> given how cloning a remote repo only gives you a partial copy of the remote history
You may be thinking of the optional -depth switch, which allows you to create shallow clones that don't have the full history. If you don't include that, you'll get the full history when cloning.
You may be thinking of the optional -depth switch, which allows you to create shallow clones that don't have the full history. If you don't include that, you'll get the full history when cloning.