diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Internal/RevisionInformation.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Internal/RevisionInformation.cs
index efdb763aa2..1ee31b1993 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Internal/RevisionInformation.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Internal/RevisionInformation.cs
@@ -11,14 +11,14 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Api.Models.Internal
 		/// The revision sha
 		/// </summary>
 		[Required]
-		[StringLength(40)]
+		[StringLength(Limits.MaximumCommitShaLength)]
 		public string? CommitSha { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The sha of the most recent remote commit
 		/// </summary>
 		[Required]
-		[StringLength(40)]
+		[StringLength(Limits.MaximumCommitShaLength)]
 		public string? OriginCommitSha { get; set; }
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Limits.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Limits.cs
index be61530fe7..249ecd0763 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Limits.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Limits.cs
@@ -14,5 +14,10 @@
 		/// Length limit for <see cref="Internal.ChatBot.Name"/>s.
 		/// </summary>
 		public const int MaximumIndexableStringLength = 100;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Length limit for git commit SHAs.
+		/// </summary>
+		public const int MaximumCommitShaLength = 40;
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Repository.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Repository.cs
index 26a3e1fa46..88b53ab95c 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Repository.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Api/Models/Repository.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
 
 namespace Tgstation.Server.Api.Models
 {
@@ -12,9 +13,15 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Api.Models
 		/// </summary>
 		public string? Origin { get; set; }
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// If submodules should be recursively cloned.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool? RecurseSubmodules { get; set; }
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The commit HEAD should point to. Not populated in responses, use <see cref="RevisionInformation"/> instead for retrieval
 		/// </summary>
+		[StringLength(Limits.MaximumCommitShaLength)]
 		public string? CheckoutSha { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -45,6 +52,7 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Api.Models
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The branch or tag HEAD points to
 		/// </summary>
+		[StringLength(Limits.MaximumStringLength)]
 		public string? Reference { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/IRepositoryManager.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/IRepositoryManager.cs
index 2f9c59df69..06bf3fb467 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/IRepositoryManager.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/IRepositoryManager.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Components.Repository
 		bool InUse { get; }
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// If a <see cref="CloneRepository(Uri, string, string, string, Action{int}, CancellationToken)"/> operation is in progress
+		/// If a <see cref="CloneRepository(Uri, string, string, string, Action{int}, bool, CancellationToken)"/> operation is in progress.
 		/// </summary>
 		bool CloneInProgress { get; }
 
@@ -34,9 +34,17 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Components.Repository
 		/// <param name="username">The username to clone from <paramref name="url"/></param>
 		/// <param name="password">The password to clone from <paramref name="url"/></param>
 		/// <param name="progressReporter">A function to report 0-100 progress of the clone</param>
+		/// <param name="recurseSubmodules">If submodules should be recusively cloned and initialized.</param>
 		/// <param name="cancellationToken">The <see cref="CancellationToken"/> for the operation</param>
 		/// <returns>The newly cloned <see cref="IRepository"/>, <see langword="null"/> if one already exists</returns>
-		Task<IRepository> CloneRepository(Uri url, string initialBranch, string username, string password, Action<int> progressReporter, CancellationToken cancellationToken);
+		Task<IRepository> CloneRepository(
+			Uri url,
+			string initialBranch,
+			string username,
+			string password,
+			Action<int> progressReporter,
+			bool recurseSubmodules,
+			CancellationToken cancellationToken);
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Delete the current repository
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/RepositoryManager.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/RepositoryManager.cs
index 4c5fefc314..55c19fdc82 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/RepositoryManager.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Components/Repository/RepositoryManager.cs
@@ -89,7 +89,14 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Components.Repository
 		}
 
 		/// <inheritdoc />
-		public async Task<IRepository> CloneRepository(Uri url, string initialBranch, string username, string password, Action<int> progressReporter, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+		public async Task<IRepository> CloneRepository(
+			Uri url,
+			string initialBranch,
+			string username,
+			string password,
+			Action<int> progressReporter,
+			bool recurseSubmodules,
+			CancellationToken cancellationToken)
 		{
 			if (url == null)
 				throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(url));
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Components.Repository
 									progressReporter((int)percentage);
 									return !cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested;
 								},
-								RecurseSubmodules = true,
+								RecurseSubmodules = recurseSubmodules,
 								OnUpdateTips = (a, b, c) => !cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested,
 								RepositoryOperationStarting = (a) => !cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested,
 								BranchName = initialBranch,
diff --git a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Controllers/RepositoryController.cs b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Controllers/RepositoryController.cs
index d6536518e3..0094cb8764 100644
--- a/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Controllers/RepositoryController.cs
+++ b/src/Tgstation.Server.Host/Controllers/RepositoryController.cs
@@ -204,7 +204,15 @@ namespace Tgstation.Server.Host.Controllers
 			var api = currentModel.ToApi();
 			await jobManager.RegisterOperation(job, async (paramJob, databaseContextFactory, progressReporter, ct) =>
 			{
-				using var repos = await repoManager.CloneRepository(new Uri(origin), cloneBranch, currentModel.AccessUser, currentModel.AccessToken, progressReporter, ct).ConfigureAwait(false);
+				using var repos = await repoManager.CloneRepository(
+					new Uri(origin),
+					cloneBranch,
+					currentModel.AccessUser,
+					currentModel.AccessToken,
+					progressReporter,
+					model.RecurseSubmodules ?? true,
+					ct)
+					.ConfigureAwait(false);
 				if (repos == null)
 					throw new JobException(ErrorCode.RepoExists);
 				var instance = new Models.Instance