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Understand placeholders

A placeholder is a file that is tracked in the repository but whose full bytes are not on your PC yet. GitM shows it dimmed, with a ·placeholder· badge.

Why placeholders exist

CAD repositories get large. Downloading every part for every teammate wastes disk space and time, especially for files nobody on your machine needs right now. GitM uses Git LFS so that files can stay as lightweight stubs until you actually need them. This keeps the initial clone fast and your working folder small.

Placeholder vs. on this PC

  • Placeholder (dimmed, ·placeholder·): only a small pointer is on disk. You cannot open or edit the real geometry yet.
  • On this PC (normal): the full file is downloaded and ready to open.

Getting the bytes: Make Available on this PC

To turn a placeholder into a real file, right-click it → Make Available on this PC. GitM downloads the file's bytes from LFS and clears the badge.

"Make Available on this PC" is not the same as "Get Latest." - Make Available on this PC downloads the bytes of the version you already have a pointer to. - Get Latest pulls newer versions teammates have published.

See Make a file available on this PC.

How this relates to check out

Placeholder state (is the file on my disk?) is independent of lock state (do I hold the lock?). You generally need a file available on this PC before you can meaningfully check it out and edit it — if you check out a placeholder, make it available so SolidWorks has real geometry to open.

Known limitations

  • Opening a placeholder directly can fail or open empty. Make it available first. GitM surfaces the placeholder badge specifically so you do this before opening.
  • No automatic prefetch of an assembly's children. Making an assembly available does not currently pull every referenced part automatically; you may need to make children available too.
  • Selective/sparse checkout (only downloading a chosen sub-assembly) is not built at the current scale; it is deferred until repositories reach tens of thousands of files.
  • "Free up space" is not available in the current release. The menu item has been temporarily removed while OID-verified hydration stabilises — see Known limitations.