Download specific folder from GitHub

I. Introduction

When working with GitHub repositories, you may sometimes need to download specific folders without cloning the entire repository. This can be useful when you only need a subset of files or directories from a repository. There are several ways to achieve this, including using the GitHub web interface, the svn command, the GitHub API, third-party tools, GitHub CLI, and Git archive.

II. Methods

1. Downloading from the GitHub Web Interface

• Navigate to the repository on GitHub.
• Browse to the folder you want to download.
• Click on the folder to open it.
• Click the "Download" button or the "Download ZIP" button if available. This method is limited as it often requires repository owners to set up releases or provide download links.

2. Using the svn Command

• You can use Subversion (SVN) to download specific folders. This method does not require cloning the entire repository.

svn export https://github.com/owner/repo/trunk/path/to/folder

• Replace owner, repo, and path/to/folder with the appropriate values.

3. Using GitHub API

• You can use GitHub's API to download specific folders by fetching the contents of the folder as a ZIP file. This requires some scripting. Here is an example using curl and jq:

curl -L https://api.github.com/repos/owner/repo/contents/path/to/folder | jq -r '.[] | select(.type == "file") | .download_url' | xargs -n 1 curl -O

• Replace owner, repo, and path/to/folder with the appropriate values.

4. Using Third-Party Tools

• There are various third-party tools available that can help you download specific folders from GitHub repositories:
  • GitZip: A web-based tool that allows you to download specific folders or files from GitHub.
  • DownGit: Another web-based tool that lets you generate download links for specific folders or files in a GitHub repository.

5. Using GitHub CLI

• Although GitHub CLI does not natively support downloading specific folders, you can use it in combination with other tools or scripts to achieve the same result.

6. Using Git Archive

• Git has an archive command that can be used to create a tarball of the repository, but it does not support partial checkouts or downloading specific folders directly. However, you can use it in a way that helps you achieve similar results by scripting

git archive --remote=https://github.com/owner/repo.git HEAD:path/to/folder | tar -xvf -

• Replace owner, repo, and path/to/folder with the appropriate values.

III. Conclusion

Each method has its own advantages and limitations, so you can choose the one that best fits your needs.