Add GitShallowClone feature

controllers/imageupdateautomation_controller.go

@@ -298,6 +298,10 @@ func (r *ImageUpdateAutomationReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctr
 		opts.Branch = ref.Branch
 	}
 
+	if enabled, _ := r.features[features.GitShallowClone]; enabled {
+		opts.ShallowClone = true
+	}
+
 	// Use the git operations timeout for the repo.
 	cloneCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, origin.Spec.Timeout.Duration)
 	defer cancel()

docs/spec/v1beta1/imageupdateautomations.md

@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ with write access; e.g., if using a GitHub deploy key, "Allow write access" shou
 creating it. Only the `url`, `ref`, and `secretRef` fields of the `GitRepository` are used.
 
 The [`gitImplementation` field][source-docs] in the referenced `GitRepository` is ignored. The
-automation controller cannot use shallow clones or submodules, so there is no reason to use the
-go-git implementation rather than libgit2.
+automation controller automatically uses the go-git implementation rather than libgit2.
+To change this behavor, start the controller with `--feature-gates=ForceGoGitImplementation=false`.
 
 Other fields particular to how the Git repository is used are in the `git` field, [described
 below](#git-specific-specification).
@@ -169,6 +169,9 @@ When `checkout` is given, it overrides the analogous field in the `GitRepository
 in `.spec.sourceRef`. You would use this to put automation commits on a different branch than that
 you are syncing, for example.
 
+By default the controller will only do shallow clones, but this can be disabled by starting the controller
+with `--feature-gates=GitShallowClone=false`.
+
 ### Commit
 
 The `.spec.git.commit` field gives details to use when making a commit to push to the Git repository:
@@ -402,7 +405,12 @@ branch name, the automation will fail.
 
 When `push` is present, the `branch` field specifies a branch to push to at the origin. The branch
 will be created locally if it does not already exist, starting from the checkout branch. If it does
-already exist, updates will be calculated on top of any commits already on the branch.
+already exist, it will be overwritten with the cloned version plus the changes made by the
+controller. Alternatively, force push can be disabled by starting the controller with `--feature-gates=GitForcePushBranch=false`,
+in which case the updates will be calculated on top of any commits already on the push branch.
+Note that without force push in push branches, if the target branch is stale, the controller may not
+be able to conclude the operation and will consistently fail until the branch is either deleted or
+refreshed.
 
 In the following snippet, updates will be pushed as commits to the branch `auto`, and when that
 branch does not exist at the origin, it will be created locally starting from the branch `main`, and

internal/features/features.go

@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ const (
 	// When enabled, libgit2 won't be initialized, nor will any git2go cgo
 	// code be called.
 	ForceGoGitImplementation = "ForceGoGitImplementation"
+
+	// GitShallowClone enables the use of shallow clones when pulling source from
+	// Git repositories.
+	GitShallowClone = "GitShallowClone"
 )
 
 var features = map[string]bool{
@@ -42,6 +46,10 @@ var features = map[string]bool{
 	// ForceGoGitImplementation
 	// opt-out from v0.27
 	ForceGoGitImplementation: true,
+
+	// GitShallowClone
+	// opt-out from v0.28
+	GitShallowClone: true,
 }
 
 // DefaultFeatureGates contains a list of all supported feature gates and