raise ImportError(
                "Could not import git python package. "
                "Please install it with `pip install GitPython`."
            ) from ex
        if not os.path.exists(self.repo_path) and self.clone_url is None:
            raise ValueError(f"Path {self.repo_path} does not exist")
        elif self.clone_url:
            # If the repo_path already contains a git repository, verify that it's the
            # same repository as the one we're trying to clone.
            if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(self.repo_path, ".git")):
                repo = Repo(self.repo_path)
                # If the existing repository is not the same as the one we're trying to
                # clone, raise an error.
                if repo.remotes.origin.url != self.clone_url:
                    raise ValueError(
                        "A different repository is already cloned at this path."
                    )
            else:
                repo = Repo.clone_from(self.clone_url, self.repo_path)
            repo.git.checkout(self.branch)
        else:
            repo = Repo(self.repo_path)
            repo.git.checkout(self.branch)
        docs: List[Document] = []
        for item in repo.tree().traverse():
            if not isinstance(item, Blob):
                continue
            file_path = os.path.join(self.repo_path, item.path)
            ignored_files = repo.ignored([file_path])  # type: ignore
            if len(ignored_files):
                continue
            # uses filter to skip files
            if self.file_filter and not self.file_filter(file_path):
                continue
            rel_file_path = os.path.relpath(file_path, self.repo_path)
            try:
                with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
                    content = f.read()
                    file_type = os.path.splitext(item.name)[1]