Skip to main content

Maintaining a Fork with Upstream Updates

This workflow lets you make personal changes to a forked repo while still pulling in updates from the original developer.

Initial Setup

1. Fork the repo on GitHub using the "Fork" button on the project page.

2. Clone your fork locally:

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/tasks.git
cd tasks

3. Add the original repo as an upstream remote:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/ORIGINAL_AUTHOR/tasks.git

Verify your remotes:

git remote -v
# origin    https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/tasks.git (fetch/push)
# upstream  https://github.com/ORIGINAL_AUTHOR/tasks.git (fetch/push)

Making Your Own Changes

Work on your fork as normal — commit and push to origin:

git add .
git commit -m "my change"
git push origin main

Pulling in Upstream Updates

When the original developer releases updates you want to incorporate:

git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main
git push origin main

If both you and upstream modified the same files, Git will flag conflicts. Open the affected files, resolve the conflicts manually, then:

git add .
git commit -m "merge upstream changes"
git push origin main

Alternative: Rebase (cleaner history)

git fetch upstream
git rebase upstream/main
git push origin main --force-with-lease

Rebase rewrites your commits on top of the latest upstream, resulting in a linear history with no merge commits.

Tips

  • Keep your customizations isolated to specific files when possible — this reduces merge conflicts.
  • Run git fetch upstream periodically to check for upstream changes before they pile up.
  • You can sync this way indefinitely — there is no expiration on tracking an upstream remote.
Back to top