What is the difference between pull and clone in git?

Question

What is the difference between doing (after mkdir repo and cd repo):

git init
git remote add origin git://github.com/cmcculloh/repo.git
git fetch --all
git pull origin master

and

git clone git://github.com/cmcculloh/repo.git

I mean, obviously one is shorter, but other than that are they basically doing the same thing?

`git pull` is the most useless Git command. And everybody uses it, without understanding what it does and why many times it is wrong to use it. — axiac, Jun 06 '21 at 11:09
not true that `git pull` is useless.. just read the top answer.. it pulls in changes made by other users. it is the only way to start the merging of existing local changes with the remote ones. IMO you might as well start using pull over clone if you ever want to work collaboratively. — alchemy, Apr 12 '22 at 19:11

score 302 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 02 '10 at 01:09

302

git clone is how you get a local copy of an existing repository to work on. It's usually only used once for a given repository, unless you want to have multiple working copies of it around. (Or want to get a clean copy after messing up your local one...)

git pull (or git fetch + git merge) is how you update that local copy with new commits from the remote repository. If you are collaborating with others, it is a command that you will run frequently.

As your first example shows, it is possible to emulate git clone with an assortment of other git commands, but it's not really the case that git pull is doing "basically the same thing" as git clone (or vice-versa).

answered Sep 02 '10 at 01:09

ebneter

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What specifically is it that git clone is doing that isn't accomplished by the sequence of commands that involved "git pull"? – cmcculloh Sep 02 '10 at 02:38
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@cmcculloh: Nothing -- the sequence you describe effectively accomplishes what "git clone" does. The point is that "git pull" is used to do a variety of things beyond what you did there -- not to mention that "git pull" is actually exactly the combination of "git fetch; git merge ". IOW, you could live without clone *and* pull if you really wanted to. Further, you can pull from repositories other than the one you cloned from. I like to think of 'clone' as "make me a local copy of that repo" and 'pull' as "get me the updates from some specified remote." – ebneter Sep 02 '10 at 05:32
git clone requires a git init on the repo level and creates an additional layer of repo folder in the local repo. Personally I don't see the need for a .git file in the repo level and also an additional layer of repo folder. IMO, git pull is a more elegant method to create a new local repo. git init inside the project folder and no additional repo folder will be created. This is based on my limited tech exp. I might be wrong. – OLe3446 Jun 03 '22 at 03:37

score 146 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 17 '13 at 08:28

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In laymen language we can say:

Clone: Get a working copy of the remote repository.
Pull: I am working on this, please get me the new changes that may be updated by others.

answered Jul 17 '13 at 08:28

Jyoti Prakash

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I _think_ your __Pull__ definition can also be said for __Clone__ – henrywright Aug 23 '15 at 20:22
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How can you work on something that you haven't clone? – Jyoti Prakash Aug 24 '15 at 04:29
I don't understand what you mean? – henrywright Aug 24 '15 at 11:43
@henrywright hope, ebneter's answer will address your question – Mrk Mar 09 '16 at 06:34
will 'clone' overwrite my local copy? – F. Kam Aug 04 '20 at 04:17
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@F.Kam 'clone' is used only first time to get a fresh copy of the repository – Jyoti Prakash Aug 05 '20 at 05:03

user229044 · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-01T17:51:24.447

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They're basically the same, except clone will setup additional remote tracking branches, not just master. Check out the man page:

Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository (visible using git branch -r), and creates and checks out an initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's currently active branch.

edited Sep 01 '10 at 17:51

answered Sep 01 '10 at 17:38

user229044

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git fetch --all sets up additional remote tracking branches, so basically they are the same. – cmcculloh Sep 01 '10 at 18:02
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You can use `--single-branch` with `clone`. – dain Nov 09 '20 at 10:34

score 75 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 13 '18 at 09:11

git clone means you are making a copy of the repository in your system.

git fork means you are copying the repository to your Github account.

git pull means you are fetching the last modified repository.

git push means you are returning the repository after modifying it.

In layman's term:

git clone is downloading and git pull is refreshing.

Blue Clouds · Answer 5 · 2022-02-08T10:34:14.290

Miss Clone: I get a fresh copy to local.

Mr Pull: I already have it locally, I just update it.

Miss Clone: I can do what you do! You are just my subset.

Mr Pull: Ditto!

Miss Clone: No, you don't create. This is what I do:

Create empty bare repository in local computer.
Populate remote-tracking branches (all branches in repo downloaded to local computer)
Run git fetch without arguments

You only do #3, and then you merge(fetch + merge), which I do not need to do. Mine is fresh... girl!

Mr Pull: Smarty pants, no big deal, I will do a "git init" first! Then we are the same.

Miss Clone: No dear, don't you need a 'checked-out branch'... the git checkout? Who will do it? me!

Mr Pull: Oh right.. I need a checked-out local branch to act on. But wait.. you checkout master branch by default. Does anyone work on master branch? No! You are delivering a feature that is perhaps never used! I let the user decide the best branch to checkout and that is how I roll!

Git creators: Hold your horses Mr Pull, if --bare or --mirror is used with clone or init, your merge won't happen. It remains read-only. And for you Miss Clone, git checkout can be replaced with a git fetch <remote> <srcBranch>:<destBranch> unless you want to use a -s <strategy> with pull which is missing in fetch.

Miss Clone: Somehow I feel like a winner already but let me drop this too: my command applies to all the branches in the repository. Are you that broad minded Mr. Pull?

Mr. Pull: I am broad minded when it comes to fetching all the branch names(just the 'name') from the repo. Because I don't like to fetch unnecessary branches. But the merge will happen only on the current checked out branch. Exclusivity is the name! And in your case too, you only check-out one branch.

Git Creators: Just one addition: Miss Clone can be restricted to just one branch if needed: git clone --single-branch --branch <branch name> <url>

Enjoyed the conversational style! – shariqkhan Mar 25 '21 at 18:05 — shariqkhan, Mar 25 '21 at 18:05

score 12 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 13 '18 at 10:23

12

clone: copying the remote server repository to your local machine.

pull: get new changes other have added to your local machine.

This is the difference.

Clone is generally used to get remote repo copy.

Pull is used to view other team mates added code, if you are working in teams.

edited Jun 13 '18 at 10:23

Eje

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answered Feb 19 '18 at 04:31

Suman Astani

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score 5 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 09 '19 at 14:09

git clone is used for just downloading exactly what is currently working on the remote server repository and saving it in your machine's folder where that project is placed. Mostly it is used only when we are going to upload the project for the first time. After that pull is the better option.

git pull is basically a (clone(download) + merge) operation and mostly used when you are working as teamwork. In other words, when you want the recent changes in that project, you can pull.

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 14 '15 at 20:57

Hmm, what's missing to see the remote branch "4.2" when I pull, as I do when I clone? Something's clearly not identical.

tmp$  mkdir some_repo

tmp$  cd some_repo

some_repo$  git init
Initialized empty Git repository in /tmp/some_repo/.git/

some_repo$  git pull https://github.ourplace.net/babelfish/some_repo.git
  :
From https://github.ourplace.net/babelfish/some_repo
 * branch            HEAD       -> FETCH_HEAD

some_repo$  git branch
* master

vs

tmp$  rm -rf some_repo

tmp$  git clone https://github.ourplace.net/babelfish/some_repo.git
Cloning into 'some_repo'...
  :
Checking connectivity... done.

tmp$  cd some_repo

some_repo$  git branch
* 4.2

I notiiced this too, and I'm suspecting that changes in git defaults over time are the issue. I have 1.9.5.msysgit on windows and 2.3.2-applegit-55 on a mac. — AnneTheAgile, Sep 08 '15 at 20:04

score 2 · Answer 9 · edited Jun 13 '18 at 09:12

2

While the git fetch command will fetch down all the changes on the server that you don’t have yet, it will not modify your working directory at all. It will simply get the data for you and let you merge it yourself. However, there is a command called git pull which is essentially a git fetch immediately followed by a git merge in most cases.

Read more: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Branching-Remote-Branches#Pulling

edited Jun 13 '18 at 09:12

Eje

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answered Oct 01 '16 at 10:49

simopr

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While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. – ekad Oct 01 '16 at 11:06

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered May 14 '19 at 09:56

2

git clone URL ---> Complete project or repository will be downloaded as a seperate directory. and not just the changes git pull URL ---> fetch + merge --> It will only fetch the changes that have been done and not the entire project

answered May 14 '19 at 09:56

Md Abrar

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score 2 · Answer 11 · answered May 23 '20 at 22:58

Clone-: It will create exactly duplicate copy of your remote repository project in your local machine.

Pull-: Suppose two or more than two people are sharing the same repository. (Suppose another person name is Syam) (A Repository is a place where your project exist in Github) So if Syam does some changes in the same project in his local and pushes it to the remote repository So whatever the changes Syam did those changes will not reflect in your local. So to reflect those new changes in your local you have to use git pull. Overall we use git pull to update the project.

So basically we use git clone only once whereas we use git pull many times.

Linh · Answer 12 · 2021-01-15T09:21:50.837

git clone <remote-url> <=>

create a new directory
git init // init new repository
git remote add origin <remote-url> // add remote
git fetch // fetch all remote branchs
git switch <default_branch> // switch to the default branch

git pull <=>

fetch ALL remote branches
merge CURRENT local branch with tracking remote branch (not another branch) (if local branch existed)

git pull <remote> <branch> <=>

fetch the remote branch
merge CURRENT local branch with the remote branch (if local branch existed)

What is the difference between pull and clone in git?

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