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Engineering Craft › Version Control (Git)

Push, Pull, Fetch

Sending commits, downloading and merging, or only downloading.

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Also known as: git push, git pull, git fetch

Three commands move commits between your repository and a remote (usually origin on GitHub or GitLab).

CommandDirectionWhat it does
git pushlocal → remoteuploads your commits
git fetchremote → localdownloads new commits, without changing your files or branches
git pullremote → localfetch, then merges (or rebases) into your current branch
git push origin feature/login        # share my commits
git push -u origin feature/login     # first push: also remember the upstream
git fetch                            # see what's new
git pull                             # update my branch

Fetch is the safe one

git fetch updates your view of the remote (origin/main) and touches nothing else. You can inspect before integrating:

git fetch
git log main..origin/main            # what's coming
git diff main origin/main
git merge origin/main                # then decide

git pull does the fetch and the merge in one go, which is convenient and sometimes surprising.

Common problems

  • Push rejected (“non-fast-forward”): the remote has commits you don’t. Pull (or fetch and rebase) first, then push. Don’t reach for a force push.
  • Pull creates merge commits. Use git pull --rebase, or set pull.rebase true, to replay your commits on top instead (merge vs rebase).
  • Conflicts on pull: resolve them like any merge conflict.
  • “No upstream branch”: use git push -u origin <branch> once.
  • Uncommitted changes can block a pull. Commit or stash them.

Habits

Pull before you start work and before you push, and push often, so work isn’t only on your laptop.