How to create a tarball of a git repository using "git archive"

git/git-archive.md

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+#  How to create a tarball of a git repository using "git archive"
+
+I figured this out in [a Gist in 2016](https://gist.github.com/simonw/a44af92b4b255981161eacc304417368) which has attracted a bunch of comments over the years. Now I'm upgrading it to a retroactive TIL.
+
+Run this in the repository folder:
+
+    git archive --format=tar.gz -o /tmp/my-repo.tar.gz --prefix=my-repo/ main
+
+This will write out a file to `/tmp/my-repo.tar.gz`.
+
+When you `tar -xzvf my-repo.tar.gz` that file it will output a `my-repo/` directory with just the files - not the `.git` folder - from your repository.
+
+You can use a commit hash or tag or branch name instead of `main` to create an archive of a different point in that repository.
+
+Without the `--prefix` option you'll get a `.tar.gz` file which, when compressed, writes a bunch of stuff to your current directory. This usually isn't what you want!
+
+Here's a version that picks up the name of the directory you run it in:
+
+    git archive --format=tar.gz -o $(basename $PWD).tar.gz --prefix=$(basename $PWD)/ main
+
+Note the trailing `/` on `--prefix` - without this you'll get folders called things like `datasettetests`.
+
+`basename $PWD` gives you the name of your current folder.