Working with Git Submodules

I often struggle when working with Git Submodules, so here’s a quick primer with all the important information you need!

Adding Submodules to your project

git submodule add repo_url [directory]
git commit -m 'added xyz as a dependency'

`git submodule add` works like `git clone`, so the directory name can be ommited. The changes will automatically be added to the index, so you can commit them right away!

Cloning a repository with Submodules

git clone repo_url --recursive

This will first clone the repo, and then initialize and update (read on) all submodules.

If you forget the `--recursive` flag when cloning, or when pulling in commits that add a Submodule, you have to do two steps: initialize, update:

git submodule init
git submodule update

This will create the required directories and then pull in the other repos.

Update Submodules

Easy:

git submodule update --remote
git add submodule_dir
git commit ...

That’s it!

For more in-depth information on Git Submodules, read the official documentation:

(first published on hutter.io)