diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@octokit/plugin-request-log.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@octokit/plugin-request-log.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@octokit/plugin-rest-endpoint-methods.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@octokit/plugin-rest-endpoint-methods.dep.yml
diff --git a/.../npm/@octokit/request-error-1.2.1.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/@octokit/request-error.dep.yml b/.../npm/@octokit/request-error-1.2.1.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/@octokit/request-error.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@octokit/request.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@octokit/request.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@octokit/rest.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@octokit/rest.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@octokit/types.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@octokit/types.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/@types/node.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/@types/node.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/atob-lite.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/atob-lite.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/before-after-hook.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/before-after-hook.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/btoa-lite.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/btoa-lite.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/cross-spawn.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/cross-spawn.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/end-of-stream.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/end-of-stream.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/get-stream.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/get-stream.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/is-plain-object.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/is-plain-object.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/is-stream.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/is-stream.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/isexe.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/isexe.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/isobject.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/isobject.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/lodash.get.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/lodash.get.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/lodash.set.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/lodash.set.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/lodash.uniq.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/lodash.uniq.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/macos-release.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/macos-release.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/nice-try.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/nice-try.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/node-fetch.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/node-fetch.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/npm-run-path.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/npm-run-path.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/octokit-pagination-methods.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/octokit-pagination-methods.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/os-name.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/os-name.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/p-finally.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/p-finally.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/path-key.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/path-key.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/pump.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/pump.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/qs.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/qs.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/semver-5.7.1.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/semver-5.7.1.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/semver-6.3.0.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/semver.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/semver-6.3.0.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/semver.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/shebang-command.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/shebang-command.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/shebang-regex.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/shebang-regex.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/signal-exit.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/signal-exit.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/strip-eof.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/strip-eof.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/universal-user-agent-5.0.0.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/universal-user-agent-5.0.0.dep.yml
diff --git a/...es/npm/universal-user-agent-4.0.1.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/universal-user-agent.dep.yml b/...es/npm/universal-user-agent-4.0.1.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/universal-user-agent.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/uuid.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/uuid-3.3.3.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/uuid.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/uuid-3.3.3.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/execa.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/uuid-8.3.2.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/execa.dep.yml → .licenses/npm/uuid-8.3.2.dep.yml
diff --git a/.licenses/npm/which.dep.yml b/.licenses/npm/which.dep.yml
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,10 +1,60 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v3.6.0
+- [Fix: Mark test scripts with Bash'isms to be run via Bash](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1377)
+- [Add option to fetch tags even if fetch-depth > 0](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/579)
+
+## v3.5.3
+- [Fix: Checkout fail in self-hosted runners when faulty submodule are checked-in](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1196)
+- [Fix typos found by codespell](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1287)
+- [Add support for sparse checkouts](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1369)
+
+## v3.5.2
+- [Fix api endpoint for GHES](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1289)
+
+## v3.5.1
+- [Fix slow checkout on Windows](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1246)
+
+## v3.5.0
+* [Add new public key for known_hosts](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1237)
+
+## v3.4.0
+- [Upgrade codeql actions to v2](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1209)
+- [Upgrade dependencies](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1210)
+- [Upgrade @actions/io](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1225)
+
+## v3.3.0
+- [Implement branch list using callbacks from exec function](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1045)
+- [Add in explicit reference to private checkout options](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1050)
+- [Fix comment typos (that got added in #770)](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1057)
+
+## v3.2.0
+- [Add GitHub Action to perform release](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/942)
+- [Fix status badge](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/967)
+- [Replace datadog/squid with ubuntu/squid Docker image](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1002)
+- [Wrap pipeline commands for submoduleForeach in quotes](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/964)
+- [Update @actions/io to 1.1.2](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1029)
+- [Upgrading version to 3.2.0](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/1039)
+
+## v3.1.0
+- [Use @actions/core `saveState` and `getState`](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/939)
+- [Add `github-server-url` input](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/922)
+
+## v3.0.2
+- [Add input `set-safe-directory`](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/770)
+
+## v3.0.1
+- [Fixed an issue where checkout failed to run in container jobs due to the new git setting `safe.directory`](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/762)
+- [Bumped various npm package versions](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/744)
+
+## v3.0.0
+
+- [Update to node 16](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/689)
+
 ## v2.3.1
 
 - [Fix default branch resolution for .wiki and when using SSH](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/284)
 
-
 ## v2.3.0
 
 - [Fallback to the default branch](https://github.com/actions/checkout/pull/278)

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Submitting a pull request
+
+1. Fork and clone the repository
+1. Configure and install the dependencies: `npm install`
+1. Create a new branch: `git checkout -b my-branch-name`
+1. Make your change, add tests, and make sure the tests still pass: `npm run test`
+1. Make sure your code is correctly formatted: `npm run format`
+1. Update `dist/index.js` using `npm run build`. This creates a single javascript file that is used as an entrypoint for the action
+1. Push to your fork and submit a pull request
+1. Pat yourself on the back and wait for your pull request to be reviewed and merged
+
+Here are a few things you can do that will increase the likelihood of your pull request being accepted:
+
+- Write tests.
+- Keep your change as focused as possible. If there are multiple changes you would like to make that are not dependent upon each other, consider submitting them as separate pull requests.
+
+## Resources
+
+- [How to Contribute to Open Source](https://opensource.guide/how-to-contribute/)
+- [Using Pull Requests](https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/)
+- [GitHub Help](https://help.github.com)
+- [Writing good commit messages](http://tbaggery.com/2008/04/19/a-note-about-git-commit-messages.html)
+
+Thanks! :heart: :heart: :heart:
+
+GitHub Actions Team :octocat:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
-<p align="center">
-  <a href="https://github.com/actions/checkout"><img alt="GitHub Actions status" src="https://github.com/actions/checkout/workflows/test-local/badge.svg"></a>
-</p>
+[![Build and Test](https://github.com/actions/checkout/actions/workflows/test.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/actions/checkout/actions/workflows/test.yml)
 
-# Checkout V2
+# Checkout V3
 
 This action checks-out your repository under `$GITHUB_WORKSPACE`, so your workflow can access it.
 
@@ -14,27 +12,14 @@ When Git 2.18 or higher is not in your PATH, falls back to the REST API to downl
 
 # What's new
 
-- Improved performance
-  - Fetches only a single commit by default
-- Script authenticated git commands
-  - Auth token persisted in the local git config
-- Supports SSH
-- Creates a local branch
-  - No longer detached HEAD when checking out a branch
-- Improved layout
-  - The input `path` is always relative to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE
-  - Aligns better with container actions, where $GITHUB_WORKSPACE gets mapped in
-- Fallback to REST API download
-  - When Git 2.18 or higher is not in the PATH, the REST API will be used to download the files
-  - When using a job container, the container's PATH is used
-
-Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous versions.
+- Updated to the node16 runtime by default
+  - This requires a minimum [Actions Runner](https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/tag/v2.285.0) version of v2.285.0 to run, which is by default available in GHES 3.4 or later.
 
 # Usage
 
 <!-- start usage -->
 ```yaml
-- uses: actions/checkout@v2
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     # Repository name with owner. For example, actions/checkout
     # Default: ${{ github.repository }}
@@ -89,10 +74,23 @@ Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous
     # Default: true
     clean: ''
 
+    # Do a sparse checkout on given patterns. Each pattern should be separated with
+    # new lines
+    # Default: null
+    sparse-checkout: ''
+
+    # Specifies whether to use cone-mode when doing a sparse checkout.
+    # Default: true
+    sparse-checkout-cone-mode: ''
+
     # Number of commits to fetch. 0 indicates all history for all branches and tags.
     # Default: 1
     fetch-depth: ''
 
+    # Whether to fetch tags, even if fetch-depth > 0.
+    # Default: false
+    fetch-tags: ''
+
     # Whether to download Git-LFS files
     # Default: false
     lfs: ''
@@ -105,11 +103,25 @@ Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous
     #
     # Default: false
     submodules: ''
+
+    # Add repository path as safe.directory for Git global config by running `git
+    # config --global --add safe.directory <path>`
+    # Default: true
+    set-safe-directory: ''
+
+    # The base URL for the GitHub instance that you are trying to clone from, will use
+    # environment defaults to fetch from the same instance that the workflow is
+    # running from unless specified. Example URLs are https://github.com or
+    # https://my-ghes-server.example.com
+    github-server-url: ''
 ```
 <!-- end usage -->
 
 # Scenarios
 
+- [Fetch only the root files](#Fetch-only-the-root-files)
+- [Fetch only the root files and `.github` and `src` folder](#Fetch-only-the-root-files-and-github-and-src-folder)
+- [Fetch only a single file](#Fetch-only-a-single-file)
 - [Fetch all history for all tags and branches](#Fetch-all-history-for-all-tags-and-branches)
 - [Checkout a different branch](#Checkout-a-different-branch)
 - [Checkout HEAD^](#Checkout-HEAD)
@@ -120,26 +132,54 @@ Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous
 - [Checkout pull request on closed event](#Checkout-pull-request-on-closed-event)
 - [Push a commit using the built-in token](#Push-a-commit-using-the-built-in-token)
 
+## Fetch only the root files
+
+```yaml
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+  with:
+    sparse-checkout: .
+```
+
+## Fetch only the root files and `.github` and `src` folder
+
+```yaml
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+  with:
+    sparse-checkout: |
+      .github
+      src
+```
+
+## Fetch only a single file
+
+```yaml
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
+  with:
+    sparse-checkout: |
+      README.md
+    sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
+```
+
 ## Fetch all history for all tags and branches
 
 ```yaml
-- uses: actions/checkout@v2
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     fetch-depth: 0
 ```
 
 ## Checkout a different branch
 
 ```yaml
-- uses: actions/checkout@v2
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     ref: my-branch
 ```
 
 ## Checkout HEAD^
 
 ```yaml
-- uses: actions/checkout@v2
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     fetch-depth: 2
 - run: git checkout HEAD^
@@ -149,40 +189,42 @@ Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous
 
 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     path: main
 
 - name: Checkout tools repo
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     repository: my-org/my-tools
     path: my-tools
 ```
+> - If your secondary repository is private you will need to add the option noted in [Checkout multiple repos (private)](#Checkout-multiple-repos-private)
 
 ## Checkout multiple repos (nested)
 
 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
 - name: Checkout tools repo
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     repository: my-org/my-tools
     path: my-tools
 ```
+> - If your secondary repository is private you will need to add the option noted in [Checkout multiple repos (private)](#Checkout-multiple-repos-private)
 
 ## Checkout multiple repos (private)
 
 ```yaml
 - name: Checkout
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     path: main
 
 - name: Checkout private tools
-  uses: actions/checkout@v2
+  uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     repository: my-org/my-private-tools
     token: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }} # `GH_PAT` is a secret that contains your PAT
@@ -195,7 +237,7 @@ Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/checkout/blob/v1/README.md) for previous
 ## Checkout pull request HEAD commit instead of merge commit
 
 ```yaml
-- uses: actions/checkout@v2
+- uses: actions/checkout@v3
   with:
     ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
 ```
@@ -211,7 +253,7 @@ jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
 ```
 
 ## Push a commit using the built-in token
@@ -222,7 +264,7 @@ jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - run: |
           date > generated.txt
           git config user.name github-actions

diff --git a/__test__/git-auth-helper.test.ts b/__test__/git-auth-helper.test.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ let tempHomedir: string
 let git: IGitCommandManager & {env: {[key: string]: string}}
 let settings: IGitSourceSettings
 let sshPath: string
+let githubServerUrl: string
 
 describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
   beforeAll(async () => {
@@ -67,11 +68,18 @@ describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  const configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader =
-    'configureAuth configures auth header'
-  it(configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader, async () => {
+  async function testAuthHeader(
+    testName: string,
+    serverUrl: string | undefined = undefined
+  ) {
     // Arrange
-    await setup(configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader)
+    let expectedServerUrl = 'https://github.com'
+    if (serverUrl) {
+      githubServerUrl = serverUrl
+      expectedServerUrl = githubServerUrl
+    }
+
+    await setup(testName)
     expect(settings.authToken).toBeTruthy() // sanity check
     const authHelper = gitAuthHelper.createAuthHelper(git, settings)
 
@@ -88,9 +96,33 @@ describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
     ).toString('base64')
     expect(
       configContent.indexOf(
-        `http.https://github.com/.extraheader AUTHORIZATION: basic ${basicCredential}`
+        `http.${expectedServerUrl}/.extraheader AUTHORIZATION: basic ${basicCredential}`
       )
     ).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0)
+  }
+
+  const configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader =
+    'configureAuth configures auth header'
+  it(configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader, async () => {
+    await testAuthHeader(configureAuth_configuresAuthHeader)
+  })
+
+  const configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrl =
+    'inject https://my-ghes-server.com as github server url'
+  it(configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrl, async () => {
+    await testAuthHeader(
+      configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrl,
+      'https://my-ghes-server.com'
+    )
+  })
+
+  const configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrlSetToGHEC =
+    'inject https://github.com as github server url'
+  it(configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrlSetToGHEC, async () => {
+    await testAuthHeader(
+      configureAuth_AcceptsGitHubServerUrl,
+      'https://github.com'
+    )
   })
 
   const configureAuth_configuresAuthHeaderEvenWhenPersistCredentialsFalse =
@@ -643,10 +675,11 @@ describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
     expect(gitConfigContent.indexOf('http.')).toBeLessThan(0)
   })
 
-  const removeGlobalAuth_removesOverride = 'removeGlobalAuth removes override'
-  it(removeGlobalAuth_removesOverride, async () => {
+  const removeGlobalConfig_removesOverride =
+    'removeGlobalConfig removes override'
+  it(removeGlobalConfig_removesOverride, async () => {
     // Arrange
-    await setup(removeGlobalAuth_removesOverride)
+    await setup(removeGlobalConfig_removesOverride)
     const authHelper = gitAuthHelper.createAuthHelper(git, settings)
     await authHelper.configureAuth()
     await authHelper.configureGlobalAuth()
@@ -655,7 +688,7 @@ describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
     await fs.promises.stat(path.join(git.env['HOME'], '.gitconfig'))
 
     // Act
-    await authHelper.removeGlobalAuth()
+    await authHelper.removeGlobalConfig()
 
     // Assert
     expect(git.env['HOME']).toBeUndefined()
@@ -694,6 +727,8 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
     branchDelete: jest.fn(),
     branchExists: jest.fn(),
     branchList: jest.fn(),
+    sparseCheckout: jest.fn(),
+    sparseCheckoutNonConeMode: jest.fn(),
     checkout: jest.fn(),
     checkoutDetach: jest.fn(),
     config: jest.fn(
@@ -737,6 +772,9 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
       return ''
     }),
     submoduleSync: jest.fn(),
+    submoduleStatus: jest.fn(async () => {
+      return true
+    }),
     submoduleUpdate: jest.fn(),
     tagExists: jest.fn(),
     tryClean: jest.fn(),
@@ -764,7 +802,10 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
     authToken: 'some auth token',
     clean: true,
     commit: '',
+    sparseCheckout: [],
+    sparseCheckoutConeMode: true,
     fetchDepth: 1,
+    fetchTags: false,
     lfs: false,
     submodules: false,
     nestedSubmodules: false,
@@ -776,7 +817,9 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
     sshKey: sshPath ? 'some ssh private key' : '',
     sshKnownHosts: '',
     sshStrict: true,
-    workflowOrganizationId: 123456
+    workflowOrganizationId: 123456,
+    setSafeDirectory: true,
+    githubServerUrl: githubServerUrl
   }
 }
 

diff --git a/__test__/git-command-manager.test.ts b/__test__/git-command-manager.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
+import * as exec from '@actions/exec'
+import * as fshelper from '../lib/fs-helper'
+import * as commandManager from '../lib/git-command-manager'
+
+let git: commandManager.IGitCommandManager
+let mockExec = jest.fn()
+
+describe('git-auth-helper tests', () => {
+  beforeAll(async () => {})
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'fileExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
+    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'directoryExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  afterAll(() => {})
+
+  it('branch list matches', async () => {
+    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
+      console.log(args, options.listeners.stdout)
+
+      if (args.includes('version')) {
+        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
+        return 0
+      }
+
+      if (args.includes('rev-parse')) {
+        options.listeners.stdline(Buffer.from('refs/heads/foo'))
+        options.listeners.stdline(Buffer.from('refs/heads/bar'))
+        return 0
+      }
+
+      return 1
+    })
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+
+    let branches = await git.branchList(false)
+
+    expect(branches).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(branches.sort()).toEqual(['foo', 'bar'].sort())
+  })
+
+  it('ambiguous ref name output is captured', async () => {
+    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
+      console.log(args, options.listeners.stdout)
+
+      if (args.includes('version')) {
+        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
+        return 0
+      }
+
+      if (args.includes('rev-parse')) {
+        options.listeners.stdline(Buffer.from('refs/heads/foo'))
+        // If refs/tags/v1 and refs/heads/tags/v1 existed on this repository
+        options.listeners.errline(
+          Buffer.from("error: refname 'tags/v1' is ambiguous")
+        )
+        return 0
+      }
+
+      return 1
+    })
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+
+    let branches = await git.branchList(false)
+
+    expect(branches).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(branches.sort()).toEqual(['foo'].sort())
+  })
+})
+
+describe('Test fetchDepth and fetchTags options', () => {
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'fileExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
+    jest.spyOn(fshelper, 'directoryExistsSync').mockImplementation(jest.fn())
+    mockExec.mockImplementation((path, args, options) => {
+      console.log(args, options.listeners.stdout)
+
+      if (args.includes('version')) {
+        options.listeners.stdout(Buffer.from('2.18'))
+      }
+
+      return 0
+    })
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0 and fetchTags is true', async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
+    const options = {
+      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchDepth: 0,
+      fetchTags: true
+    }
+
+    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
+
+    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      [
+        '-c',
+        'protocol.version=2',
+        'fetch',
+        '--prune',
+        '--progress',
+        '--no-recurse-submodules',
+        '--filter=filterValue',
+        'origin',
+        'refspec1',
+        'refspec2'
+      ],
+      expect.any(Object)
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 0 and fetchTags is false', async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
+    const options = {
+      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchDepth: 0,
+      fetchTags: false
+    }
+
+    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
+
+    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      [
+        '-c',
+        'protocol.version=2',
+        'fetch',
+        '--no-tags',
+        '--prune',
+        '--progress',
+        '--no-recurse-submodules',
+        '--filter=filterValue',
+        'origin',
+        'refspec1',
+        'refspec2'
+      ],
+      expect.any(Object)
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1 and fetchTags is false', async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
+    const options = {
+      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchDepth: 1,
+      fetchTags: false
+    }
+
+    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
+
+    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      [
+        '-c',
+        'protocol.version=2',
+        'fetch',
+        '--no-tags',
+        '--prune',
+        '--progress',
+        '--no-recurse-submodules',
+        '--filter=filterValue',
+        '--depth=1',
+        'origin',
+        'refspec1',
+        'refspec2'
+      ],
+      expect.any(Object)
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('should call execGit with the correct arguments when fetchDepth is 1 and fetchTags is true', async () => {
+    jest.spyOn(exec, 'exec').mockImplementation(mockExec)
+
+    const workingDirectory = 'test'
+    const lfs = false
+    const doSparseCheckout = false
+    git = await commandManager.createCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
+    const refSpec = ['refspec1', 'refspec2']
+    const options = {
+      filter: 'filterValue',
+      fetchDepth: 1,
+      fetchTags: true
+    }
+
+    await git.fetch(refSpec, options)
+
+    expect(mockExec).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.any(String),
+      [
+        '-c',
+        'protocol.version=2',
+        'fetch',
+        '--prune',
+        '--progress',
+        '--no-recurse-submodules',
+        '--filter=filterValue',
+        '--depth=1',
+        'origin',
+        'refspec1',
+        'refspec2'
+      ],
+      expect.any(Object)
+    )
+  })
+})
diff --git a/__test__/git-directory-helper.test.ts b/__test__/git-directory-helper.test.ts
@@ -281,6 +281,65 @@ describe('git-directory-helper tests', () => {
     expect(git.branchDelete).toHaveBeenCalledWith(false, 'local-branch-2')
   })
 
+  const cleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsFalse =
+    'cleans when submodule status is false'
+
+  it(cleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsFalse, async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    await setup(cleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsFalse)
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(path.join(repositoryPath, 'my-file'), '')
+
+    //mock bad submodule
+
+    const submoduleStatus = git.submoduleStatus as jest.Mock<any, any>
+    submoduleStatus.mockImplementation(async (remote: boolean) => {
+      return false
+    })
+
+    // Act
+    await gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(
+      git,
+      repositoryPath,
+      repositoryUrl,
+      clean,
+      ref
+    )
+
+    // Assert
+    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
+    expect(files).toHaveLength(0)
+    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
+  const doesNotCleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsTrue =
+    'does not clean when submodule status is true'
+
+  it(doesNotCleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsTrue, async () => {
+    // Arrange
+    await setup(doesNotCleanWhenSubmoduleStatusIsTrue)
+    await fs.promises.writeFile(path.join(repositoryPath, 'my-file'), '')
+
+    const submoduleStatus = git.submoduleStatus as jest.Mock<any, any>
+    submoduleStatus.mockImplementation(async (remote: boolean) => {
+      return true
+    })
+
+    // Act
+    await gitDirectoryHelper.prepareExistingDirectory(
+      git,
+      repositoryPath,
+      repositoryUrl,
+      clean,
+      ref
+    )
+
+    // Assert
+
+    const files = await fs.promises.readdir(repositoryPath)
+    expect(files.sort()).toEqual(['.git', 'my-file'])
+    expect(git.tryClean).toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   const removesLockFiles = 'removes lock files'
   it(removesLockFiles, async () => {
     // Arrange
@@ -403,6 +462,8 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
     branchList: jest.fn(async () => {
       return []
     }),
+    sparseCheckout: jest.fn(),
+    sparseCheckoutNonConeMode: jest.fn(),
     checkout: jest.fn(),
     checkoutDetach: jest.fn(),
     config: jest.fn(),
@@ -423,6 +484,9 @@ async function setup(testName: string): Promise<void> {
     submoduleForeach: jest.fn(),
     submoduleSync: jest.fn(),
     submoduleUpdate: jest.fn(),
+    submoduleStatus: jest.fn(async () => {
+      return true
+    }),
     tagExists: jest.fn(),
     tryClean: jest.fn(async () => {
       return true

diff --git a/__test__/input-helper.test.ts b/__test__/input-helper.test.ts
@@ -79,12 +79,16 @@ describe('input-helper tests', () => {
     expect(settings.clean).toBe(true)
     expect(settings.commit).toBeTruthy()
     expect(settings.commit).toBe('1234567890123456789012345678901234567890')
+    expect(settings.sparseCheckout).toBe(undefined)
+    expect(settings.sparseCheckoutConeMode).toBe(true)
     expect(settings.fetchDepth).toBe(1)
+    expect(settings.fetchTags).toBe(false)
     expect(settings.lfs).toBe(false)
     expect(settings.ref).toBe('refs/heads/some-ref')
     expect(settings.repositoryName).toBe('some-repo')
     expect(settings.repositoryOwner).toBe('some-owner')
     expect(settings.repositoryPath).toBe(gitHubWorkspace)
+    expect(settings.setSafeDirectory).toBe(true)
   })
 
   it('qualifies ref', async () => {

diff --git a/__test__/verify-sparse-checkout-non-cone-mode.sh b/__test__/verify-sparse-checkout-non-cone-mode.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Verify .git folder
+if [ ! -d "./sparse-checkout-non-cone-mode/.git" ]; then
+  echo "Expected ./sparse-checkout-non-cone-mode/.git folder to exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Verify sparse-checkout (non-cone-mode)
+cd sparse-checkout-non-cone-mode
+
+ENABLED=$(git config --local --get-all core.sparseCheckout)
+
+if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+    echo "Failed to verify that sparse-checkout is enabled"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that sparse-checkout is enabled
+if [ "$ENABLED" != "true" ]; then
+  echo "Expected sparse-checkout to be enabled (is: $ENABLED)"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+SPARSE_CHECKOUT_FILE=$(git rev-parse --git-path info/sparse-checkout)
+
+if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+    echo "Failed to validate sparse-checkout"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that sparse-checkout list is not empty
+if [ ! -f "$SPARSE_CHECKOUT_FILE" ]; then
+  echo "Expected sparse-checkout file to exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that all folders from sparse-checkout exists
+for pattern in $(cat "$SPARSE_CHECKOUT_FILE")
+do
+  if [ ! -d "${pattern#/}" ]; then
+    echo "Expected directory '${pattern#/}' to exist"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+# Verify that the root directory is not checked out
+if [ -f README.md ]; then
+  echo "Expected top-level files not to exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/__test__/verify-sparse-checkout.sh b/__test__/verify-sparse-checkout.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Verify .git folder
+if [ ! -d "./sparse-checkout/.git" ]; then
+  echo "Expected ./sparse-checkout/.git folder to exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Verify sparse-checkout
+cd sparse-checkout
+
+SPARSE=$(git sparse-checkout list)
+
+if [ "$?" != "0" ]; then
+    echo "Failed to validate sparse-checkout"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that sparse-checkout list is not empty
+if [ -z "$SPARSE" ]; then
+  echo "Expected sparse-checkout list to not be empty"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# Check that all folders of the sparse checkout exist
+for pattern in $SPARSE
+do
+  if [ ! -d "$pattern" ]; then
+    echo "Expected directory '$pattern' to exist"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+checkSparse () {
+  if [ ! -d "./$1" ]; then
+    echo "Expected directory '$1' to exist"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  for file in $(git ls-tree -r --name-only HEAD $1)
+  do
+    if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then
+      echo "Expected file '$file' to exist"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  done
+}
+
+# Check that all folders and their children have been checked out
+checkSparse __test__
+checkSparse .github
+checkSparse dist
+
+# Check that only sparse-checkout folders have been checked out
+for pattern in $(git ls-tree --name-only HEAD)
+do
+  if [ -d "$pattern" ]; then
+    if [[ "$pattern" != "__test__" && "$pattern" != ".github" && "$pattern" != "dist" ]]; then
+      echo "Expected directory '$pattern' to not exist"
+      exit 1
+    fi
+  fi
+done
diff --git a/action.yml b/action.yml
@@ -53,9 +53,21 @@ inputs:
   clean:
     description: 'Whether to execute `git clean -ffdx && git reset --hard HEAD` before fetching'
     default: true
+  sparse-checkout:
+    description: >
+      Do a sparse checkout on given patterns.
+      Each pattern should be separated with new lines
+    default: null
+  sparse-checkout-cone-mode:
+    description: >
+      Specifies whether to use cone-mode when doing a sparse checkout.
+    default: true
   fetch-depth:
     description: 'Number of commits to fetch. 0 indicates all history for all branches and tags.'
     default: 1
+  fetch-tags:
+    description: 'Whether to fetch tags, even if fetch-depth > 0.'
+    default: false
   lfs:
     description: 'Whether to download Git-LFS files'
     default: false
@@ -68,7 +80,13 @@ inputs:
       When the `ssh-key` input is not provided, SSH URLs beginning with `git@github.com:` are
       converted to HTTPS.
     default: false
+  set-safe-directory:
+    description: Add repository path as safe.directory for Git global config by running `git config --global --add safe.directory <path>`
+    default: true
+  github-server-url:
+    description: The base URL for the GitHub instance that you are trying to clone from, will use environment defaults to fetch from the same instance that the workflow is running from unless specified. Example URLs are https://github.com or https://my-ghes-server.example.com
+    required: false
 runs:
-  using: node12
+  using: node16
   main: dist/index.js
   post: dist/index.js
diff --git a/adrs/0153-checkout-v2.md b/adrs/0153-checkout-v2.md
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ GITHUB_WORKSPACE=/home/runner/work/foo/foo
 RUNNER_WORKSPACE=/home/runner/work/foo
 ```
 
-V2 introduces a new contraint on the checkout path. The location must now be under `github.workspace`. Whereas the checkout@v1 constraint was one level up, under `runner.workspace`.
+V2 introduces a new constraint on the checkout path. The location must now be under `github.workspace`. Whereas the checkout@v1 constraint was one level up, under `runner.workspace`.
 
 V2 no longer changes `github.workspace` to follow wherever the self repo is checked-out.
 
@@ -287,4 +287,4 @@ Note:
 - Update samples to consume `actions/checkout@v2`
 - Job containers now require git in the PATH for checkout, otherwise fallback to REST API
 - Minimum git version 2.18
-- Update problem matcher logic regarding source file verification (runner)
+- Update problem matcher logic regarding source file verification (runner)
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "checkout",
-  "version": "2.0.2",
+  "version": "3.6.0",
   "description": "checkout action",
   "main": "lib/main.js",
   "scripts": {
@@ -28,27 +28,28 @@
   },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/actions/checkout#readme",
   "dependencies": {
-    "@actions/core": "^1.2.6",
+    "@actions/core": "^1.10.0",
     "@actions/exec": "^1.0.1",
-    "@actions/github": "^2.2.0",
-    "@actions/io": "^1.0.1",
+    "@actions/github": "^5.0.0",
+    "@actions/io": "^1.1.3",
     "@actions/tool-cache": "^1.1.2",
     "uuid": "^3.3.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/jest": "^27.0.2",
     "@types/node": "^12.7.12",
     "@types/uuid": "^3.4.6",
-    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.1.0",
-    "@zeit/ncc": "^0.20.5",
+    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^5.45.0",
+    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^5.45.0",
+    "@vercel/ncc": "^0.36.1",
     "eslint": "^7.32.0",
     "eslint-plugin-github": "^4.3.2",
-    "eslint-plugin-jest": "^25.2.2",
+    "eslint-plugin-jest": "^25.7.0",
     "jest": "^27.3.0",
     "jest-circus": "^27.3.0",
     "js-yaml": "^3.13.1",
     "prettier": "^1.19.1",
     "ts-jest": "^27.0.7",
     "typescript": "^4.4.4"
   }
-}
+}
diff --git a/src/git-auth-helper.ts b/src/git-auth-helper.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ export interface IGitAuthHelper {
   configureAuth(): Promise<void>
   configureGlobalAuth(): Promise<void>
   configureSubmoduleAuth(): Promise<void>
+  configureTempGlobalConfig(): Promise<string>
   removeAuth(): Promise<void>
-  removeGlobalAuth(): Promise<void>
+  removeGlobalConfig(): Promise<void>
 }
 
 export function createAuthHelper(
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
     this.settings = gitSourceSettings || (({} as unknown) as IGitSourceSettings)
 
     // Token auth header
-    const serverUrl = urlHelper.getServerUrl()
+    const serverUrl = urlHelper.getServerUrl(this.settings.githubServerUrl)
     this.tokenConfigKey = `http.${serverUrl.origin}/.extraheader` // "origin" is SCHEME://HOSTNAME[:PORT]
     const basicCredential = Buffer.from(
       `x-access-token:${this.settings.authToken}`,
@@ -80,7 +81,11 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
     await this.configureToken()
   }
 
-  async configureGlobalAuth(): Promise<void> {
+  async configureTempGlobalConfig(): Promise<string> {
+    // Already setup global config
+    if (this.temporaryHomePath?.length > 0) {
+      return path.join(this.temporaryHomePath, '.gitconfig')
+    }
     // Create a temp home directory
     const runnerTemp = process.env['RUNNER_TEMP'] || ''
     assert.ok(runnerTemp, 'RUNNER_TEMP is not defined')
@@ -110,13 +115,19 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
       await fs.promises.writeFile(newGitConfigPath, '')
     }
 
-    try {
-      // Override HOME
-      core.info(
-        `Temporarily overriding HOME='${this.temporaryHomePath}' before making global git config changes`
-      )
-      this.git.setEnvironmentVariable('HOME', this.temporaryHomePath)
+    // Override HOME
+    core.info(
+      `Temporarily overriding HOME='${this.temporaryHomePath}' before making global git config changes`
+    )
+    this.git.setEnvironmentVariable('HOME', this.temporaryHomePath)
 
+    return newGitConfigPath
+  }
+
+  async configureGlobalAuth(): Promise<void> {
+    // 'configureTempGlobalConfig' noops if already set, just returns the path
+    const newGitConfigPath = await this.configureTempGlobalConfig()
+    try {
       // Configure the token
       await this.configureToken(newGitConfigPath, true)
 
@@ -146,7 +157,8 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
       // by process creation audit events, which are commonly logged. For more information,
       // refer to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/manage/component-updates/command-line-process-auditing
       const output = await this.git.submoduleForeach(
-        `git config --local '${this.tokenConfigKey}' '${this.tokenPlaceholderConfigValue}' && git config --local --show-origin --name-only --get-regexp remote.origin.url`,
+        // wrap the pipeline in quotes to make sure it's handled properly by submoduleForeach, rather than just the first part of the pipeline
+        `sh -c "git config --local '${this.tokenConfigKey}' '${this.tokenPlaceholderConfigValue}' && git config --local --show-origin --name-only --get-regexp remote.origin.url"`,
         this.settings.nestedSubmodules
       )
 
@@ -181,10 +193,12 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
     await this.removeToken()
   }
 
-  async removeGlobalAuth(): Promise<void> {
-    core.debug(`Unsetting HOME override`)
-    this.git.removeEnvironmentVariable('HOME')
-    await io.rmRF(this.temporaryHomePath)
+  async removeGlobalConfig(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.temporaryHomePath?.length > 0) {
+      core.debug(`Unsetting HOME override`)
+      this.git.removeEnvironmentVariable('HOME')
+      await io.rmRF(this.temporaryHomePath)
+    }
   }
 
   private async configureSsh(): Promise<void> {
@@ -233,7 +247,7 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
     if (this.settings.sshKnownHosts) {
       knownHosts += `# Begin from input known hosts\n${this.settings.sshKnownHosts}\n# end from input known hosts\n`
     }
-    knownHosts += `# Begin implicitly added github.com\ngithub.com ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABIwAAAQEAq2A7hRGmdnm9tUDbO9IDSwBK6TbQa+PXYPCPy6rbTrTtw7PHkccKrpp0yVhp5HdEIcKr6pLlVDBfOLX9QUsyCOV0wzfjIJNlGEYsdlLJizHhbn2mUjvSAHQqZETYP81eFzLQNnPHt4EVVUh7VfDESU84KezmD5QlWpXLmvU31/yMf+Se8xhHTvKSCZIFImWwoG6mbUoWf9nzpIoaSjB+weqqUUmpaaasXVal72J+UX2B+2RPW3RcT0eOzQgqlJL3RKrTJvdsjE3JEAvGq3lGHSZXy28G3skua2SmVi/w4yCE6gbODqnTWlg7+wC604ydGXA8VJiS5ap43JXiUFFAaQ==\n# End implicitly added github.com\n`
+    knownHosts += `# Begin implicitly added github.com\ngithub.com ssh-rsa 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\n# End implicitly added github.com\n`
     this.sshKnownHostsPath = path.join(runnerTemp, `${uniqueId}_known_hosts`)
     stateHelper.setSshKnownHostsPath(this.sshKnownHostsPath)
     await fs.promises.writeFile(this.sshKnownHostsPath, knownHosts)
@@ -352,7 +366,8 @@ class GitAuthHelper {
 
     const pattern = regexpHelper.escape(configKey)
     await this.git.submoduleForeach(
-      `git config --local --name-only --get-regexp '${pattern}' && git config --local --unset-all '${configKey}' || :`,
+      // wrap the pipeline in quotes to make sure it's handled properly by submoduleForeach, rather than just the first part of the pipeline
+      `sh -c "git config --local --name-only --get-regexp '${pattern}' && git config --local --unset-all '${configKey}' || :"`,
       true
     )
   }

diff --git a/src/git-command-manager.ts b/src/git-command-manager.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as core from '@actions/core'
 import * as exec from '@actions/exec'
+import * as fs from 'fs'
 import * as fshelper from './fs-helper'
 import * as io from '@actions/io'
 import * as path from 'path'
@@ -16,6 +17,8 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
   branchDelete(remote: boolean, branch: string): Promise<void>
   branchExists(remote: boolean, pattern: string): Promise<boolean>
   branchList(remote: boolean): Promise<string[]>
+  sparseCheckout(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void>
+  sparseCheckoutNonConeMode(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void>
   checkout(ref: string, startPoint: string): Promise<void>
   checkoutDetach(): Promise<void>
   config(
@@ -25,7 +28,14 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
     add?: boolean
   ): Promise<void>
   configExists(configKey: string, globalConfig?: boolean): Promise<boolean>
-  fetch(refSpec: string[], fetchDepth?: number): Promise<void>
+  fetch(
+    refSpec: string[],
+    options: {
+      filter?: string
+      fetchDepth?: number
+      fetchTags?: boolean
+    }
+  ): Promise<void>
   getDefaultBranch(repositoryUrl: string): Promise<string>
   getWorkingDirectory(): string
   init(): Promise<void>
@@ -41,6 +51,7 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
   submoduleForeach(command: string, recursive: boolean): Promise<string>
   submoduleSync(recursive: boolean): Promise<void>
   submoduleUpdate(fetchDepth: number, recursive: boolean): Promise<void>
+  submoduleStatus(): Promise<boolean>
   tagExists(pattern: string): Promise<boolean>
   tryClean(): Promise<boolean>
   tryConfigUnset(configKey: string, globalConfig?: boolean): Promise<boolean>
@@ -51,9 +62,14 @@ export interface IGitCommandManager {
 
 export async function createCommandManager(
   workingDirectory: string,
-  lfs: boolean
+  lfs: boolean,
+  doSparseCheckout: boolean
 ): Promise<IGitCommandManager> {
-  return await GitCommandManager.createCommandManager(workingDirectory, lfs)
+  return await GitCommandManager.createCommandManager(
+    workingDirectory,
+    lfs,
+    doSparseCheckout
+  )
 }
 
 class GitCommandManager {
@@ -63,6 +79,7 @@ class GitCommandManager {
   }
   private gitPath = ''
   private lfs = false
+  private doSparseCheckout = false
   private workingDirectory = ''
 
   // Private constructor; use createCommandManager()
@@ -94,8 +111,11 @@ class GitCommandManager {
 
     // Note, this implementation uses "rev-parse --symbolic-full-name" because the output from
     // "branch --list" is more difficult when in a detached HEAD state.
-    // Note, this implementation uses "rev-parse --symbolic-full-name" because there is a bug
-    // in Git 2.18 that causes "rev-parse --symbolic" to output symbolic full names.
+
+    // TODO(https://github.com/actions/checkout/issues/786): this implementation uses
+    // "rev-parse --symbolic-full-name" because there is a bug
+    // in Git 2.18 that causes "rev-parse --symbolic" to output symbolic full names. When
+    // 2.18 is no longer supported, we can switch back to --symbolic.
 
     const args = ['rev-parse', '--symbolic-full-name']
     if (remote) {
@@ -104,24 +124,73 @@ class GitCommandManager {
       args.push('--branches')
     }
 
-    const output = await this.execGit(args)
+    const stderr: string[] = []
+    const errline: string[] = []
+    const stdout: string[] = []
+    const stdline: string[] = []
+
+    const listeners = {
+      stderr: (data: Buffer) => {
+        stderr.push(data.toString())
+      },
+      errline: (data: Buffer) => {
+        errline.push(data.toString())
+      },
+      stdout: (data: Buffer) => {
+        stdout.push(data.toString())
+      },
+      stdline: (data: Buffer) => {
+        stdline.push(data.toString())
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Suppress the output in order to avoid flooding annotations with innocuous errors.
+    await this.execGit(args, false, true, listeners)
 
-    for (let branch of output.stdout.trim().split('\n')) {
+    core.debug(`stderr callback is: ${stderr}`)
+    core.debug(`errline callback is: ${errline}`)
+    core.debug(`stdout callback is: ${stdout}`)
+    core.debug(`stdline callback is: ${stdline}`)
+
+    for (let branch of stdline) {
       branch = branch.trim()
-      if (branch) {
-        if (branch.startsWith('refs/heads/')) {
-          branch = branch.substr('refs/heads/'.length)
-        } else if (branch.startsWith('refs/remotes/')) {
-          branch = branch.substr('refs/remotes/'.length)
-        }
+      if (!branch) {
+        continue
+      }
 
-        result.push(branch)
+      if (branch.startsWith('refs/heads/')) {
+        branch = branch.substring('refs/heads/'.length)
+      } else if (branch.startsWith('refs/remotes/')) {
+        branch = branch.substring('refs/remotes/'.length)
       }
+
+      result.push(branch)
     }
 
     return result
   }
 
+  async sparseCheckout(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void> {
+    await this.execGit(['sparse-checkout', 'set', ...sparseCheckout])
+  }
+
+  async sparseCheckoutNonConeMode(sparseCheckout: string[]): Promise<void> {
+    await this.execGit(['config', 'core.sparseCheckout', 'true'])
+    const output = await this.execGit([
+      'rev-parse',
+      '--git-path',
+      'info/sparse-checkout'
+    ])
+    const sparseCheckoutPath = path.join(
+      this.workingDirectory,
+      output.stdout.trimRight()
+    )
+    await fs.promises.appendFile(
+      sparseCheckoutPath,
+      `\n${sparseCheckout.join('\n')}\n`
+    )
+  }
+
   async checkout(ref: string, startPoint: string): Promise<void> {
     const args = ['checkout', '--progress', '--force']
     if (startPoint) {
@@ -170,15 +239,23 @@ class GitCommandManager {
     return output.exitCode === 0
   }
 
-  async fetch(refSpec: string[], fetchDepth?: number): Promise<void> {
+  async fetch(
+    refSpec: string[],
+    options: {filter?: string; fetchDepth?: number; fetchTags?: boolean}
+  ): Promise<void> {
     const args = ['-c', 'protocol.version=2', 'fetch']
-    if (!refSpec.some(x => x === refHelper.tagsRefSpec)) {
+    if (!refSpec.some(x => x === refHelper.tagsRefSpec) && !options.fetchTags) {
       args.push('--no-tags')
     }
 
     args.push('--prune', '--progress', '--no-recurse-submodules')
-    if (fetchDepth && fetchDepth > 0) {
-      args.push(`--depth=${fetchDepth}`)
+
+    if (options.filter) {
+      args.push(`--filter=${options.filter}`)
+    }
+
+    if (options.fetchDepth && options.fetchDepth > 0) {
+      args.push(`--depth=${options.fetchDepth}`)
     } else if (
       fshelper.fileExistsSync(
         path.join(this.workingDirectory, '.git', 'shallow')
@@ -257,8 +334,8 @@ class GitCommandManager {
   }
 
   async log1(format?: string): Promise<string> {
-    var args = format ? ['log', '-1', format] : ['log', '-1']
-    var silent = format ? false : true
+    const args = format ? ['log', '-1', format] : ['log', '-1']
+    const silent = format ? false : true
     const output = await this.execGit(args, false, silent)
     return output.stdout
   }
@@ -326,6 +403,12 @@ class GitCommandManager {
     await this.execGit(args)
   }
 
+  async submoduleStatus(): Promise<boolean> {
+    const output = await this.execGit(['submodule', 'status'], true)
+    core.debug(output.stdout)
+    return output.exitCode === 0
+  }
+
   async tagExists(pattern: string): Promise<boolean> {
     const output = await this.execGit(['tag', '--list', pattern])
     return !!output.stdout.trim()
@@ -385,17 +468,23 @@ class GitCommandManager {
 
   static async createCommandManager(
     workingDirectory: string,
-    lfs: boolean
+    lfs: boolean,
+    doSparseCheckout: boolean
   ): Promise<GitCommandManager> {
     const result = new GitCommandManager()
-    await result.initializeCommandManager(workingDirectory, lfs)
+    await result.initializeCommandManager(
+      workingDirectory,
+      lfs,
+      doSparseCheckout
+    )
     return result
   }
 
   private async execGit(
     args: string[],
     allowAllExitCodes = false,
-    silent = false
+    silent = false,
+    customListeners = {}
   ): Promise<GitOutput> {
     fshelper.directoryExistsSync(this.workingDirectory, true)
 
@@ -409,28 +498,36 @@ class GitCommandManager {
       env[key] = this.gitEnv[key]
     }
 
-    const stdout: string[] = []
+    const defaultListener = {
+      stdout: (data: Buffer) => {
+        stdout.push(data.toString())
+      }
+    }
 
+    const mergedListeners = {...defaultListener, ...customListeners}
+
+    const stdout: string[] = []
     const options = {
       cwd: this.workingDirectory,
       env,
       silent,
       ignoreReturnCode: allowAllExitCodes,
-      listeners: {
-        stdout: (data: Buffer) => {
-          stdout.push(data.toString())
-        }
-      }
+      listeners: mergedListeners
     }
 
     result.exitCode = await exec.exec(`"${this.gitPath}"`, args, options)
     result.stdout = stdout.join('')
+
+    core.debug(result.exitCode.toString())
+    core.debug(result.stdout)
+
     return result
   }
 
   private async initializeCommandManager(
     workingDirectory: string,
-    lfs: boolean
+    lfs: boolean,
+    doSparseCheckout: boolean
   ): Promise<void> {
     this.workingDirectory = workingDirectory
 
@@ -493,6 +590,16 @@ class GitCommandManager {
       }
     }
 
+    this.doSparseCheckout = doSparseCheckout
+    if (this.doSparseCheckout) {
+      // The `git sparse-checkout` command was introduced in Git v2.25.0
+      const minimumGitSparseCheckoutVersion = new GitVersion('2.25')
+      if (!gitVersion.checkMinimum(minimumGitSparseCheckoutVersion)) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Minimum Git version required for sparse checkout is ${minimumGitSparseCheckoutVersion}. Your git ('${this.gitPath}') is ${gitVersion}`
+        )
+      }
+    }
     // Set the user agent
     const gitHttpUserAgent = `git/${gitVersion} (github-actions-checkout)`
     core.debug(`Set git useragent to: ${gitHttpUserAgent}`)

diff --git a/src/git-directory-helper.ts b/src/git-directory-helper.ts
@@ -81,12 +81,18 @@ export async function prepareExistingDirectory(
       }
       core.endGroup()
 
+      // Check for submodules and delete any existing files if submodules are present
+      if (!(await git.submoduleStatus())) {
+        remove = true
+        core.info('Bad Submodules found, removing existing files')
+      }
+
       // Clean
       if (clean) {
         core.startGroup('Cleaning the repository')
         if (!(await git.tryClean())) {
           core.debug(
-            `The clean command failed. This might be caused by: 1) path too long, 2) permission issue, or 3) file in use. For futher investigation, manually run 'git clean -ffdx' on the directory '${repositoryPath}'.`
+            `The clean command failed. This might be caused by: 1) path too long, 2) permission issue, or 3) file in use. For further investigation, manually run 'git clean -ffdx' on the directory '${repositoryPath}'.`
           )
           remove = true
         } else if (!(await git.tryReset())) {