Skip to main content

​
Overview

cloneit can download individual files from any GitHub repository without cloning the entire project. This is useful when you only need specific configuration files, scripts, or source code files.

​
Basic File Download

To download a single file, provide the full GitHub URL to that file: 
cloneit https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/src/main.rs
This downloads main.rs to your current directory.

​
How It Works

When downloading a file, cloneit:
  1. Validates the GitHub URL
  2. Makes a request to the GitHub API
  3. Retrieves the file’s download URL
  4. Downloads the file content
  5. Writes the file to your local filesystem
Single files are downloaded directly to your current directory without creating a parent folder.

​
File URL Format

The URL should follow GitHub’s standard file path format: 
https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}/tree/{branch}/{path/to/file}

​
Examples

Download a Rust source file: 
cloneit https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/src/main.rs
Download a configuration file: 
cloneit https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/Cargo.toml
Download from a specific branch: 
cloneit https://github.com/username/repo/tree/develop/config.json

​
Custom Output Location

You can specify a custom path where the file should be saved: 
cloneit https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/src/main.rs custom-path
This creates the custom-path directory if it doesn’t exist and saves the file there.
Use a custom path when organizing files from different repositories or when you need to maintain a specific directory structure.

​
Download and Zip

Even single files can be zipped using the -z flag: 
cloneit -z https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/src/main.rs
This downloads the file and creates a zip archive containing it.

​
Multiple Files

To download multiple individual files, you can use comma-separated URLs: 
cloneit https://github.com/fpic/linpeace.py,https://github.com/s0xf/r2gihdra.c
See the Multiple URLs guide for more details.

​
Error Handling

Common errors when downloading files:

​
File Not Found

Error parsing api object, check the provided url
This occurs when:
  • The file path is incorrect
  • The file doesn’t exist on the specified branch
  • The repository is private and you lack authentication

​
Rate Limiting

If you exceed GitHub’s API rate limit: 
message: "API rate limit exceeded"
Set the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable to increase your rate limit from 60 to 5,000 requests per hour.

​
Authentication for Private Files

To download files from private repositories: 
export GITHUB_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token
cloneit https://github.com/username/private-repo/tree/main/secret-config.yml

​
Quiet Mode

Silence informational output when downloading files: 
cloneit -q https://github.com/alok8bb/cloneit/tree/master/src/main.rs
This only displays warnings and errors, useful for scripting.

​
Technical Details

Under the hood, cloneit:
  1. Calls the GitHub Contents API with the file path
  2. Receives an ApiObject response containing the download_url
  3. Makes an authenticated request to the download URL
  4. Streams the file content to disk using async I/O
  5. Logs the file creation with a + prefix

​
Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us