Default Git clone operations are inefficient, impacting servers and networks by transferring entire histories. Agentic AI amplifies this issue with frequent, unpredictable cloning needs. GitLab is improving backend performance, but clients can optimize requests with shallow, single-branch, or partial clones. While manual optimization significantly reduces clone times and disk usage, it's prone to human error across various environments.To address this, the Git Clone Override Policy automates repository cloning optimizations. It uses a TOML file within the repository to define a policy. A lightweight Go binary intercepts unqualified git clone commands and enforces the policy. This involves a fixed 13-step process that performs shallow and partial cloning, sets up sparse checkout to skip binaries, and applies tuned Git configurations.This automated approach ensures these optimizations are consistently applied across developer laptops, CI jobs, and AI agents. The policy allows for declarative configuration of Git settings, fetch flags, and sparse checkout rules. This standardization reduces complexity, improves adoption, minimizes bugs, and enhances security. The policy itself is auditable by simply reading the configuration file.The policy can be leveraged in three ways: a zero-footprint CLI that replaces git clone, a Git alias, or by using a policy URL. This automated solution guarantees efficient and consistent Git cloning, mitigating the costs associated with large repositories and frequent cloning. It aims to make optimization impossible to skip, ensuring efficiency for all users and systems.