Knickmann et al. present a novel method for rapid and efficient cloning of complete herpesvirus genomes as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) using single-step transformation-associated recombination (STAR) in yeast. This method simplifies the initial BAC-cloning step, which is often time-consuming and laborious, by directly integrating the linear viral genome into a vector containing a yeast centromeric plasmid and a BAC replicon. The cloned viral genomes are then transferred to *E. coli* for genetic engineering and virus reconstitution. The authors demonstrate the feasibility of STAR cloning by successfully cloning two strains of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) and two strains of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). STAR cloning is shown to be versatile, efficient, and applicable to both lytically replicating and latent herpesviruses, making it a valuable tool for functional genetic analysis and vaccine development. The method is expected to be generally applicable to other large DNA viruses.Knickmann et al. present a novel method for rapid and efficient cloning of complete herpesvirus genomes as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) using single-step transformation-associated recombination (STAR) in yeast. This method simplifies the initial BAC-cloning step, which is often time-consuming and laborious, by directly integrating the linear viral genome into a vector containing a yeast centromeric plasmid and a BAC replicon. The cloned viral genomes are then transferred to *E. coli* for genetic engineering and virus reconstitution. The authors demonstrate the feasibility of STAR cloning by successfully cloning two strains of rat cytomegalovirus (RCMV) and two strains of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). STAR cloning is shown to be versatile, efficient, and applicable to both lytically replicating and latent herpesviruses, making it a valuable tool for functional genetic analysis and vaccine development. The method is expected to be generally applicable to other large DNA viruses.