--- a/silvermirror/hg.py	Sun Feb 15 18:02:43 2015 +0000
+++ b/silvermirror/hg.py	Tue May 12 18:32:07 2015 -0700
@@ -18,20 +18,25 @@
     pass
 
 
+def clone(source, path):
+    print ('Cloning {} -> {}'.format(source, path))
+    return hglib.clone(source, path)
+
 def update(source, path):
     """
     get changes from host on path
     """
 
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        return clone(source, path)
 
     try:
         repo = hglib.open(path)
-        print ('Updating {}:'.format(path))
+        print ('Updating {}'.format(path))
         repo.pull(source, update=True, insecure=True)
     except ServerError:
-        print ('Cloning {} -> {}'.format(source, path))
         repo = hglib.clone(source, path)
-
+    return repo
 
 def repositories(url):
     """