git lfs Command: Large Files in CI

git lfs (Large File Storage) replaces big files with pointers and fetches their content on demand.

When a repo uses LFS, a plain clone gives you pointer text files instead of real assets. CI must initialize LFS and pull the objects, or the build sees placeholder files.

Common flags

install - set up the LFS hooks and filters for the user or repo
install --local - install hooks only for the current repository
pull - download LFS objects and replace pointers in the working tree
fetch - download LFS objects without updating the working tree
checkout - populate working-tree files from already-fetched objects
env - print LFS configuration for debugging

Example

shell

# Ensure LFS assets are real files, not pointers, in CI
git lfs install --local
git lfs pull

In CI

If a build fails because an image or binary is a tiny text file starting with "version https://git-lfs", LFS was not pulled. Run git lfs install then git lfs pull (or set lfs: true in your checkout action). Caching LFS objects between runs avoids re-downloading large assets.

Key takeaways

Without git lfs pull, CI sees pointer files instead of real large assets.
git lfs install sets up the filters; git lfs pull fetches the content.
A text file starting with "version https://git-lfs" is an unpulled pointer.

Related guides

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