How do I install the Clone Repos skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jbdamask/clone-repos in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Clone Repos safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Clone Repos?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Clone Repos free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Clone Repos?

jbdamask (@jbdamask) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Clone Repos by jbdamask — Agent Skill

Name: Clone Repos
Author: jbdamask

Clone Repos

Bulk-clone a set of git repositories into a single root directory using the bundled clone-repos.sh script. Use this whenever the user wants to clone several repos at once, pull down all the repos for a project or engineering estate, lay multiple repositories out side-by-side under one folder, or set up a local working tree of many repos (e.g. as the first step before reading, documenting, or doing an architecture review across a codebase). Trigger on phrases like 'clone these repos', 'clone all the repos', 'bulk clone', 'clone a bunch of repositories into a folder', or when the user hands over a list of git URLs and a destination directory.

jbdamask Updated Sep 21, 2026

File contents

clone-repos

Clone many git repositories into one root directory in a single step, using the bundled assets/clone-repos.sh. Each repo lands as a subdirectory beneath the root.

When to use this

Reach for this whenever the user needs more than one repo cloned into a common location — for example, pulling down every service in a project, or staging a client's repos before an architecture/documentation pass. If the user only wants a single repo cloned, a plain git clone is simpler and you don't need this skill.

What you need from the user

Two things — ask for whatever is missing:

A destination (root) directory — where the repos should land. The script creates it if it doesn't exist.
The repository URLs — either as a list in the conversation, or a path to a file with one URL per line.

If the user mentions a maximum number of repos, note it — the script defaults to cloning at most 5 and that cap is raised with -n.

How to run it

The script lives at assets/clone-repos.sh relative to this skill's directory. Resolve that absolute path, ensure it's executable, then invoke it with the Bash tool. The general form:

<skill-dir>/assets/clone-repos.sh [-n NUM] [-f FILE] ROOT_DIR [REPO_URL ...]

Option / arg	Meaning
`ROOT_DIR`	Required. Root directory the repos are cloned beneath (created if missing).
`REPO_URL …`	Zero or more git URLs to clone.
`-f FILE`	Read repo URLs from a file, one per line (`#` comments and blanks ignored).
`-n NUM`	Clone at most `NUM` repos. Default 5. Also settable via `CLONE_REPO_LIMIT`.
`-h`	Print help.

URLs passed on the command line and via -f FILE are combined; the -n limit applies to the total.

Important: the default cap is 5. If the user supplies more than 5 URLs (or asks for "all of them"), pass -n with a number at least as large as the count — otherwise the extras are silently left uncloned (the script reports how many it skipped). When in doubt, set -n to the number of URLs you were given.

Examples

A few URLs given inline, into a fresh folder:

/path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh -n 3 ~/clients/acme \
  https://github.com/acme/api.git \
  https://github.com/acme/web.git \
  https://github.com/acme/common.git

A list the user keeps in a file:

/path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh -n 20 ~/clients/acme -f ~/acme-repos.txt

Override the cap with the environment variable instead of -n:

CLONE_REPO_LIMIT=50 /path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh ~/clients/acme -f repos.txt

After running

The script is safe to re-run — it skips any repo already cloned (detected by a .git directory at the destination) and prints a final cloned / skipped / failed summary. Relay that summary to the user, and if any clone failed (non-zero exit), surface which URL failed rather than reporting success. Common causes: a private repo the user isn't authenticated for, or a typo'd URL.

---name: clone-reposdescription: Bulk-clone a set of git repositories into a single root directory using the bundled clone-repos.sh script. Use this whenever the user wants to clone several repos at once, pull down all the repos for a project or engineering estate, lay multiple repositories out side-by-side under one folder, or set up a local working tree of many repos (e.g. as the first step before reading, documenting, or doing an architecture review across a codebase). Trigger on phrases like 'clone these repos', 'clone all the repos', 'bulk clone', 'clone a bunch of repositories into a folder', or when the user hands over a list of git URLs and a destination directory.---# clone-reposClone many git repositories into one root directory in a single step, using thebundled `assets/clone-repos.sh`. Each repo lands as a subdirectory beneath the root.## When to use thisReach for this whenever the user needs more than one repo cloned into a commonlocation — for example, pulling down every service in a project, or staging aclient's repos before an architecture/documentation pass. If the user only wants asingle repo cloned, a plain `git clone` is simpler and you don't need this skill.## What you need from the userTwo things — ask for whatever is missing:1. **A destination (root) directory** — where the repos should land. The script creates it if it doesn't exist.2. **The repository URLs** — either as a list in the conversation, or a path to a file with one URL per line.If the user mentions a maximum number of repos, note it — the script defaults tocloning at most **5** and that cap is raised with `-n`.## How to run itThe script lives at `assets/clone-repos.sh` relative to this skill's directory.Resolve that absolute path, ensure it's executable, then invoke it with the Bashtool. The general form:```<skill-dir>/assets/clone-repos.sh [-n NUM] [-f FILE] ROOT_DIR [REPO_URL ...]```| Option / arg | Meaning ||--------------|---------|| `ROOT_DIR` | Required. Root directory the repos are cloned beneath (created if missing). || `REPO_URL …` | Zero or more git URLs to clone. || `-f FILE` | Read repo URLs from a file, one per line (`#` comments and blanks ignored). || `-n NUM` | Clone at most `NUM` repos. **Default 5.** Also settable via `CLONE_REPO_LIMIT`. || `-h` | Print help. |URLs passed on the command line and via `-f FILE` are combined; the `-n` limitapplies to the total.**Important:** the default cap is 5. If the user supplies more than 5 URLs (or asksfor "all of them"), pass `-n` with a number at least as large as the count —otherwise the extras are silently left uncloned (the script reports how many itskipped). When in doubt, set `-n` to the number of URLs you were given.## Examples**A few URLs given inline, into a fresh folder:**```bash/path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh -n 3 ~/clients/acme \ https://github.com/acme/api.git \ https://github.com/acme/web.git \ https://github.com/acme/common.git```**A list the user keeps in a file:**```bash/path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh -n 20 ~/clients/acme -f ~/acme-repos.txt```**Override the cap with the environment variable instead of `-n`:**```bashCLONE_REPO_LIMIT=50 /path/to/skill/assets/clone-repos.sh ~/clients/acme -f repos.txt```## After runningThe script is safe to re-run — it skips any repo already cloned (detected by a`.git` directory at the destination) and prints a final `cloned / skipped / failed`summary. Relay that summary to the user, and if any clone **failed** (non-zero exit),surface which URL failed rather than reporting success. Common causes: a private repothe user isn't authenticated for, or a typo'd URL.

Frequently asked questions