diff --git a/nu-git-manager/mod.nu b/nu-git-manager/mod.nu
index af1b2796..b49e298a 100644
--- a/nu-git-manager/mod.nu
+++ b/nu-git-manager/mod.nu
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ export def "gm" []: nothing -> nothing {
 #
 #     setup a public repo in the local store and use HTTP to fetch without PAT and push with SSH
 #     > gm clone https://github.com/amtoine/nu-git-manager --fetch https --push ssh
+#
+#     clone a big repo as a single commit, avoiding all intermediate Git deltas
+#     > gm clone https://github.com/neovim/neovim --depth 1
 export def "gm clone" [
     url: string # the URL to the repository to clone, supports HTTPS and SSH links, as well as references ending in `.git` or starting with `git@`
     --remote: string = "origin" # the name of the remote to setup
@@ -85,28 +88,34 @@ export def "gm clone" [
 
     let urls = get-fetch-push-urls $repository $fetch $push $ssh
 
+    mut args = [$urls.fetch $local_path --origin $remote]
     if $depth != null {
-        if ($depth < 1) {(
-            throw-error "invalid_clone_depth"
-                $"clone depth should be strictly positive, found ($depth)"
-                (metadata $depth).span
-        )}
+        if ($depth < 1) {
+            let span = metadata $depth | get span
+            error make {
+                msg: $"(ansi red_bold)invalid_clone_depth(ansi reset)"
+                label: {
+                    text: $"clone depth should be strictly positive, found ($depth)"
+                    start: $span.start
+                    end: $span.end
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        $args = ($args ++ --depth ++ $depth)
 
-        log debug "cloning the repo"
         if $bare {
-            ^git clone $urls.fetch $local_path --origin $remote --depth $depth --bare
-        } else {
-            ^git clone $urls.fetch $local_path --origin $remote --depth $depth
+            $args = ($args ++ --bare)
         }
     } else {
-        log debug "cloning the repo"
         if $bare {
-            ^git clone $urls.fetch $local_path --origin $remote --bare
-        } else {
-            ^git clone $urls.fetch $local_path --origin $remote
+            $args = ($args ++ --bare)
         }
     }
 
+    log debug "cloning the repo"
+    ^git clone $args
+
     log debug "setting up the remote"
     ^git -C $local_path remote set-url $remote $urls.fetch
     ^git -C $local_path remote set-url $remote --push $urls.push