DataLad Overview DataLad is a data management layer over Git and git-annex. Git tracks the dataset structure, small text files, and the history. git-annex tracks the content of large files, storing each file as a key and keeping the bytes somewhere that is not necessarily the local repository. A normal clone retrieves Git history and the top-level file listing while leaving annexed bytes unfetched. Installed subdatasets have their own histories; a clone does not automatically populate them. Clone cost depends on Git history and file count, not just the data volume. Retrieve annexed bytes sele…