Git sparse-checkout

To checkout and work only with a subset/subtree of folders from a repo (yes, some people insist in economizing repos)

Initialize sparse-checkout config

git clone URL --no-checkout # add `--depth 1` to only include latest commit from all commit history
cd REPO_ROOT
git sparse-checkout init --cone # `--cone` to include root files
git checkout

Set existing folders to be actually checked out

git sparse-checkout add Apps/OtherApp # to add new folders to the current checkout list. 
git sparse-checkout list # to get the set folders. can be run from any folder in the tree with same results

To create a new app (folder) in the repo and work with it, typical flow would be:

cd ROOT/Apps
mkdir OneMoreApp
git sparse-checkout add Apps/OneMoreApp
git sparse-checkout list # to confirm all the paths included

To operate the repo, just cd into the desired App folder and git commands go as expected.

cd App/OneMoreApp
git add .
git commit -m "-cool descriptive message"
git push origin master

When the repo goes outdated, just cd into one of the folders and pull.

cd App/AnyApp
git pull

The repo will update without downloading any unwanted file. I haven’t tested how branching git branch works with sparse-checkout, though!. So watch out for this.

Get rid of sparse-checkout

cd ROOT # not sure whether it's required, though..
git sparse-checkout disable