Use git sparse-checkout to work on a subset of files
domain: git-scm.com · 7 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Enable a sparse checkout in cone mode (the default): `git sparse-checkout set <dir1> <dir2>` — only files under those directories plus toplevel files are present.
Show current patterns: `git sparse-checkout list`.
Reapply sparsity to the working tree after merges materialize paths: `git sparse-checkout reapply`.
Return to a full checkout: `git sparse-checkout disable`.
For legacy file-level (non-cone) patterns, pass `--no-cone` and write to the info/sparse-checkout file.
Official docs: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-sparse-checkout
Known gotchas
The command is still marked experimental; its behavior may change in future Git versions.
`git sparse-checkout init` is deprecated — use `set` instead (init behaves like set with no paths) or `set --no-sparse-index` to rewrite a sparse index.
The sparse index is OFF by default; if you enable it, older Git and external tools cannot read it — disable with --no-sparse-index on compatibility problems.
Switching branches does not update files outside the sparse set, and `git commit -a` will not record them as deleted.
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