than using git clone, because you’re not downloading the entire git history.)

degit resolves refs through an internal git backend, downloads tar snapshots by default, and falls back to SSH cloning when tarball fetches or extraction fail. Public HTTPS sources do not need a local git binary on your PATH, but SSH/private repositories still do.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later (see engines in package.json)

Installation

npm install -g degit

Quick start

Download the default branch of a GitHub repo to the current directory:

degit user/repo

Download to a new folder:

degit user/repo my-new-project
degit -r user/repo

Download only specific files:

degit user/repo my-project --files README.md,src/index.ts

Use a specific tag, branch, or commit:

degit user/repo#v1.0.0

For the full CLI reference, ESM API, and degit.json actions, see docs/USAGE.md.

Why not just git clone --depth 1?

• No leftover .git folder from the template.
• Caches tar archives for offline reuse.
• Less to type (degit user/repo versus git clone --depth 1 ...).
• Composable post-clone actions via degit.json.
• Built-in support for subdirectories, file filtering, and aliases.

Agent skill

Install the reusable degit skill for agents that support SKILL.md files:

# project-level install
npx skills add Rich-Harris/degit --skill degit

# global install
npx skills add Rich-Harris/degit --skill degit -g

Then ask the agent to download a repository or template. The skill helps it choose a source, ref, and destination; handle private repositories and aliases; and avoid overwriting a non-empty destination without confirmation.

See skills/degit/SKILL.md for the full skill instructions.

Documentation

• docs/USAGE.md — full CLI reference, ESM API, and degit.json actions
• docs/CONTRIBUTING.md — contributing, development setup, and CI checks
• docs/SECURITY.md — security policy and reporting process
• docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — repository architecture and data flow
• docs/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — community expectations
• docs/CHANGELOG.md — release notes

See also

• zel by Vu Tran
• gittar by Luke Edwards
• gitpick - by Neeraj Dalal

License

MIT