Fetch, Pull, and Push

Remote Mechanics: Fetch, Pull, Push

After this page you can talk to another Git repository on Linux without confusing fetch with pull.

A remote is a named URL

cd ~/desk/desk-api
git remote add origin git@host:ada/desk-api.git
git remote -v

origin is a convention. The URL is SSH (chapter 2) or https://. For labs on one machine, a bare repo on disk is a valid remote:

 ~/desk/desk-api                         origin
 working tree + .git                     (bare) objects + refs
      │  git fetch    origin/main ──►    refs/heads/main
      │  git push     main ──────────►   refs/heads/main
      ▼
 refs/heads/main          refs/remotes/origin/main

git init --bare ~/desk/desk-api.git
git remote add origin ~/desk/desk-api.git

file:// and a path both work on Linux. Bare means no working tree — the shape a forge stores.

Fetch

git fetch origin
git fetch --all
git log --oneline --graph --decorate --all

Fetch downloads objects and updates remote-tracking names (origin/main). It does not move your main. Safe to run any time.

Push

git push -u origin main

-u sets upstream so later git push and git pull know the default. After that:

git push
git status
# Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'

Push refuses if the remote has commits you do not. Fetch, integrate, push again.

Pull

git pull

Fetch plus integrate @{u} into HEAD. With pull.ff only (chapter 2), it fast-forwards or fails. git pull --rebase copies your local commits onto the updated upstream (chapter 9).

Prefer git fetch then look at git log --oneline main..origin/main before you integrate.

Tracking

git branch -vv
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name '@{u}'

@{u} is the upstream of the current branch. git push -u is how it gets set.

Delete a remote branch

git push origin --delete feat/ping-json

Local delete is still git branch -d. The two are independent.