diff --git a/lib/steps/repos.sh b/lib/steps/repos.sh
index 4fee556..3c35917 100644
--- a/lib/steps/repos.sh
+++ b/lib/steps/repos.sh
@@ -3,73 +3,50 @@
 step_repos() {
     print_section "Repositories"
     log_step "Cloning repositories & configuring .env" 2 $TOTAL_STEPS
+
     mkdir -p "$HV_BASE"
     chmod 700 "$HV_BASE"
+
     _clone_repos
     _setup_env
 }
 
 _clone_repos() {
-    echo "[DEBUG] ==============================="
-    echo "[DEBUG] HV_BASE=$HV_BASE"
-    echo "[DEBUG] HV_CORE=$HV_CORE"
-    echo "[DEBUG] REPO_URLS[core]=${REPO_URLS[core]}"
-    echo "[DEBUG] REPO_BRANCHES[core]=${REPO_BRANCHES[core]}"
-    echo "[DEBUG] REPO_DIRS[core]=${REPO_DIRS[core]}"
-    echo "[DEBUG] ==============================="
-
     for name in core essentials cli gui; do
         local url="${REPO_URLS[$name]}"
         local branch="${REPO_BRANCHES[$name]}"
         local dest="${REPO_DIRS[$name]}"
-        [ "$name" = "core" ] && dest="$HV_CORE"
-        [ "$name" = "cli" ] && dest="$HV_CLI"
-        [ "$name" = "essentials" ] && dest="$HV_ESSENTIALS"
-        [ "$name" = "gui" ] && dest="$HV_GUI"
-
-        echo "[DEBUG] --- name=$name"
-        echo "[DEBUG]     url=$url"
-        echo "[DEBUG]     branch=$branch"
-        echo "[DEBUG]     dest=$dest"
 
         if [ -d "$dest/.git" ]; then
-            echo "[DEBUG]     .git EXISTS at $dest — asking re-clone"
-            log_warn "Repo already exists: ${dest}"
+            log_warn "Repository already exists: ${dest}"
             if ask_confirm "Delete and re-clone ${name}?"; then
                 rm -rf "$dest"
             else
                 log_skip "Re-clone skipped — using ${dest}"
                 continue
             fi
-        else
-            echo "[DEBUG]     .git NOT found — proceeding to clone"
         fi
 
-        echo "[DEBUG]     running: git clone --branch $branch $url $dest"
-        if git clone --branch "$branch" "$url" "$dest"; then
-            echo "[DEBUG]     clone SUCCESS"
-            stop_spinner "${name} cloned → ${dest}"
-        else
-            echo "[DEBUG]     clone FAILED (exit code $?)"
+        start_spinner "Cloning ${name} (branch: ${branch})..."
+        if git clone --branch "$branch" "$url" "$dest" 2>&1 | grep -q "fatal\|error"; then
             stop_spinner
             log_error "git clone failed: ${url}"
             exit 1
         fi
-
+        stop_spinner "${name} cloned → ${dest}"
         chmod 700 "$dest"
-        echo "[DEBUG]     chmod 700 done"
     done
 
-    echo "[DEBUG] _clone_repos finished"
+    if [ ! -d "$HV_CORE/.git" ]; then
+        log_error "core repository not cloned successfully"
+        exit 1
+    fi
 }
 
 _setup_env() {
     local env_file="$HV_CORE/.env"
     local example_file="$HV_CORE/.env.example"
 
-    echo "[DEBUG] _setup_env: example_file=$example_file"
-    echo "[DEBUG] _setup_env: env_file=$env_file"
-
     if [ ! -f "$example_file" ]; then
         log_error ".env.example not found: ${example_file}"
         exit 1