Keeping a fork up to date

gistfile1.md

1. Clone your fork:

git clone git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-FORKED-REPO.git

2. Add remote from original repository in your forked repository:

cd into/cloned/fork-repo
git remote add upstream git://github.com/ORIGINAL-DEV-USERNAME/REPO-YOU-FORKED-FROM.git
git fetch upstream

3. Updating your fork from original repo to keep up with their changes:

git pull upstream master

Thanks, helped a lot.

I built a web based solution to sync the fork with the original using only GitHub APIs. It's all web, you don't need to do anything on the client
https://forkrefresh.herokuapp.com
As a plus it tells you the status off all your repos as compared to sources of the forks.

This helps! Thank you

Thank you ❤️

git pull is a git fetch and git merge in one step.
So the git fetch in step 2 is redundant if you're going to do a git pull anyway.

I second this. git fetch and then git pull won't break anything, but it's redundant.

You can update it to:

git pull upstream main

This post should have been the first Google result. Would have saved me some time.

You can update it to:

git pull upstream main

thank you @maryamrmz it worked for me!

How to keep a full project in sync, all the branches from the server and automated (no local checkout)?

I just want a slave mirror.

Found an automatic and flexible solution using Github Actions that can be easily applied quickly to any fork.
See my blog post: https://blog.mathieu.photography/post/649318432483033088/automatic-fork-syncing-with-github
Or Gist: https://gist.github.com/mathieucarbou/96ab30024f0d3fb44cac970219d23efc

Hi everyone.
I tried the commands suggested in this post. I was able to add the remote but when I try to pull for updating local I get the error "The unauthenticated git protocol on port 9418 is no longer supported.". I solved it using http// instead of git// when adding the upstream.

I find it funny that years after years I keep coming back to this gist.

I find it funny that years after years I keep coming back to this gist.

Based on this awesome gist, I made a little bash function for myself and use it on a few machines so I don't have to remember 😅

• _git_sync_fork.sh
• _git_fetch_pull_prune.sh

Just FYI, here's a method for anyone who wants to sync their GitHub forks with upstream without having to create a local clone:

The official GitHub CLI now supports syncing forks remotely with this simple command... (From GitHub's official docs:) "To update the remote fork from its parent, use the gh repo sync -b BRANCH-NAME subcommand and supply your fork and branch name as arguments.

gh repo sync owner/cli-fork -b BRANCH-NAME

If the changes from the upstream repository cause conflict then the GitHub CLI can't sync. You can set the --force flag to overwrite the destination branch."

Note

It is also possible to simplify the command by only supplying your fork (in the username/repo name syntax), like so:

gh repo sync OWNER/REPO

GitHub CLI will attempt to match your default/main/master branch with that of the parent and sync the two -- assuming there are no merge conflicts. Otherwise, it will notify of such.