How to detach a subdirectory to a new git repository with full history

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How to detach a subdirectory to a new git repository with full history

2025-06-06

Tutorials

Tutorial

/

Git

/

Bash

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Instructions#

cd to the top-level directory of the project or open bash here
Terminal window
```
1
cd <path/to/main-repo-folder>
```

[Main Repo] Split the target folder into a temporary branch

1
git subtree split -P <path/to/target-folder> -b <name-of-temp-branch>

[Main Repo] Recursively remove the target folder
Terminal window
```
1
git rm -rf <path/to/target-folder>
```
[Main Repo] Create a new repository folder (Use the previously deleted folder path if setting it up as a submodule)
Terminal window
```
1
mkdir -pv <path/to/new-repo-folder>
```
[Main Repo] Navigate to the new repository folder
Terminal window
```
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cd <path/to/new-repo-folder>
```
[New Repo] Initialize the repository
Terminal window
```
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git init
```

[New Repo] Pull the temporary branch

1
git pull <path/to/main-repo-folder> <name-of-temp-branch>

[New Repo] (Optional) Check if any commit msg needs to be reworded
Terminal window
```
1
git rebase -i --root
```
[New Repo] Add the remote origin
Terminal window
```
1
git remote add origin <url-of-new-repo>
```
[New Repo] Push local changes to the remote repository
Terminal window
```
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git push -u origin master
```
[New Repo] Navigate back to the main repository folder
Terminal window
```
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cd <path/to/main-repo-folder>
```
[Main Repo] Delete the temporary branch
Terminal window
```
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git branch -D <name-of-temp-branch>
```
[Main Repo] (Optional) Add the independent repository as a submodule
Terminal window
```
1
git submodule add <url-of-new-repo> <path/to/new-repo-folder>
```

Branch#

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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ git subtree split -P server -b temp
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Created branch 'temp'
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4b36120869a031f38120ac71b0264f5545886471
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ git rm -rf server
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Migrating git directory of 'server/AudioProcessor' from
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server/AudioProcessor/.git' to
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/.git/modules/AudioProcessor'
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Migrating git directory of 'server/GPT_SoVITS' from
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server/GPT_SoVITS/.git' to
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/.git/modules/GPT-SoVITS'
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Migrating git directory of 'server/VPR' from
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server/VPR/.git' to
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/.git/modules/VPR'
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Migrating git directory of 'server/Whisper' from
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server/Whisper/.git' to
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'D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/.git/modules/Whisper'
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rm 'server/AudioProcessor'
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rm 'server/GPT_SoVITS'
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rm 'server/VPR'
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rm 'server/Whisper'
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rm 'server/main.py'
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rm 'server/routers.py'
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rm 'server/tools.py'
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rm 'server/utils/__init__.py'
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rm 'server/utils/logger.py'
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ mkdir -pv server
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ cd server
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server (dev)
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$ git init
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Initialized empty Git repository in D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server/.git/
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server (master)
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$ git pull "D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit" temp
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remote: Enumerating objects: 32, done.
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remote: Counting objects: 100% (32/32), done.
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remote: Compressing objects: 100% (18/18), done.
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remote: Total 32 (delta 17), reused 15 (delta 13), pack-reused 0 (from 0)
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Unpacking objects: 100% (32/32), 7.12 KiB | 117.00 KiB/s, done.
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From D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit
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 * branch            temp       -> FETCH_HEAD
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server (master)
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$ git remote add origin https://github.com/Spr-Aachen/EasyVoiceToolkit-Backend.git
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server (master)
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$ git push -u origin master
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Enumerating objects: 32, done.
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Counting objects: 100% (32/32), done.
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Delta compression using up to 16 threads
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Compressing objects: 100% (31/31), done.
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Writing objects: 100% (32/32), 6.73 KiB | 1.35 MiB/s, done.
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Total 32 (delta 17), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 (from 0)
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remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (17/17), done.
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To https://github.com/Spr-Aachen/EasyVoiceToolkit-Backend.git
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 * [new branch]      master -> master
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branch 'master' set up to track 'origin/master'.
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit/server (master)
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$ cd "D:/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit"
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ git branch -D temp
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Deleted branch temp (was 4b36120).
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Spr_Aachen@DESKTOP-UEUQRBG MINGW64 /d/Projekt/Python Projects/Easy-Voice-Toolkit (dev)
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$ git submodule add https://github.com/Spr-Aachen/EasyVoiceToolkit-Backend.git server
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Adding existing repo at 'server' to the index
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warning: in the working copy of '.gitmodules', LF will be replaced by CRLF the next time Git touches it