diff --git a/manifest b/manifest
index 189cb0be46..4eeabb2d87 100644
--- a/manifest
+++ b/manifest
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-C Fix\sthe\sshellB.test\smodule\sso\sthat\sit\sdoes\snot\stry\sto\srun\sdump.sql\nwithout\svirtual\stables\savailable.
-D 2026-10-20T19:21:43.489
+C Simplify\sthe\s".clone"\scommand\sso\sthat\sit\sjust\smakes\sa\scopy\sof\sthe\smain\ndatabase.\s\sMove\sthe\simplementation\sinto\sa\sseparate\sdotCmdClone()\sfunction\nand\sprovide\sbetter\shelp\stext\sexplaining\sits\shistory.
+D 2026-10-20T19:30:24.831
 F .fossil-settings/binary-glob 61195414528fb3ea9693577e1980230d78a1f8b0a54c78cf1b9b24d0a409ed6a x
 F .fossil-settings/empty-dirs dbb81e8fc0401ac46a1491ab34a7f2c7c0452f2f06b54ebb845d024ca8283ef1
 F .fossil-settings/ignore-glob 35175cdfcf539b2318cb04a9901442804be81cd677d8b889fcc9149c21f239ea
@@ -808,7 +808,7 @@ F src/random.c 606b00941a1d7dd09c381d3279a058d771f406c5213c9932bbd93d5587be4b9c
 F src/resolve.c 658d5d8f67b7565cbed56394d0fdbb124561a92c7455253186189db5e090e661
 F src/rowset.c 8432130e6c344b3401a8874c3cb49fefe6873fec593294de077afea2dce5ec97
 F src/select.c 7b82615d355666993b777da78a6892e3e48220efe9fd24eb0bb10fc3953c7bc0
-F src/shell.c.in d64c2a5d75158d1c2d6bfc7648c00481a4c6c26d077d83328831aaf40ddd5352
+F src/shell.c.in 808c0bd4a593a3552777c059e90c9c47e459f507fa25d2afd298edf09d3140f5
 F src/sqlite.h.in d73bee6ea0612260b5edf72e3e58de7bd2a50cff000e0f4b3c3549d3e4c35171
 F src/sqlite3.rc 015537e6ac1eec6c7050e17b616c2ffe6f70fca241835a84a4f0d5937383c479
 F src/sqlite3ext.h 5e113c4c0442f2f1b3345d44cbe4b82fad45f2fc0c35f0ed4eef27fb8f1cb394
@@ -1714,7 +1714,7 @@ F test/shared_err.test 32634e404a3317eeb94abc7a099c556a346fdb8fb3858dbe222a4cbb8
 F test/sharedlock.test 5ede3c37439067c43b0198f580fd374ebf15d304
 F test/shell-prompt.sql 8a320a78812d75349bd5e1a95178f7ff1f2194bb4cceee572865d127c51684b3
 F test/shell1.test 677b23fc543ec5eec5bec10b5c29e74c684c2ac286390b7179e4459ea0d54136
-F test/shell2.test eee473558d67c4a7cd9a0c974b4001ef1bf7977874111a6b5b1ef54564984173
+F test/shell2.test 598f17feda8de7c6c7cec522a6eafbbfafee6766f85229a93f71f97c78b883b6
 F test/shell3.test 91efdd545097a61a1f72cf79c9ad5b49da080f3f10282eaf4c3c272cd1012db2
 F test/shell4.test 931c7555d5a0dcac255561a936fcf1f54c12dd66f668e27e8b0d9ed0d4b9fe22
 F test/shell5.test a0c43d82a811a463a5d07d6418c5a045ab01a072544db8aa31ae394e93845d8d
@@ -2295,8 +2295,8 @@ F tool/warnings-clang.sh bbf6a1e685e534c92ec2bfba5b1745f34fb6f0bc2a362850723a9ee
 F tool/warnings.sh a554d13f6e5cf3760f041b87939e3d616ec6961859c3245e8ef701d1eafc2ca2
 F tool/win/sqlite.vsix deb315d026cc8400325c5863eef847784a219a2f
 F tool/winmain.c 00c8fb88e365c9017db14c73d3c78af62194d9644feaf60e220ab0f411f3604c
-P 7ee2a48bb3765bfe8cef4ae400eacf77c660f9d5dbaa289ab5f17474fca98cae
-R 9fd1483f6628090c18eb1ed219fdf80a
+P 3f8b4c7760148eabbf721ff9b8321793972d372fa3156dc8c60ed680f5467d0c
+R 30f8f60c48ac60a693d47e31704ae3c6
 U drh
-Z a38aed9d67bb138830822f46db8da54c
+Z 993d09f4999c4f0c0b7b58894f899ac6
 # Remove this line to create a well-formed Fossil manifest.
diff --git a/manifest.uuid b/manifest.uuid
index 11705e496c..b705fe11e3 100644
--- a/manifest.uuid
+++ b/manifest.uuid
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3f8b4c7760148eabbf721ff9b8321793972d372fa3156dc8c60ed680f5467d0c
+8b5c87a5f4dc6dccf2130d41df958ea59f0892836b574388539ee7d905cd014d
diff --git a/src/shell.c.in b/src/shell.c.in
index 26e690ca79..c06649b5f2 100644
--- a/src/shell.c.in
+++ b/src/shell.c.in
@@ -5872,223 +5872,44 @@ static char *SQLITE_CDECL ascii_read_one_field(ImportCtx *p){
   return p->z;
 }
 
+#ifndef SQLITE_SHELL_FIDDLE
 /*
-** Try to transfer data for table zTable.  If an error is seen while
-** moving forward, try to go backwards.  The backwards movement won't
-** work for WITHOUT ROWID tables.
+** DOT-COMMAND: .clone
+**
+** USAGE: .clone FILE
+**
+** The original purpose of the ".clone" command (when it was first introduced
+** in 2014) was to try to recover content for a corrupt database file and
+** write the recovered content into a new database named FILE.  However,
+** the command has always been experimental and undocumented.  Today, it
+** does nothing more than make a copy of the main database into a new
+** database named by its only argument, FILE.  No repair attempts are
+** made.  The command is retained for legacy only.
 */
-static void tryToCloneData(
-  ShellState *p,
-  sqlite3 *newDb,
-  const char *zTable
-){
-  sqlite3_stmt *pQuery = 0;
-  sqlite3_stmt *pInsert = 0;
-  char *zQuery = 0;
-  char *zInsert = 0;
+static int dotCmdClone(ShellState *p){
+  int nArg = p->dot.nArg;     /* Number of arguments */
+  char **azArg = p->dot.azArg;/* Argument list */
+  char *zSql;
+  sqlite3_stmt *pStmt = 0;
   int rc;
-  int i, j, n;
-  int nTable = strlen30(zTable);
-  int k = 0;
-  int cnt = 0;
-  const int spinRate = 10000;
 
-  zQuery = sqlite3_mprintf("SELECT * FROM \"%w\"", zTable);
-  shell_check_oom(zQuery);
-  rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(p->db, zQuery, -1, &pQuery, 0);
-  if( rc ){
-    cli_printf(stderr,"Error %d: %s on [%s]\n",
-          sqlite3_extended_errcode(p->db), sqlite3_errmsg(p->db), zQuery);
-    goto end_data_xfer;
+  failIfSafeMode(p, "cannot run .clone in safe mode");
+  if( nArg!=2 ){
+    dotCmdError(p, nArg, 0, "missing FILE argument");
+    return 1;
   }
-  n = sqlite3_column_count(pQuery);
-  zInsert = sqlite3_malloc64(200 + nTable + n*3);
-  shell_check_oom(zInsert);
-  sqlite3_snprintf(200+nTable,zInsert,
-                   "INSERT OR IGNORE INTO \"%s\" VALUES(?", zTable);
-  i = strlen30(zInsert);
-  for(j=1; j<n; j++){
-    memcpy(zInsert+i, ",?", 2);
-    i += 2;
+  zSql = sqlite3_mprintf("VACUUM INTO %Q", azArg[1]);
+  rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(p->db, zSql, -1, &pStmt, 0);
+  sqlite3_free(zSql);
+  if( rc!=SQLITE_OK || SQLITE_DONE!=sqlite3_step(pStmt) ){
+    cli_printf(stderr,"Error: cannot clone into \"%s\"\n", azArg[1]);
+    sqlite3_finalize(pStmt);
+    return 1;
   }
-  memcpy(zInsert+i, ");", 3);
-  rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(newDb, zInsert, -1, &pInsert, 0);
-  if( rc ){
-    cli_printf(stderr,"Error %d: %s on [%s]\n",
-          sqlite3_extended_errcode(newDb), sqlite3_errmsg(newDb), zInsert);
-    goto end_data_xfer;
-  }
-  for(k=0; k<2; k++){
-    while( (rc = sqlite3_step(pQuery))==SQLITE_ROW ){
-      for(i=0; i<n; i++){
-        switch( sqlite3_column_type(pQuery, i) ){
-          case SQLITE_NULL: {
-            sqlite3_bind_null(pInsert, i+1);
-            break;
-          }
-          case SQLITE_INTEGER: {
-            sqlite3_bind_int64(pInsert, i+1, sqlite3_column_int64(pQuery,i));
-            break;
-          }
-          case SQLITE_FLOAT: {
-            sqlite3_bind_double(pInsert, i+1, sqlite3_column_double(pQuery,i));
-            break;
-          }
-          case SQLITE_TEXT: {
-            sqlite3_bind_text(pInsert, i+1,
-                             (const char*)sqlite3_column_text(pQuery,i),
-                             -1, SQLITE_STATIC);
-            break;
-          }
-          case SQLITE_BLOB: {
-            sqlite3_bind_blob(pInsert, i+1, sqlite3_column_blob(pQuery,i),
-                                            sqlite3_column_bytes(pQuery,i),
-                                            SQLITE_STATIC);
-            break;
-          }
-        }
-      } /* End for */
-      rc = sqlite3_step(pInsert);
-      if( rc!=SQLITE_OK && rc!=SQLITE_ROW && rc!=SQLITE_DONE ){
-        cli_printf(stderr,"Error %d: %s\n",
-              sqlite3_extended_errcode(newDb), sqlite3_errmsg(newDb));
-      }
-      sqlite3_reset(pInsert);
-      cnt++;
-      if( (cnt%spinRate)==0 ){
-        printf("%c\b", "|/-\\"[(cnt/spinRate)%4]);
-        fflush(stdout);
-      }
-    } /* End while */
-    if( rc==SQLITE_DONE ) break;
-    sqlite3_finalize(pQuery);
-    sqlite3_free(zQuery);
-    zQuery = sqlite3_mprintf("SELECT * FROM \"%w\" ORDER BY rowid DESC;",
-                             zTable);
-    shell_check_oom(zQuery);
-    rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(p->db, zQuery, -1, &pQuery, 0);
-    if( rc ){
-      cli_printf(stderr,"Warning: cannot step \"%s\" backwards", zTable);
-      break;
-    }
-  } /* End for(k=0...) */
-
-end_data_xfer:
-  sqlite3_finalize(pQuery);
-  sqlite3_finalize(pInsert);
-  sqlite3_free(zQuery);
-  sqlite3_free(zInsert);
-}
-
-
-/*
-** Try to transfer all rows of the schema that match zWhere.  For
-** each row, invoke xForEach() on the object defined by that row.
-** If an error is encountered while moving forward through the
-** sqlite_schema table, try again moving backwards.
-*/
-static void tryToCloneSchema(
-  ShellState *p,
-  sqlite3 *newDb,
-  const char *zWhere,
-  void (*xForEach)(ShellState*,sqlite3*,const char*)
-){
-  sqlite3_stmt *pQuery = 0;
-  char *zQuery = 0;
-  int rc;
-  const unsigned char *zName;
-  const unsigned char *zSql;
-  char *zErrMsg = 0;
-
-  zQuery = sqlite3_mprintf("SELECT name, sql FROM sqlite_schema"
-                           " WHERE %s ORDER BY rowid ASC", zWhere);
-  shell_check_oom(zQuery);
-  rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(p->db, zQuery, -1, &pQuery, 0);
-  if( rc ){
-    cli_printf(stderr,
-          "Error: (%d) %s on [%s]\n", sqlite3_extended_errcode(p->db),
-          sqlite3_errmsg(p->db), zQuery);
-    goto end_schema_xfer;
-  }
-  while( (rc = sqlite3_step(pQuery))==SQLITE_ROW ){
-    zName = sqlite3_column_text(pQuery, 0);
-    zSql = sqlite3_column_text(pQuery, 1);
-    if( zName==0 || zSql==0 ) continue;
-    if( sqlite3_stricmp((char*)zName, "sqlite_sequence")!=0 ){
-      cli_printf(stdout, "%s... ", zName); fflush(stdout);
-      sqlite3_exec(newDb, (const char*)zSql, 0, 0, &zErrMsg);
-      if( zErrMsg ){
-        cli_printf(stderr,"Error: %s\nSQL: [%s]\n", zErrMsg, zSql);
-        sqlite3_free(zErrMsg);
-        zErrMsg = 0;
-      }
-    }
-    if( xForEach ){
-      xForEach(p, newDb, (const char*)zName);
-    }
-    sputz(stdout, "done\n");
-  }
-  if( rc!=SQLITE_DONE ){
-    sqlite3_finalize(pQuery);
-    sqlite3_free(zQuery);
-    zQuery = sqlite3_mprintf("SELECT name, sql FROM sqlite_schema"
-                             " WHERE %s ORDER BY rowid DESC", zWhere);
-    shell_check_oom(zQuery);
-    rc = sqlite3_prepare_v2(p->db, zQuery, -1, &pQuery, 0);
-    if( rc ){
-      cli_printf(stderr,"Error: (%d) %s on [%s]\n",
-            sqlite3_extended_errcode(p->db), sqlite3_errmsg(p->db), zQuery);
-      goto end_schema_xfer;
-    }
-    while( sqlite3_step(pQuery)==SQLITE_ROW ){
-      zName = sqlite3_column_text(pQuery, 0);
-      zSql = sqlite3_column_text(pQuery, 1);
-      if( zName==0 || zSql==0 ) continue;
-      if( sqlite3_stricmp((char*)zName, "sqlite_sequence")==0 ) continue;
-      cli_printf(stdout, "%s... ", zName); fflush(stdout);
-      sqlite3_exec(newDb, (const char*)zSql, 0, 0, &zErrMsg);
-      if( zErrMsg ){
-        cli_printf(stderr,"Error: %s\nSQL: [%s]\n", zErrMsg, zSql);
-        sqlite3_free(zErrMsg);
-        zErrMsg = 0;
-      }
-      if( xForEach ){
-        xForEach(p, newDb, (const char*)zName);
-      }
-      sputz(stdout, "done\n");
-    }
-  }
-end_schema_xfer:
-  sqlite3_finalize(pQuery);
-  sqlite3_free(zQuery);
-}
-
-/*
-** Open a new database file named "zNewDb".  Try to recover as much information
-** as possible out of the main database (which might be corrupt) and write it
-** into zNewDb.
-*/
-static void tryToClone(ShellState *p, const char *zNewDb){
-  int rc;
-  sqlite3 *newDb = 0;
-  if( access(zNewDb,0)==0 ){
-    cli_printf(stderr,"File \"%s\" already exists.\n", zNewDb);
-    return;
-  }
-  rc = sqlite3_open(zNewDb, &newDb);
-  if( rc ){
-    cli_printf(stderr,
-        "Cannot create output database: %s\n", sqlite3_errmsg(newDb));
-  }else{
-    sqlite3_exec(p->db, "PRAGMA writable_schema=ON;", 0, 0, 0);
-    sqlite3_exec(newDb, "BEGIN EXCLUSIVE;", 0, 0, 0);
-    tryToCloneSchema(p, newDb, "type='table'", tryToCloneData);
-    tryToCloneSchema(p, newDb, "type!='table'", 0);
-    sqlite3_exec(newDb, "COMMIT;", 0, 0, 0);
-    sqlite3_exec(p->db, "PRAGMA writable_schema=OFF;", 0, 0, 0);
-  }
-  close_db(newDb);
+  sqlite3_finalize(pStmt);
+  return 0;
 }
+#endif /* !defined(SQLITE_SHELL_FIDDLE) */
 
 #ifndef SQLITE_SHELL_FIDDLE
 /*
@@ -10308,13 +10129,7 @@ static int do_meta_command(const char *zLine, ShellState *p){
 
 #ifndef SQLITE_SHELL_FIDDLE
   if( c=='c' && cli_strncmp(azArg[0], "clone", n)==0 ){
-    failIfSafeMode(p, "cannot run .clone in safe mode");
-    if( nArg==2 ){
-      tryToClone(p, azArg[1]);
-    }else{
-      eputz("Usage: .clone FILENAME\n");
-      rc = 1;
-    }
+    rc = dotCmdClone(p);
   }else
 #endif /* !defined(SQLITE_SHELL_FIDDLE) */
 
diff --git a/test/shell2.test b/test/shell2.test
index 6a1534de68..a205534541 100644
--- a/test/shell2.test
+++ b/test/shell2.test
@@ -225,9 +225,7 @@ do_test shell2-1.4.9 {
 .clone clone.db
 .open clone.db
  SELECT max(seq) FROM sqlite_sequence;}]]
-} {0 {t... done
-done
-2}}
+} {0 2}
 
 ifcapable vtab {
 # Verify that generate_series stays sane near 64-bit range boundaries.