diff --git a/apps/nlab-api-docs/docs/quick-start.md b/apps/nlab-api-docs/docs/quick-start.md
index 2b1df87..eb0a995 100644
--- a/apps/nlab-api-docs/docs/quick-start.md
+++ b/apps/nlab-api-docs/docs/quick-start.md
@@ -173,6 +173,9 @@ nlab-api generate --project /path/to/frontend --branch another-branch
 
 下次不传 `--branch` 时，CLI 自动切回团队配置分支。
 
+已有仓库只抓取部分分支时，CLI 显式获取目标分支再创建本地分支，不修改原有 fetch 配置。
+后续更新显式指定远端和分支，仍只允许 fast-forward；目标分支确实不存在或获取失败时保留 Git 原始诊断。
+
 `generate` 按顺序执行：
 
 1. 获取后端仓库锁；缺失时根据 repository URL clone。
diff --git a/crates/nlab-api/src/repo.rs b/crates/nlab-api/src/repo.rs
index 240880a..013dd3a 100644
--- a/crates/nlab-api/src/repo.rs
+++ b/crates/nlab-api/src/repo.rs
@@ -290,21 +290,18 @@ fn switch_branch(root: &Path, branch: &str, deadline: Instant) -> Result<()> {
         return run_git(root, ["switch", branch], "switch backend branch", deadline);
     }
 
+    let remote_ref = format!("refs/remotes/origin/{branch}");
+    let refspec = format!("refs/heads/{branch}:{remote_ref}");
     run_git(
         root,
-        ["fetch", "--no-tags", "origin"],
-        "fetch backend branches",
+        ["fetch", "--no-tags", "origin", &refspec],
+        &format!("fetch backend branch {branch}"),
         deadline,
     )?;
-    let remote = format!("origin/{branch}");
-    let remote_ref = format!("refs/remotes/{remote}");
-    if !ref_exists(root, &remote_ref)? {
-        bail!("backend branch not found on origin: {branch}");
-    }
     run_git(
         root,
-        ["switch", "--track", "-c", branch, &remote],
-        "create backend tracking branch",
+        ["switch", "--no-track", "-c", branch, &remote_ref],
+        "create backend branch",
         deadline,
     )
 }
@@ -595,6 +592,54 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn prepare_fetches_target_outside_single_branch_refspec() {
+        let (root, remote, upstream, backend) = repositories();
+        git(&upstream, &["push", "origin", "main:master"]);
+        git(
+            root.path(),
+            &[
+                "clone",
+                "--single-branch",
+                "--branch",
+                "feature",
+                remote.to_str().unwrap(),
+                backend.to_str().unwrap(),
+            ],
+        );
+        let fetch = git_text(&backend, ["config", "--get-all", "remote.origin.fetch"]).unwrap();
+        assert!(!ref_exists(&backend, "refs/remotes/origin/master").unwrap());
+        let deadline = || Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(10);
+        {
+            let prepared = prepare(&backend, None, Some("master"), deadline()).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(prepared.target.branch, "master");
+            assert_eq!(
+                fs::read_to_string(backend.join("contract.java")).unwrap(),
+                "main"
+            );
+        }
+
+        fs::write(upstream.join("contract.java"), "updated master").unwrap();
+        git(&upstream, &["commit", "-am", "update master"]);
+        git(&upstream, &["push", "origin", "main:master"]);
+        let commit = git_text(&upstream, ["rev-parse", "HEAD"]).unwrap();
+        {
+            let prepared = prepare(&backend, None, Some("master"), deadline()).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(prepared.target.commit, commit);
+            assert_eq!(
+                fs::read_to_string(backend.join("contract.java")).unwrap(),
+                "updated master"
+            );
+        }
+        assert_eq!(
+            git_text(&backend, ["config", "--get-all", "remote.origin.fetch"]).unwrap(),
+            fetch
+        );
+        assert!(prepare(&backend, None, Some("missing"), deadline()).is_err());
+        assert_eq!(current_branch(&backend).unwrap(), "master");
+        assert_eq!(git_text(&backend, ["rev-parse", "HEAD"]).unwrap(), commit);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn prepare_rejects_dirty_repository_and_wrong_origin() {
         let (root, remote, _upstream, backend) = repositories();