GitHub Cloner

A Python command-line tool that automates the process of cloning all repositories from a GitHub user or organization.

Features

• Complete repository cloning: Clone all repositories from a specified GitHub user or organization
• Smart sync: If a repository is not cloned already, it will be cloned; if it exists, it will be fetched
• Exclusion patterns: Option to exclude specific repositories based on name patterns
• Dry-run mode: List all repositories without actually cloning them
• Flexible destination: Configurable destination path for cloned repositories
• Organization handling: Option to disable root organization/user folder creation
• Enterprise support: Support for GitHub Enterprise instances with custom API URLs
• Robust error handling: Clear error messages and appropriate exit codes

Installation

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

python github-cloner.py [options]

Authentication

Set your GitHub token using one of these methods:

1. Environment variable (recommended):

   export GITHUB_TOKEN=your-api-token
   python github-cloner.py -o myorg

2. Command line argument:

   python github-cloner.py -o myorg -t your-api-token

Command Line Options

Option	Long Option	Description
-o	--organization	GitHub organization to clone from
-u	--user	GitHub user to clone from
-t	--token	GitHub API token (can also use GITHUB_TOKEN env var)
-p	--path	Destination directory (default: current directory)
-d	--dry-run	List repositories without cloning
-e	--exclude	Exclude repositories containing this pattern
	--disable-root	Don't create organization/user folder
	--clone-method	Clone method: https or ssh (default: https)
	--url	GitHub API URL for Enterprise (default: https://api.github.com)
-h	--help	Show help message and exit

Examples

Basic usage:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg

Clone from user:

python github-cloner.py -u username

Clone to specific directory:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg -p /path/to/repos

Dry run to see what would be cloned:

python github-cloner.py -u username --dry-run

Exclude archived repositories:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg --exclude archived

Clone without creating root folder:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg --disable-root

Use SSH for cloning:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg --clone-method ssh

Use GitHub Enterprise:

python github-cloner.py -o myorg --url https://github.company.com/api/v3

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Success
1	Execution error
2	Missing required arguments
10	Destination path error
20	Git executable not found
21	Git clone error
22	Git fetch error
30	GitHub API error
40	Authentication error

Token Permissions

Your GitHub token needs:

• For private repositories: repo scope
• For public repositories only: No special scopes required

Create a token at: https://github.com/settings/tokens

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, please follow the semantic versioning branch naming convention:

• main: Production-ready code
• develop: Integration branch for features
• feat/: New features (feat/user-authentication)
• fix/: Bug fixes (fix/connection-timeout)
• chore/: Maintenance (chore/update-dependencies)