contributing to github repo without write access: pull from origin repo, push to your own fork

contribute_github_without_write_access.md

Whenever I want to create pull requests to a repo that I don't have write access to, I:

1. Fork the original repo to my account.
2. Clone the original repo to my local machine.
3. Add my fork as an additional remote and make it the push default.
4. Make changes in a new branch locally.
5. Push this branch to my fork.
6. Create a pull request from there.

git clone https://github.com/<origin_org>/<repo_name>.git
cd <repo_name>
git remote add fork git@github.com:<your_name>/<your_repo>.git
git config remote.pushDefault fork

This way, at a later time point I can easily:

1. Pull changes from origin into the local master branch.
2. Create another contribution branch.
3. Push that to my fork.
4. Create a new pull request.

cd <repo_name>
git checkout master
git pull
git push # update the fork, which can be relevant for continuous integration checking against the master branch
git checkout -b new-contribution-branch
# make changes and commit
git push

Sources:

• Setting the push default: https://stackoverflow.com/a/30488025

Thank u for this appreciate your work

😍 Thank you, this is great and was very helpful.

However with GitHub removing the password authentication for https, I did need to use my SSH access to push the fork, so to "Add my fork as an additional remote and make it the push default.", I used the command...

git remote add fork git@github.com:<your_name>/<your_repo>.git

Cheers @brianjbayer, I've updated the gist accordingly.

Although, to be honest, I rarely use this setup nowadays. I usually just use throw-away forks for such contributions, as this is so quick and easy with GitHub:

1. Create a fork of the repo on GitHub.
2. Optional: Clone the fork onto my local machine.
3. Introduce changes on a new branch (for small changes, this is easily done on the fork directly through the GitHub interface).
4. Create a pull request.

Once the pull request is resolved, GitHub nowadays offers direct buttons to:

1. Delete the branch you used for it.
2. Delete the fork you used for it.

And if I contribute to the same repo again, I just repeat this easier workflow. Also, this avoids cluttering my personal GitHub profile with lots of long-forgotten forks...

So I'd reserve the original gist for projects where I don't have write access, but contribute regularly -- which is very rare.

🖖

Can confirm this works -- thank you!

For those using Sourcetree:

1. Clone the original repository.
2. Click Settings.
3. On the Remotes pane, click Add.
4. For the URL/Path, enter the value for your fork. Configure the account settings appropriately.
5. On the Advanced tab, you may wish to specify different values for the name and email address used when committing.
6. Create a local branch and commit your changes.
7. When ready to push, be sure to select your personal remote as the target.
8. Create a pull request to merge the working branch from your fork into the default branch from the original repo.