How would you do the initial clone without the correct ssh config to begin with? I think the benefit of the article's method is that any clone from their org will just work.

You are right - that first clone has to be manually preceded by GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa_personal but after this you just configure the repo and forget about it.

I just like this workflow better since it is totally directory/remote agnostic (compared to the article).

Just use whatever suits you best :)

I have something like the parent suggests and yes, the article's idea is better because you don't need to do anything manual nor remember to run your own command at all.