Git Confusion

I am dreadfully confused. I have a GitHub repository. I have my local git repository, and the two are getting along fine. However, on GitHub I have two branches: "master" and "sottwell-dev". I make sure I push all my local commits to sottwell-dev until I'm quite happy with what I've done. Then I want to merge sottwell-dev into master.

The GUI client was insisting the branches were in sync. But GitHub shows the branch is 1 commit ahead of master, and the default download definitely is missing the changes. I even tried using the command line, but it also insists that the two are in syn, and at the same time tells me that branch is ahead of master.

SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git branch
* master
sottwell-dev
SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git merge sottwell-dev
Already up-to-date.
SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git commit -a
# On branch master
# Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
#
nothing to commit (working directory clean)
SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git checkout master
Already on 'master'
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/master' by 1 commit.
SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git merge sottwell-dev
Already up-to-date.
SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$

You've got your local git setup (which has your master and sottwell-dev branches), and there is a so-called "remote" set to origin, which is probably something like [email protected]:sottwell/repository.git.

You can see your remotes with


Your local branches master and sottwell-dev are in sync, but it sounds like you need to push from your local set up to your origin - github.

To specifically tell it to push to your "origin" remote at the "master" branch:

Usually, just telling it to push is sufficient:

If it tells you there are no tracking branches set up, use

which will tell it your current branch should by default push to origin/master.

Ok, that updated the remote master, but now the remote sottwell-dev branch is gone. Is this because I merged them locally? Or does it only show not-synced branches? It says there are two branches, but there are 0 branches not merged into master. [ed. note: sottwell last edited this post 14 years, 5 months ago.]

Probably. If you checkout that branch again locally, make a change and push that to origin again (not to master this time, though) it should pop up again.

It may also just be that they are in sync, so Github only shows the master one.

I don't think I can push to "origin", because this is a fork, and "origin" is the original repository.

Replace "origin" with whatever is the name of your remote then.

Usually, when dealing with forks, the original repository is set as the "upstream" remote, and your own fork is the "origin". There's no rule that says you need to do it that way, but it seems an accepted standard that works quite well. Again, as I said before, git remote -v will show you your remotes with their name and ssh/url.

If you can't push to origin, how did you expect your branch to show up there anyway, magic?

It could seem a bit like magic; that's why I ask. I'm beginning to get the general idea. Digging around I've found a bunch of ways to find out what is where and which is doing what to which. Pretty neat.

SmallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git branch -r
origin/HEAD -> origin/master
origin/master
origin/sottwell-dev

mallMac:evo-dev sottwell$ git remote show origin
* remote origin
Fetch URL: https://github.com/sottwell/evolution.git
Push URL: https://github.com/sottwell/evolution.git
HEAD branch: master
Remote branches:
master tracked
sottwell-dev tracked
Local branches configured for 'git pull':
master merges with remote master
sottwell-dev merges with remote sottwell-dev
Local refs configured for 'git push':
master pushes to master (up to date)
sottwell-dev pushes to sottwell-dev (up to date)

Yes! I see it all now. Thank you very, very much - you've given me the push in the right direction that I needed!

Keep in mind that your fork will not stay synchronized with the MODX repo. It's a natural assumption that it would, but that's not the way it works.

I found this O'Reilly book really helpful: http://amzn.to/Isoo4B



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PLEASE, PLEASE specify the version of MODX you are using.
MODX info for everyone: http://bobsguides.com/modx.html [ed. note: BobRay last edited this post 14 years, 5 months ago.]