Connecting a Repository to GitHub

If you originally obtained your project with:

git clone

then the remote repository is usually already configured.

However, if you created the project locally with:

git init

Git does not yet know which GitHub repository it should connect to. In that case, you need to add the remote manually.

Creating a Repository on GitHub

Suppose you already have a local project called:

git-demo

and it has already been initialized with:

git init

You can now create a new repository on GitHub with the same or a similar name.

GitHub will give you a repository URL such as:

https://github.com/username/git-demo.git

This is the address your local Git repository will use to communicate with GitHub.

Using git remote add

Inside your local project, run:

git remote add origin https://github.com/username/git-demo.git

You can read the command like this:

git remote add → Add a remote repository → origin → Call this remote "origin" → https://... → GitHub repository URL

After this command, Git knows that:

origin = this GitHub repository

Checking the Remote

Run:

git remote

and you will usually see:

origin

To see the actual remote URL, use:

git remote -v

You may see:

origin  https://github.com/username/git-demo.git (fetch)
origin  https://github.com/username/git-demo.git (push)

The fetch URL is used when getting data from the remote, while the push URL is used when sending data to it. For basic setups, they are usually the same address.

If You Used git clone

If you cloned the project with:

git clone https://github.com/username/git-demo.git

Git normally configured origin automatically.

You do not need to run:

git remote add origin ...

again.

Just use:

git remote -v

to check the existing configuration.

HTTPS and SSH

GitHub commonly provides two kinds of repository URLs.

HTTPS:

https://github.com/username/git-demo.git

SSH:

[email protected]:username/git-demo.git

Both work.

For beginners, HTTPS is often easier to understand. SSH requires an SSH key setup, which can be learned later.

This tutorial will use HTTPS for the basic examples.

Fixing an Incorrect Remote URL

If origin points to the wrong repository, update it with:

git remote set-url origin https://github.com/username/correct-repo.git

Then check again:

git remote -v

to make sure the URL is correct.