How do I clone a sub directory from a github repository? This script clones only a specific folder from a git(hub) repository, without history, then deletes the repository and inits a new one. This is particularly useful for cloning templates.

clone-git-folder.zsh

# add this line to you .zshrc to make the command globally available:
# source ~/.shell-functions/clone-git-folder.zsh
# you'll need to open a new shell or run source ~/.zshrc to reload your shell config
#
# usage example: the template for deploying payloadcms on cloudflare
# running `clone-git-folder https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/templates/with-cloudflare-d1`
# will create a new folder called "with-cloudflare-d1"
# running `clone-git-folder https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/templates/with-cloudflare-d1 payloadcms-on-cloudflare`
# will create a new folder called "payloadcms-on-cloudflare"
clone-git-folder() {
  # Usage:
  #   clone-git-folder <github_folder_url> [<new_folder_name>]
  #   clone-git-folder <repo_url> <path/in/repo> [<new_folder_name>]

  if [[ $# -lt 1 ]]; then
    echo "Usage:"
    echo "  clone-git-folder <github_folder_url> [<new_folder_name>]"
    echo "  clone-git-folder <repo_url> <path/in/repo> [<new_folder_name>]"
    return 1
  fi

  local REPO_URL FOLDER_PATH DEST
  if [[ "$1" =~ "github.com/([^/]+)/([^/]+)/tree/([^/]+)/(.*)" ]]; then
    # GitHub URL mode (zsh regex -> $match)
    local OWNER="${match[1]}"
    local REPO="${match[2]}"
    local BRANCH="${match[3]}"  # not used, but parsed for correctness
    FOLDER_PATH="${match[4]}"
    REPO_URL="https://github.com/${OWNER}/${REPO}.git"
    DEST="${2:-$(basename "$FOLDER_PATH")}"
  elif [[ $# -ge 2 ]]; then
    # Manual mode
    REPO_URL="$1"
    FOLDER_PATH="$2"
    DEST="${3:-$(basename "$FOLDER_PATH")}"
  else
    echo "❌ Missing folder path argument."
    echo "Usage: clone-git-folder <repo_url> <path/in/repo> [<new_folder_name>]"
    return 1
  fi

  local CWD TMP_DIR
  CWD="$(pwd)"
  TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"

  echo "📦 Cloning '$FOLDER_PATH' from $REPO_URL ..."
  git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse "$REPO_URL" "$TMP_DIR" >/dev/null 2>&1 || {
    echo "❌ git clone failed"
    rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
    return 1
  }

  # Limit checkout to the target folder (run inside tmp, but don't change caller's dir)
  ( cd "$TMP_DIR" && git sparse-checkout set "$FOLDER_PATH" >/dev/null 2>&1 ) || {
    echo "❌ Folder '$FOLDER_PATH' not found in repo"
    rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"
    return 1
  }

  # Copy into destination under the ORIGINAL directory; include dotfiles
  mkdir -p "$CWD/$DEST"
  ( cd "$TMP_DIR/$FOLDER_PATH" && tar -cf - . ) | ( cd "$CWD/$DEST" && tar -xf - )

  # Clean up tmp
  rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"

  # Nuke any git metadata that might have been copied and init fresh repo
  rm -rf "$CWD/$DEST/.git"
  git -C "$CWD/$DEST" init -q

  echo "✅ Folder '$FOLDER_PATH' cloned into '$DEST' (fresh git repo) — staying in $(pwd)"
}