Cloning and local clones

Clone a repositoryCopy Anchor Link

Press enter on a repository and choose Clone. A repository you have not cloned starts with Clone and Clone & open. One you already cloned starts with Open in editor and Pull, as in this screenshot:

The clone directoryCopy Anchor Link

By default git clones into the current directory. Set a clone root and every new clone lands in ROOT/REPO instead.

export GH_SELECT_CLONE_DIR=~/dev
gh select -d ~/code      # one run, wins over the variable

A leading ~ is expanded even inside a quoted variable. The root is created when it does not exist. gh-select refuses to clone onto a folder that already exists, and prints PATH already exists.

Clone actionsCopy Anchor Link

Git's progress prints to the terminal after the screen closes. In --print-path mode it goes to stderr so stdout stays clean.

Repositories you already clonedCopy Anchor Link

gh-select scans for working copies and tags matching repositories local. The details block shows the path, and is:local filters the list to them. See how it works for what the scan reads and skips.

A cloned repository's action menu changes. Instead of a clone that would fail or duplicate it, it leads with:

Where to searchCopy Anchor Link

The scan covers more than the clone root. In order of preference:

1. Each directory in GH_SELECT_SCAN_DIRS, five levels deep.
2. The clone directory, two levels deep.
3. The current directory, two levels deep.
4. Your home directory, five levels deep.

export GH_SELECT_SCAN_DIRS=~/work:~/oss

The list is separated like PATH, with : on Unix and ; on Windows. Setting it never hides clones the built-in roots would have found.

Your editorCopy Anchor Link

Open in editor and Clone & open use the first of these that is set:

1. $VISUAL
2. $EDITOR, which may include flags, as in code -w
3. The first of cursor, code, zed, nvim, vim and nano found on PATH

The editor inherits your terminal, so terminal editors work, and gh-select returns when you quit them. With none available, the action fails with no editor found, set $EDITOR.

Copy and openCopy Anchor Link

Without a clipboard tool, the value is printed with (clipboard not available) instead. Install wl-clipboard, xclip or xsel on Linux.