Syncing a forked repository on GitHub is an essential step to keep your local copy and remote fork up-to-date with the original repository. This process ensures that you have the latest changes from the upstream repository, allowing you to work efficiently and avoid potential merge conflicts.
Step 1: Add the Upstream Repository as a Remote
To sync your forked repository, you first need to add the original repository as a remote. This is done using the git remote add command, followed by the name you want to give the remote (typically "upstream") and the URL of the original repository.
git remote add upstream https://github.com/username/original-repo.git
Step 2: Fetch the Latest Changes from the Upstream Repository
After adding the upstream repository as a remote, you need to fetch the latest changes. This is done using the git fetch command, followed by the name of the remote.
git fetch upstream
This command retrieves all the branches and their commits from the upstream repository, storing them in your local repository under special branches (e.g., upstream/master).
Step 3: Merge or Rebase Your Local Branch
Once you have fetched the latest changes, you need to merge or rebase your local branch to update it with the changes from the upstream repository. There are two common approaches:
- Merge: This method creates a new merge commit that combines the changes from both your local branch and the upstream branch.
git checkout main
git merge upstream/main
- Rebase: This method reapplies your local commits on top of the updated upstream branch, resulting in a linear history. It’s often preferred for pull requests to keep the commit history clean.
git checkout main
git rebase upstream/main
If you choose to rebase and have already pushed your branch, you may need to force-push your changes to update your remote fork:
git push -f origin main
Note that force-pushing should be used with caution, especially if others are working on the same branch.
Alternative Method: Using git pull for Syncing
If you never commit directly to your master branch and want a simpler way to sync your fork, you can use git pull after checking out your master branch:
git checkout main
git pull upstream main
This method assumes that your local master branch is up-to-date with your origin remote and doesn’t have any unique commits. After syncing, you can push your updated master branch to your origin remote.
Best Practices
- Regularly sync your forked repository to avoid working on outdated code.
- Use
git rebasefor a clean commit history when preparing pull requests. - Avoid force-pushing if others are working on the same branch.
- Keep your main branch (e.g., master) in sync with the upstream repository to simplify future updates.
By following these steps and best practices, you can efficiently keep your forked repository on GitHub up-to-date with the original repository, ensuring a smooth development process.