Fix Missing Git Branches - Bench get-app Cloned Only One Branch

🚨 Help! I Cloned a Repository but I Can Only See One Branch

You open a repository on GitHub.

You clearly see:

• 20+ branches
• Active pull requests
• Developers working on develop, feature-x, ui-fix, etc.

You clone it locally.

Then you run:

git branch -a

And you see…

* version-16
  remotes/upstream/HEAD -> upstream/version-16
  remotes/upstream/version-16

That’s it.

No develop. No feature branches. Nothing.

It feels like Git deleted everything.

It didn’t.

Let’s understand what actually happened.

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🧠 First: What’s Supposed to Happen When You Clone?

When you clone a repository, Git normally:

1. Downloads all commit history
2. Downloads all branch references
3. Lets you switch between them

But some tools (like bench get-app in the Frappe ecosystem) optimize cloning to make it faster.

They tell Git:

“Download only the default branch. Ignore the rest.”

This is called a single-branch clone.

So Git is not broken. It’s just doing exactly what it was told.

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🔍 Step 1: Confirm the Problem (Don’t Fix Blindly)

Before running any fix, let’s verify.

Run this:

git config --get remote.upstream.fetch

(If your remote is named origin, replace upstream with origin.)

If you see this:

+refs/heads/version-16:refs/remotes/upstream/version-16

That means:

“Only fetch version-16 branch.”

This confirms you are in single-branch mode.

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If you see this instead:

+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/upstream/*

Then your config is correct, and the issue is something else.

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🧠 What Is That Weird String?

Let’s break this down in human language.

+refs/heads/version-16:refs/remotes/upstream/version-16

It means:

Part	Meaning
refs/heads/version-16	Only download this branch from GitHub
:	Map from server to local
refs/remotes/upstream/version-16	Store it locally under upstream/version-16

There is no wildcard (*). So Git ignores all other branches.

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🛠 Step 2: Fix It Properly

Now that we understand the problem, let’s fix it.

We need to tell Git:

“Stop being specific. Fetch ALL branches.”

Run:

git config remote.upstream.fetch "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/upstream/*"

What changed?

We replaced:

version-16

With:

*

That star means:

“Everything.”

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📥 Step 3: Actually Download the Branches

Updating config doesn’t download anything yet.

Now run:

git fetch --all

Now Git will download all remote branches.

You should see output like:

* [new branch] develop -> upstream/develop
* [new branch] feature-login -> upstream/feature-login
* [new branch] ui-fix -> upstream/ui-fix

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🎉 Step 4: Confirm It Worked

Run:

git branch -a

Now you’ll see:

remotes/upstream/develop
remotes/upstream/feature-login
remotes/upstream/ui-fix

You can now create a local branch:

git checkout -b develop upstream/develop

And you’re good to go.

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⚠ Why This Happens (Especially in Frappe Projects)

Tools like:

• bench get-app
• Some CI pipelines
• Some Docker setups

Use optimized cloning like:

git clone --single-branch

This makes cloning faster and lighter — especially for large repos.

But when you need another branch, you suddenly hit this wall.

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🧩 Important: This Is NOT the Same as a Shallow Clone

You might have seen another issue where Git downloads only limited commit history.

That’s called a shallow clone (--depth 1).

That is a different problem.

This article fixes missing branches. Shallow clone fixes missing history.

Two different layers of Git.

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🧘 Mental Model (So You Don’t Panic Next Time)

Think of a Git repository like this:

• 📚 Commit history = The story
• 🌳 Branches = The bookmarks

A shallow clone hides part of the story.

A single-branch clone hides the other bookmarks.

Now you know how to restore the bookmarks.

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🏁 Final Summary (Beginner-Friendly Version)

If git branch -a shows only one branch:

1. Check fetch config:

   git config --get remote.upstream.fetch
   

2. If it targets a single branch, update it:

   git config remote.upstream.fetch "+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/upstream/*"
   

3. Fetch:

   git fetch --all
   

Done.