Use this skill when the user points you to a remote git repository (GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket URLs, git@..., or owner/repo shorthand).

The goal is to keep a reusable local checkout that is:

• stable (predictable path)
• up to date (periodic fetch + fast-forward when safe)
• efficient (partial clone with --filter=blob:none, no repeated full clones)

Cache location

Repositories are stored at:

~/.cache/checkouts/<host>/<org>/<repo>

Example:

github.com/mitsuhiko/minijinja → ~/.cache/checkouts/github.com/mitsuhiko/minijinja

Command

bash checkout.sh <repo> --path-only

Examples:

bash checkout.sh mitsuhiko/minijinja --path-only
bash checkout.sh github.com/mitsuhiko/minijinja --path-only
bash checkout.sh https://github.com/mitsuhiko/minijinja --path-only

The script will:

1. Parse the repo reference into host/org/repo.
2. Clone if missing.
3. Reuse existing checkout if present.
4. Fetch from origin when stale (default interval: 300s).
5. Attempt a fast-forward merge if the checkout is clean and has an upstream.

Update strategy

• Default behavior is throttled refresh (every 5 minutes) to avoid unnecessary network calls.
• Force immediate refresh with:

bash checkout.sh <repo> --force-update --path-only

Recommended workflow

1. Resolve repository path via checkout.sh --path-only.
2. Use that path for searching, reading, and analysis.
3. On later references to the same repo, call checkout.sh again; it will find and update the cached checkout.

If edits are needed

Prefer not to edit directly in the shared cache. Create a separate worktree or copy from the cached checkout for task-specific modifications.

Notes

• owner/repo defaults to github.com.