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Shoban Chiddarth
Shoban Chiddarth

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at dev.to

How to clone all GitHub repos of multiple users at once?

#python #automation #git #github

Repo Link

This script helps you clone all repositories of a given list of GitHub users (including organizations) at once, instead of cloning them manually one by one.

I built it after running into the need to archive and collect repositories from multiple accounts efficiently. The goal was simple: automate bulk cloning in a clean, repeatable way.

What It Does

  • Accepts multiple GitHub usernames
  • Fetches all accessible repositories via the GitHub API
  • Clones them into a structured local directory
  • Supports shallow clone (--depth 1) or full history
  • Skips repositories that are inaccessible or already cloned

Each user gets their own folder inside the target directory.

Requirements

  • Python 3.12+
  • git installed and available in PATH
  • A GitHub Personal Access Token with read access to repository contents

Setup

  1. Generate a Personal Access Token:

    • Go to GitHub → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens
    • Create a token with repository read access

  2. Copy sample.env to .env

  3. Replace the placeholder token value with your actual token

  4. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
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Usage

Run:

python github-main.py
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You’ll be prompted for:

  • A space-separated list of GitHub usernames
  • A target directory (default: mass_clone_output)
  • Clone depth (None for full history or 1 for latest commit only)

The script validates usernames, fetches repositories, and clones them sequentially with live git clone output shown in the terminal.

Repository

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