How do I check out only top level files from git?

Question

I am trying to check out a specific file (.gitignore) committed to my git branch, and no other files.

I am able to use

git checkout origin/master "build/system/.gitignore",

but when I use

git checkout origin/master ".gitignore"

this doesn't work. (I get the error "error: pathspec '.gitignore' did not match any file(s) known to git.)

I have a sparse checkout of git where currently only certain directories are included in my checkout. I would like to include certain files as well.

Is this possible, and if so, how?

Move that file from the repository to my working directory and have it managed by git (but don't do so for other files also in the repository) — Chris Smith, May 02 '19 at 10:28
It is managed by git, but does not appear in my working directory. I would like it to appear in my working directory without getting all other files managed by git. — Chris Smith, May 02 '19 at 14:10

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 02 '19 at 14:09

Apparently git sparse-checkout doesn't work properly with files, but there seems to be a work around:

Add the file under .git/info/sparse-checkout (Add /.gitignore)

Perform a git operation, such as changing branches.

.gitignore will then populate in your local repository.

1 Answers1