Can I checkout an unfetched remote git branch, with a single command?

Question

A very popular question here on SO is:

How do I check out a remote Git branch?

but the answers there either assume the branch-of-interest is already fetched, or suggest that we git fetch first.

My question: Is it possible to checkout a remote branch which has not yet been fetched, with a single git command?

Note: You may assume as new a version of git as you like, if it matters.

• ElpieKay: Why would you like it as a single git command?
• Romain Valeri: Your "no fetch" constraint seems arbitrary. Why is it a problem? How do you expect your machine to read distant data without said data being transported over network at some point? Are you searching for alternatives to git protocol?
• Romain Valeri: Your explanation about it being a single step "in english" is technically irrelevant. Compare with someone asking "Please write function X to add two variables". There is no information that I need to type characters, so my IDE shouldn't need it either. (Not trying to be the snark knight here, just desperately trying to understand your odd question setting)
• Romain Valeri: Atomic commands are useful, and composite commands are also useful. But ignoring the underlying steps doesn't magically make them unexist. If your local machine needs to display some data, this data has to come accross the network at some point, in some way. If you're asking if there's a composite command to combine fetching and checking out, I don't find that absurd at all, yes it could be useful, but no it doesn't exist as such. Aliases are here to do this sort of small command grouping.
• ElpieKay: @einpoklum So far as I know, there is no shortcut command that combines git fetch + git checkout/switch yet. We can create and checkout a branch without git fetch, but the branch may not point at the right commit. I asked because I want to know your initial motivation to this question. You may think a single command could solve your problem. I want to make it clear and maybe find another solution.

Answer 1

If you don't have the branch fetched at all, you could create an alias. In ~/.gitconfig:

[alias]
 checkout-with-fetch = "!f() { git fetch origin 1ドル >/dev/null && git checkout -b 1ドル origin/1ドル }; f"

This will run a git fetch, but at least you get the illusion that it didn't... however I wouldn't recommend overwriting git commit as this is bound to cause you to unintentionally lose some work later on.

• einpoklum: So, that's not really a single git command, and will obviously not work on systems other than my own, but - it's a decent hack I suppose.
• Guildenstern: @einpoklum I don’t understand why it needs to be a single existing Git command. Commands are made to be composed.
• einpoklum: @Guildenstern: 1. Because other "single" commands are already "composite", like creating a new branch + checking it out, or even create + set-remote + checkout. 2. Because it sounds like a single command in English. 3. Because composition complicates things, requiring either more typing or setting state, like the alias you offered.
• Guildenstern: I think the alias is missing at least one semicolon