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Repository Management

Commands for creating, cloning, and managing Atomic repositories.

Commands​

CommandDescription
initInitialize a new Atomic repository
cloneClone an existing repository from a remote
restoreRestore working copy to the last recorded state
splitCreate a new view from an existing one

Creating a Repository​

From scratch​

# Initialize in the current directory
atomic init

# Initialize with a custom view name
atomic init --view main

# Initialize with project-specific ignore patterns
atomic init --kind rust

This creates the .atomic/ directory structure:

.atomic/
├── pristine/          # Graph database (redb)
├── changes/           # Content-addressed change files
├── config.toml        # Repository configuration
├── current_view       # Active view name
└── working_copy_id    # Working copy state

From a remote​

# Clone a repository
atomic clone https://api.atomic.dev/acme/platform/core/code

# Clone into a specific directory
atomic clone https://api.atomic.dev/acme/platform/core/code myproject

Restoring the Working Copy​

The restore command discards uncommitted changes and restores the working copy to the last recorded state (the legacy name reset still works as an alias):

# Discard all uncommitted changes
atomic restore --force

# Restore specific files
atomic restore src/main.rs

# Preview what would be restored
atomic restore --dry-run

Splitting Views​

The split command creates a new view by forking from an existing one. All changes from the source view are inherited by the new view:

# Split from current view
atomic split experimental

# Split and switch to the new view
atomic split feature-auth --switch

This is equivalent to atomic view create <NAME> --from <SOURCE>.

See Also​