copy & rename can ignore removed source files As mercurial now distinguishes deleted files from removed files, we can skip removed source files while copying or renaming.

#!/bin/sh

mkdir a
cd a
hg init
echo foo > b
hg add b
hg ci -m "b" -d "0 0"

chmod -w .hg

cd ..

hg clone a b
cd b
hg verify

cd ..

chmod +w a/.hg # let test clean up