How to get a list of git submodules of repository before `git clone`?

Question

I'm trying to get a submodule list of a repo before preforming clone.

And then to choose which submodule repo to clone.

Is there any way to do it?

Answer 1

If you want to review the list of submodules of the first level without cloning the superproject download file .gitmodules from the superproject. You can use git archive :

git archive --format=tar --remote=$ORIGIN_URL HEAD -- .gitmodules | tar -O -xf -

As submodules could be recursive you have to repeat this for every submodule found in the downloaded .gitmodules .

After that you can clone any submodule's repository manually.

You may also want to review the list of submodules after cloning the superproject. First, clone without submodules:

git clone $ORIGIN_URL # Don't use `--recursive`
cd <repo_dir>
git submodule init
cat .gitmodules
git submodule update submodule1 submodule2…