diff --git a/crates/templates/src/manager.rs b/crates/templates/src/manager.rs
index 1759d8d25d..6f22f1e2b7 100644
--- a/crates/templates/src/manager.rs
+++ b/crates/templates/src/manager.rs
@@ -25,20 +25,32 @@ pub trait ProgressReporter {
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct InstallOptions {
     exists_behaviour: ExistsBehaviour,
+    skip_if_all_match: bool,
 }
 
 impl InstallOptions {
     /// Sets the option to update existing templates. If `update` is true,
     /// existing templates are updated. If false, existing templates are
     /// skipped.
-    pub fn update(self, update: bool) -> Self {
+    pub fn update(mut self, update: bool) -> Self {
         let exists_behaviour = if update {
             ExistsBehaviour::Update
         } else {
             ExistsBehaviour::Skip
         };
 
-        Self { exists_behaviour }
+        self.exists_behaviour = exists_behaviour;
+        self
+    }
+
+    /// If set, the installer will skip if the manager has templates,
+    /// and all templates were installed from the install source.
+    /// This allows a consumer to avoid downloading from a
+    /// remote source, at the expense of missing an update if the
+    /// source is mutable (such as a Git tag or branch).
+    pub fn skip_if_all_match(mut self, skip_if_all_match: bool) -> Self {
+        self.skip_if_all_match = skip_if_all_match;
+        self
     }
 }
 
@@ -46,6 +58,7 @@ impl Default for InstallOptions {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
             exists_behaviour: ExistsBehaviour::Skip,
+            skip_if_all_match: false,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -133,6 +146,18 @@ impl TemplateManager {
         options: &InstallOptions,
         reporter: &impl ProgressReporter,
     ) -> anyhow::Result<InstallationResults> {
+        if options.skip_if_all_match && self.all_match(source).await {
+            let existing = self.list().await.map(|lr| lr.templates).unwrap_or_default(); // don't fail if we can't list
+            return Ok(InstallationResults {
+                installed: Default::default(),
+                skipped: existing
+                    .into_iter()
+                    .map(|t| (t.id().to_string(), SkippedReason::AlreadyExists))
+                    .collect(),
+                removed: Default::default(),
+            });
+        }
+
         if source.requires_copy() {
             reporter.report("Copying remote template source");
         }
@@ -317,6 +342,23 @@ impl TemplateManager {
             .map(|l| Template::load_from(&l))
             .transpose()
     }
+
+    async fn all_match(&self, source: &TemplateSource) -> bool {
+        let existing = self.list().await.map(|lr| lr.templates).unwrap_or_default();
+        if existing.is_empty() {
+            // We don't expect a template source to be empty. If the manager is empty, count it as no match.
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        let (expected_repo, expected_tag) = match source {
+            TemplateSource::Git(g) => (g.repo(), g.branch()),
+            _ => return false, // other sources are too mutable
+        };
+
+        existing
+            .iter()
+            .all(|template| template.is_installed_from(expected_repo, expected_tag))
+    }
 }
 
 async fn copy_template_over_existing(
diff --git a/crates/templates/src/reader.rs b/crates/templates/src/reader.rs
index cdfe4b9012..98cb41440e 100644
--- a/crates/templates/src/reader.rs
+++ b/crates/templates/src/reader.rs
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ pub(crate) fn parse_manifest_toml(text: impl AsRef<str>) -> anyhow::Result<RawTe
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Serialize)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "snake_case", untagged)]
 pub(crate) enum RawInstalledFrom {
-    Git { git: String },
+    Git { git: String, branch: Option<String> },
     File { dir: String },
     RemoteTar { url: String },
 }
diff --git a/crates/templates/src/source.rs b/crates/templates/src/source.rs
index 65c8cfcd3b..fe600cf463 100644
--- a/crates/templates/src/source.rs
+++ b/crates/templates/src/source.rs
@@ -46,6 +46,16 @@ pub struct GitTemplateSource {
     spin_version: String,
 }
 
+impl GitTemplateSource {
+    pub(crate) fn repo(&self) -> &str {
+        self.url.as_str()
+    }
+
+    pub(crate) fn branch(&self) -> Option<&str> {
+        self.branch.as_deref()
+    }
+}
+
 impl TemplateSource {
     /// Creates a `TemplateSource` referring to the specified Git repository
     /// and branch.
@@ -68,6 +78,7 @@ impl TemplateSource {
         match self {
             Self::Git(g) => Some(crate::reader::RawInstalledFrom::Git {
                 git: g.url.to_string(),
+                branch: g.branch.clone(),
             }),
             Self::File(p) => {
                 // Saving a relative path would be meaningless (but should never happen)
diff --git a/crates/templates/src/template.rs b/crates/templates/src/template.rs
index f91d17c1b2..93cde5f202 100644
--- a/crates/templates/src/template.rs
+++ b/crates/templates/src/template.rs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ pub struct Template {
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 enum InstalledFrom {
-    Git(String),
+    Git { url: String, branch: Option<String> },
     Directory(String),
     RemoteTar(String),
     Unknown,
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ impl Template {
         // TODO: this is kind of specialised - should we do the discarding of
         // non-Git sources at the application layer?
         match &self.installed_from {
-            InstalledFrom::Git(url) => Some(url),
+            InstalledFrom::Git { url, .. } => Some(url),
             _ => None,
         }
     }
@@ -254,11 +254,23 @@ impl Template {
             .is_some_and(|r| r == source_repo.as_str())
     }
 
+    /// Determines if the template was installed from the expected repo and
+    /// branch. This does not prove that the template is up to date, as the
+    /// tag or branch may have moved in the interim.
+    pub fn is_installed_from(&self, expected_repo: &str, expected_tag: Option<&str>) -> bool {
+        match &self.installed_from {
+            InstalledFrom::Git { url, branch } => {
+                url == expected_repo && branch.as_deref() == expected_tag
+            }
+            _ => false,
+        }
+    }
+
     /// A human-readable description of where the template was installed
     /// from.
     pub fn installed_from_or_empty(&self) -> &str {
         match &self.installed_from {
-            InstalledFrom::Git(repo) => repo,
+            InstalledFrom::Git { url, .. } => url,
             InstalledFrom::Directory(path) => path,
             InstalledFrom::RemoteTar(url) => url,
             InstalledFrom::Unknown => "",
@@ -599,7 +611,7 @@ fn read_install_record(layout: &TemplateLayout) -> InstalledFrom {
 
     let installed_from_text = std::fs::read_to_string(layout.installation_record_file()).ok();
     match installed_from_text.and_then(parse_installed_from) {
-        Some(RawInstalledFrom::Git { git }) => InstalledFrom::Git(git),
+        Some(RawInstalledFrom::Git { git, branch }) => InstalledFrom::Git { url: git, branch },
         Some(RawInstalledFrom::File { dir }) => InstalledFrom::Directory(dir),
         Some(RawInstalledFrom::RemoteTar { url }) => InstalledFrom::RemoteTar(url),
         None => InstalledFrom::Unknown,
diff --git a/src/commands/new.rs b/src/commands/new.rs
index a302d49c39..e280faa07c 100644
--- a/src/commands/new.rs
+++ b/src/commands/new.rs
@@ -336,7 +336,9 @@ async fn env_templates_and_plugins(
                 if let Err(e) = template_manager
                     .install(
                         &source,
-                        &spin_templates::InstallOptions::default().update(true),
+                        &spin_templates::InstallOptions::default()
+                            .update(true)
+                            .skip_if_all_match(true),
                         &DiscardingReporter,
                     )
                     .await