Git Push

git push uploads your local commits to a remote repository, making your changes available to others. It's the complement to git pull and essential for collaboration.

Basic Push

Push to Remote

# Push current branch to remote
git push

# Push to specific remote and branch
git push origin main

First Push (Set Upstream)

# Push and set upstream tracking
git push -u origin branch-name

# Now future pushes just need
git push

Example:

$ git push -u origin feature-login
Counting objects: 5, done.
Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 450 bytes | 450.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 5 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
To https://github.com/user/repo.git
 * [new branch]      feature-login -> feature-login
Branch 'feature-login' set up to track remote branch 'feature-login' from 'origin'.

Push Options

Push All Branches

# Push all branches
git push --all

# Push all branches to specific remote
git push origin --all

Push Tags

# Push specific tag
git push origin v1.0.0

# Push all tags
git push --tags

# Push tags to specific remote
git push origin --tags

Force Push

# Force push (DANGER!)
git push --force

# Safer force push
git push --force-with-lease

⚠️ Warning: Only force push on branches you own!

Delete Remote Branch

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete branch-name

# Alternative syntax
git push origin :branch-name

Dry Run

# See what would be pushed without pushing
git push --dry-run

Push Strategies

Simple Push (Default)

Push current branch to its upstream:

git push

Push to Different Branch Name

# Push local 'feature' to remote 'feature-v2'
git push origin feature:feature-v2

Push Multiple Branches

# Push multiple branches at once
git push origin main develop feature

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: First Time Push

# Create branch and commit
git checkout -b new-feature
git commit -m "Add feature"

# Push and set upstream
git push -u origin new-feature

Scenario 2: Regular Push

# Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "Update feature"

# Push
git push

Scenario 3: Push After Rebase

# Rebase your branch
git rebase main

# Force push (your branch only!)
git push --force-with-lease

Scenario 4: Push to Fork

# Push to your fork
git push origin main

# Push to upstream (if you have write access)
git push upstream main

Troubleshooting

Push Rejected (Non-Fast-Forward)

$ git push
To https://github.com/user/repo.git
 ! [rejected]        main -> main (non-fast-forward)
error: failed to push some refs to 'https://github.com/user/repo.git'

Solution:

# Pull first
git pull origin main

# Or pull with rebase
git pull --rebase origin main

# Then push
git push

No Upstream Branch

$ git push
fatal: The current branch feature has no upstream branch.

Solution:

git push -u origin feature

Permission Denied

$ git push
ERROR: Permission to user/repo.git denied

Solution:

• Check repository access
• Verify SSH keys
• Check remote URL
• Ensure you're authenticated

Best Practices

1. Always pull before pushing
2. Use --force-with-lease instead of --force
3. Push regularly to backup your work
4. Don't force push to shared branches
5. Push feature branches to create backups

See Also

• Git Fetch & Pull - Fetching and pulling
• Git Remote - Managing remotes
• Git Branch - Branch management