NAME

       datalad create - create a new dataset from scratch.

SYNOPSIS

       datalad  create [-h] [-f] [-D DESCRIPTION] [-d DATASET] [--no-annex] [--fake-dates] [-c PROC] [--version]
              [PATH] ...

DESCRIPTION

       This command initializes a new dataset at a given location, or the current directory. The new dataset can
       optionally be registered in an existing superdataset (the new dataset's path needs to be  located  within
       the superdataset for that, and the superdataset needs to be given explicitly via --dataset). It is recom‐
       mended to provide a brief description to label the dataset's nature *and* location, e.g. "Michael's music
       on  black  laptop". This helps humans to identify data locations in distributed scenarios.  By default an
       identifier comprised of user and machine name, plus path will be generated.

       This command only creates a new dataset, it does not add existing content to it, even if the  target  di‐
       rectory already contains additional files or directories.

       Plain  Git  repositories  can be created via --no-annex.  However, the result will not be a full dataset,
       and, consequently, not all features are supported (e.g. a description).

       To create a local version of a remote dataset use the `install` command instead.

       NOTE   Power-user info: This command uses git init and git annex init to prepare the new dataset.  Regis‐
              tering  to  a superdataset is performed via a git submodule add operation in the discovered super‐
              dataset.

   Examples
       Create a dataset 'mydataset' in the current directory::

        % datalad create mydataset

       Apply the text2git procedure upon creation of a dataset::

        % datalad create -c text2git mydataset

       Create a subdataset in the root of an existing dataset::

        % datalad create -d . mysubdataset

       Create a dataset in an existing, non-empty directory::

        % datalad create --force

       Create a plain Git repository::

        % datalad create --no-annex mydataset

OPTIONS

       PATH   path where the dataset shall be created, directories will be created as necessary. If no  location
              is  provided,  a  dataset will be created in the location specified by --dataset (if given) or the
              current working directory. Either way the command will error if the target directory is not empty.
              Use --force to create a dataset in a non-empty directory. Constraints: value must be a  string  or
              Value must be a Dataset or a valid identifier of a Dataset (e.g. a path) or value must be NONE

       INIT OPTIONS
              options  to  pass to git init. Any argument specified after the destination path of the repository
              will be passed to git-init as-is. Note that not all options will lead to viable results. For exam‐
              ple '--bare' will not yield a repository where DataLad can adjust files in its working tree.

       -h, --help, --help-np
              show this help message. --help-np forcefully disables the use of a pager for displaying  the  help
              message

       -f, --force
              enforce creation of a dataset in a non-empty directory.

       -D DESCRIPTION, --description DESCRIPTION
              short description to use for a dataset location. Its primary purpose is to help humans to identify
              a dataset copy (e.g., "mike's dataset on lab server"). Note that when a dataset is published, this
              information  becomes  available  on  the remote side. Constraints: value must be a string or value
              must be NONE

       -d DATASET, --dataset DATASET
              specify the dataset to perform the create operation on. If a dataset is given along with  PATH,  a
              new subdataset will be created in it at the `path` provided to the create command. If a dataset is
              given but PATH is unspecified, a new dataset will be created at the location specified by this op‐
              tion.  Constraints:  Value  must  be a Dataset or a valid identifier of a Dataset (e.g. a path) or
              value must be NONE

       --no-annex
              if set, a plain Git repository will be created without any annex.

       --fake-dates
              Configure the repository to use fake dates. The date for a new commit will be set  to  one  second
              later than the latest commit in the repository. This can be used to anonymize dates.

       -c PROC, --cfg-proc PROC
              Run cfg_PROC procedure(s) (can be specified multiple times) on the created dataset. Use run-proce‐
              dure --discover to get a list of available procedures, such as cfg_text2git.

       --version
              show the module and its version which provides the command

AUTHORS

        datalad is developed by The DataLad Team and Contributors <team@datalad.org>.

datalad create 1.1.5                               2025-03-03                                  datalad create(1)