diff --git a/checkout.go b/checkout.go
index c5aa262..39b1dfb 100644
--- a/checkout.go
+++ b/checkout.go
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 package pipeline
 
-import "encoding/json"
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/buildkite/go-pipeline/ordered"
+)
 
 var _ json.Marshaler = (*Checkout)(nil)
 
@@ -12,6 +17,9 @@ type Checkout struct {
 	// the env var explicitly.
 	Submodules *bool `json:"submodules,omitempty" yaml:"submodules,omitempty"`
 
+	// Sparse configures sparse checkout. nil = unset (full checkout).
+	Sparse *Sparse `json:"sparse,omitempty" yaml:"sparse,omitempty"`
+
 	// RemainingFields stores any other mapping items so they at least
 	// survive an unmarshal-marshal round-trip.
 	RemainingFields map[string]any `yaml:",inline"`
@@ -20,3 +28,38 @@ type Checkout struct {
 func (c *Checkout) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return inlineFriendlyMarshalJSON(c)
 }
+
+var _ interface {
+	json.Marshaler
+	ordered.Unmarshaler
+} = (*Sparse)(nil)
+
+// Sparse models sparse checkout configuration.
+type Sparse struct {
+	// Paths is the list of paths to include in the sparse checkout.
+	Paths []string `json:"paths,omitempty" yaml:"paths,omitempty"`
+
+	// RemainingFields stores any other mapping items so they at least
+	// survive an unmarshal-marshal round-trip.
+	RemainingFields map[string]any `yaml:",inline"`
+}
+
+// MarshalJSON marshals Sparse to JSON. Special handling is needed because
+// yaml.v3 has "inline" but encoding/json has no concept of it.
+func (s *Sparse) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	return inlineFriendlyMarshalJSON(s)
+}
+
+// UnmarshalOrdered unmarshals a Sparse from an ordered map.
+func (s *Sparse) UnmarshalOrdered(o any) error {
+	switch o.(type) {
+	case *ordered.MapSA:
+		type wrappedSparse Sparse
+		if err := ordered.Unmarshal(o, (*wrappedSparse)(s)); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unmarshaling sparse: %w", err)
+		}
+		return nil
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("unmarshaling sparse: unsupported type %T, want a mapping", o)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/checkout_test.go b/checkout_test.go
index 1a4832e..0f58556 100644
--- a/checkout_test.go
+++ b/checkout_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,26 @@ func TestCheckoutUnmarshalYAML(t *testing.T) {
 			`{skip: true}`,
 			Checkout{RemainingFields: map[string]any{"skip": true}},
 		},
+		{
+			"sparse with paths multi-line",
+			"sparse:\n  paths:\n    - .buildkite/\n    - src/",
+			Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}}},
+		},
+		{
+			"sparse with paths inline",
+			`{sparse: {paths: [".buildkite/", "src/"]}}`,
+			Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}}},
+		},
+		{
+			"sparse omitted",
+			`{}`,
+			Checkout{},
+		},
+		{
+			"sparse with empty paths",
+			`{sparse: {paths: []}}`,
+			Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{}}},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
@@ -84,6 +104,16 @@ func TestCheckoutMarshalYAML(t *testing.T) {
 			wantSubstrs: []string{"skip: true"},
 			notWant:     []string{"submodules"},
 		},
+		{
+			name:        "sparse with paths",
+			c:           Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}}},
+			wantSubstrs: []string{"sparse:", "paths:", ".buildkite/", "src/"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "sparse nil omitted",
+			c:       Checkout{},
+			notWant: []string{"sparse"},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
@@ -129,6 +159,16 @@ func TestCheckoutMarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			`{"depth":1,"gibberish":"x","submodules":true}`,
 		},
+		{
+			"sparse with paths",
+			&Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}}},
+			`{"sparse":{"paths":[".buildkite/","src/"]}}`,
+		},
+		{
+			"sparse nil omitted",
+			&Checkout{},
+			`{}`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
@@ -159,6 +199,16 @@ func TestCheckoutUnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		{"submodules null", `{"submodules":null}`, Checkout{}},
 		{"submodules true", `{"submodules":true}`, Checkout{Submodules: ptr(true)}},
 		{"submodules false", `{"submodules":false}`, Checkout{Submodules: ptr(false)}},
+		{
+			"sparse with paths",
+			`{"sparse":{"paths":[".buildkite/","src/"]}}`,
+			Checkout{Sparse: &Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}}},
+		},
+		{
+			"sparse null",
+			`{"sparse":null}`,
+			Checkout{},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {
@@ -177,6 +227,80 @@ func TestCheckoutUnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSparseUnmarshalYAML(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name  string
+		input string
+		want  Sparse
+	}{
+		{"empty", `{}`, Sparse{}},
+		{
+			"paths set",
+			"paths:\n  - .buildkite/\n  - src/",
+			Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}},
+		},
+		{
+			"empty paths",
+			`{paths: []}`,
+			Sparse{Paths: []string{}},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			var node yaml.Node
+			if err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(tc.input), &node); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("yaml.Unmarshal() error = %v", err)
+			}
+
+			var got Sparse
+			if err := ordered.Unmarshal(&node, &got); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("ordered.Unmarshal() error = %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(got, tc.want); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Sparse diff (-got +want):\n%s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestSparseMarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		s    *Sparse
+		want string
+	}{
+		{"empty", &Sparse{}, `{}`},
+		{
+			"paths set",
+			&Sparse{Paths: []string{".buildkite/", "src/"}},
+			`{"paths":[".buildkite/","src/"]}`,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			b, err := json.Marshal(tc.s)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("json.Marshal() error = %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if diff := cmp.Diff(string(b), tc.want); diff != "" {
+				t.Errorf("Sparse.MarshalJSON() diff (-got +want):\n%s", diff)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestPipelineCheckout(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()