my-notes

Forking_Workflow

1 min read

Forking Workflow

Contribute to projects you don't have write access to.

📊 Workflow Overview

graph LR
    A[Original Repo] -->|Fork| B[Your Fork]
    B -->|Clone| C[Local Machine]
    C -->|Push| B
    B -->|PR| A
    A -->|Fetch| C

1️⃣ Fork the Repository

Fork via GitHub CLI

gh repo fork original-owner/repo

Creates fork on your GitHub account.

Fork and Clone

gh repo fork original-owner/repo --clone

Forks and clones in one command.

2️⃣ Clone Your Fork

Clone Your Fork

git clone git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/repo.git

Downloads your fork locally.

cd repo

Enter the cloned directory.

3️⃣ Add Upstream Remote

Add Upstream

git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-owner/repo.git

Links to original repository.

Verify Remotes

git remote -v

Should show origin (your fork) and upstream (original).

4️⃣ Keep Fork Updated

Fetch Upstream

git fetch upstream

Downloads changes from original repo.

Merge Upstream into Main

git checkout main

Switch to main.

git merge upstream/main

Merge original repo's changes.

Push Updates to Fork

git push origin main

Update your fork on GitHub.

5️⃣ Create Feature Branch

Create Branch

git checkout -b feature/add-new-thing

Create branch for your work.

Make Changes

Edit files, then:

git add .

Stage changes.

git commit -m "Add new feature"

Commit with message.

Push Branch to Fork

git push -u origin feature/add-new-thing

Push to your fork.

6️⃣ Create Pull Request

Create PR via CLI

gh pr create --repo original-owner/repo

Creates PR to original repository.

Create PR with Details

gh pr create --title "Add feature" --body "Description" --repo original-owner/repo

Creates PR with title and description.

📊 Complete Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant O as Original
    participant F as Your Fork
    participant L as Local

    O->>F: Fork
    F->>L: Clone
    L->>L: Create branch
    L->>L: Make commits
    L->>F: Push branch
    F->>O: Pull Request
    O->>O: Review & Merge
    O->>L: Fetch upstream
    L->>F: Push to sync

💡 Tips

Keep Main Clean

Never commit directly to main. Always use feature branches.

Sync Before PR
git fetch upstream
git rebase upstream/main

🔗 Related

#git #fork #workflow #contribution

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