@benbalter Currently, the underlying libgit2 code doesn't support making shallow clones nor does it support recursive submodule updates. Using the submodule APIs, it would probably be possible to implement the equivalent of --recursive but I don't think the necessary APIs are currently available in Rugged. I'm pretty sure there is no way to do a shallow clone at all without changes to the libgit2.

Le sad. Thanks for the prompt response.

Shallow fetches/clones are a mess and still a hack. There is currently an attempt at making them better-defined, but the odd repos that result are a mess and still have many limitations even with git-core.

While not as fast to type, you do have a programming language available, which makes automatic recursive submodule initialisation less of an advantage. It's probably enough of a promiment git-core feature that it will have to be implemented at some point.

Thanks for clarifying @carlosmn - you're right (as always). I do have it on my TODO list to add recursive submodule support to libgit2 checkout and clone, but it hasn't been too high up there. Still, probably a good thing to get to and not too hard, I think.

Better shallow-repo support is on my list, but the concepts are tangled up with alternates and grafts, and it could get a little hairy.

FWIW, related libgit2 issue is libgit2/libgit2#3058

libgit2 added shallow support in version 1.7.0 (July 2023)

libgit2 added shallow support in version 1.7.0 (July 2023)

Thanks for updating this ancient issue. Marking as resolved.

libgit2 added shallow support in version 1.7.0 (July 2023)

Thanks for updating this ancient issue. Marking as resolved.

hmm, but I don't see how Rugged allows me to pass a value for depth to fetch?

I don't see how Rugged allows me to pass a value for depth to fetch?

#980 should address this