git-clone

git-clone

Clone a GitHub repository locally and configure two remotes against an existing fork:

• upstream → the original repository. The local default branch tracks upstream/<default>.
• fork → the user's (or a specified org's) pre-existing fork.

Unlike agitentic:git-fork, this skill does not create the fork on GitHub and does not apply repo settings. Use it when the fork already exists and you just need a local clone wired up the same way.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• "Clone my fork of X with upstream and fork remotes."
• "Re-clone X on this machine" (fork already exists from prior work).
• "Set up a local contributor clone of X — my fork is already on GitHub."

Do not use this skill when:

• The fork doesn't exist yet. Use agitentic:git-fork instead — it creates the fork, clones, and applies repo settings.
• The user just wants a plain clone. Use git clone directly.
• The user wants to push an existing local repo up as a new GitHub repo. Use agitentic:git-create or gh repo create --source=..

How to invoke

Run the bundled script:

scripts/git-clone <repo> [account] [directory]

• <repo> (required) — the upstream repository. Accepts owner/name or any GitHub HTTPS / SSH URL (https://github.com/owner/name, [email protected]:owner/name.git, etc.).
• [account] (optional) — the owner of the existing fork. Defaults to the currently authenticated gh user. Pass "" to use the default while still specifying [directory].
• [directory] (optional) — local directory to clone into. Defaults to the repo name.

The script:

1. Verifies the fork <account>/<name> exists on GitHub (via gh repo view). Fails if not found.
2. Clones <repo> into ./<directory> with the original as upstream. The local default branch tracks upstream/<default>.
3. Adds a fork remote pointing at <account>/<name>.

The script refuses to overwrite an existing ./<directory>, and refuses to run if <account> equals the upstream owner (there's no fork to wire up in that case).

Examples

User: "Clone my fork of brevdev/brev-cli"

Run, from the directory where the user wants the clone to land:

scripts/git-clone brevdev/brev-cli

User: "Clone brevdev/brev-cli — my fork lives under the acme org"

scripts/git-clone brevdev/brev-cli acme

User: "Clone brevdev/brev-cli into ~/work/brev (my fork under my user)"

cd ~/work && scripts/git-clone brevdev/brev-cli "" brev

After the script returns, show the user git -C <directory> remote -v so the two-remote layout is visible.

Requirements

• git
• gh (GitHub CLI), authenticated. The skill uses gh api user --jq .login to discover the default account and gh repo view to verify the fork exists.