How to fix warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit in Git

GitINTERMEDIATELOW

This warning appears when using git clone --filter=blob:limit with large binary files. It indicates blobs exceeding the specified size limit are being excluded from the partial clone.

What this error means

This warning occurs when you use Git's partial clone feature with a blob size filter (--filter=blob:limit=<size>). Git partial clones allow you to download only a subset of repository objects, which is particularly useful for large repositories with many large binary files. When you specify a blob size limit, Git will exclude any file contents (blobs) that exceed that size from the initial clone. This warning is informational - it's Git confirming that it's successfully filtering out large blobs as requested. The filtered blobs will be downloaded on-demand when you actually need to access those files through operations like checkout, blame, or diff. This is part of Git's partial clone protocol (protocol v2), which requires server-side support from your Git hosting provider. The feature helps developers work with large repositories more efficiently by reducing initial clone times and disk usage.

How to fix "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit"

1Understand this is an informational warning, not an error

This warning confirms Git is working as intended. If you specified a blob filter, this message indicates it's successfully excluding large files. No action is needed unless you encounter actual errors.

Check what filter you applied:

bash

git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter

This will show your active filter, such as "blob:limit=1m" or "blob:none".

2Verify the partial clone configuration

Confirm your repository is set up as a partial clone:

bash

# Check if partial clone is enabled
git config --local --get remote.origin.promisor
# Output: true (if enabled)

# View your filter specification
git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter
# Example output: blob:limit=1048576

You can also check the .git/config file directly:

bash

cat .git/config | grep -A 5 'remote "origin"'

3Fetch specific large files if needed

If you need to work with a filtered-out large file, Git will automatically download it when you access it. To manually fetch specific blobs:

bash

# Checkout a file to trigger blob download
git checkout HEAD path/to/large-file.bin

# Or fetch all missing blobs for current HEAD
git lfs fetch --all  # If using Git LFS

For blob-filtered repositories without LFS:

bash

# Fetch missing objects for current branch
git fetch --filter=blob:none origin

4Convert to a full clone if needed

If you later decide you need all repository objects, you can convert your partial clone to a full clone:

bash

# Remove the partial clone filter
git config --local --unset remote.origin.promisor
git config --local --unset remote.origin.partialclonefilter

# Fetch all missing objects
git fetch --unshallow --filter=blob:none origin
git rev-list --all --objects | cut -d ' ' -f 1 | git cat-file --batch-check | grep blob | cut -d ' ' -f 1 | xargs git cat-file --batch > /dev/null

Or simply clone the repository again without the filter:

bash

git clone <repository-url> full-clone

5Adjust filter size if warnings are unexpected

If you're seeing this warning but didn't intend to filter blobs, check your global Git configuration:

bash

# Check global partial clone settings
git config --global --get-regexp 'clone.filter'
git config --global --get-regexp 'fetch.filter'

# Remove unwanted global filter
git config --global --unset clone.filterSubmodules
git config --global --unset fetch.writeCommitGraph

For new clones without filtering:

bash

git clone <repository-url>  # No filter flags

How to fix warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit in Git

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How to fix "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit"

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