git fetch
git fetch: fetch updates from a remote repository.
git fetch is a command in Git used to pull the latest changes from a remote repository to your local machine but does not automatically merge or modify your current working files. It updates your remote-tracking branches, which are references to the state of branches in another repository (like showing you a preview of what's there).
The purpose of git fetch is to let you review updates made in a remote repository before integrating them with your local repository's active working space. It helps in understanding the changes before actually applying them, maintaining a level of control over your repository's local version.
This command is frequently used to ensure that you have the most recent updates from other contributors before starting new work or when preparing to push your changes to avoid conflicts.
If your repository is connected to a remote repository (for example, origin), you'll usually have two sets of branches: local branches and remote-tracking branches. Local branches are your normal branches (e.g. main), while remote-tracking branches are branches that represent the state of branches in the remote repository (e.g. origin/main).
When you run git fetch, it updates your remote-tracking branches to reflect the state of the remote repository's branches. In other words, your main branch stays the same, but origin/main may be updated to match the remote repository's main branch. Then, you can merge or rebase your local branch with the updated remote-tracking branch to incorporate the changes. But this is a separate step from git fetch. Such a separation allows you to review the
changes before merging them into your local branch.
Alternatively, you can use git pull to fetch and merge changes in one step, but this can sometimes lead to unexpected results if you're not careful.
Examples
Fetch changes from the default remote repository (usually origin):
git fetchFetch changes from a specific remote repository:
git fetch upstreamFetch changes from all remote repositories:
git fetch --allAfter fetching, you can compare the changes between your local branch and the remote branch:
git diff main origin/mainIf everything looks good, you can merge the changes into your local branch:
git merge origin/mainHi! I'm Alex, creator of GitByBit.
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