Create an orphan branch in a repo.

git_create_orphan.sh

cd repository
git checkout --orphan orphan_name
git rm -rf .
rm '.gitignore'
echo "#Title of Readme" > README.md
git add README.md
git commit -a -m "Initial Commit"
git push origin orphan_name

Note that using git switch --orphan <branch name> automatically removes ALL files from the working tree.

@shadiakiki1986 perhaps you're looking for gist:7df6c8a50c04e5b80d84f28938b3e258

Commenting on KartikSoneji (Jul 15) above: git: 'switch' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

@anfxanfx
git switch was introduced in git 2.23, you might need to update your git client.
https://git-scm.com/docs/git-switch

For those who don't have access to a bleeding-edge version of git, I have a simple work-around: make an empty commit when the repo is new, tag it, and then use that as the base for any orphan branches.

git init
git commit --allow-empty
git tag empty

then git checkout --orphan new_branch empty.

As a bonus, you can now use git rebase -i empty, to amend or remove what would otherwise have been the "initial" commit.

@KartikSoneji the documentation still (as of 2.29.0) says:

THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. THE BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE.

On git 2.23, all I needed was:

git switch --orphan <branch_name>
git commit --allow-empty -m "<commit_msg>"
git push origin <branch_name>

shadiakiki1986

you're looking for "checkedout", not "checkout'ed" 👍

@SeanHorner see gist:7df6c8a5…

(I note that checkout is a git verb, so in this context it's not so unreasonable to conjugate it as checkouts and checkouted - just as long as nobody says those out loud.)

@SeanHorner see gist:7df6c8a5…

(I note that checkout is a git verb, so in this context it's not so unreasonable to conjugate it as checkouts and checkouted - just as long as nobody says those out loud.)

Ah, didn't think about it in that context, was using my linguist brain, not coding brain xD. Very interesting (and thorough) discussion in the linked gist 👍

Note that using git switch --orphan <branch name> automatically removes ALL files from the working tree.

Note that whatever is ignored by .gitignore won't be removed.

Note that using git switch --orphan <branch name> automatically removes ALL files from the working tree.

Note that whatever is ignored by .gitignore won't be removed.

Note that git switch --orphan <branch name> automatically removes ALL tracked files from the working tree (as it should, since we don't want files from other branches — it's an orphan branch). It will not remove

• untracked files
• modified (not yet committed) tracked files (because it refuses to proceed in this scenario)

This is independent of .gitignore. However, there are many other ways to exclude files (e.g. .git/info/exclude, git update-index --skip-worktree etc). If you use any of those, possibly together and along .gitignore, you probably have bigger things to worry about.