Here’s the bare minimum Git workflow you need for collaboration. I’ll assume Git is already installed (Windows users can grab it from the official site). I typically use Git Bash, but any Git-capable terminal—VS Code, PyCharm, etc.—works.
1. Set Up Your Git Identity
Run these once to register your name and email:
git config --global user.name "<your name>"
git config --global user.email "<your_email@example.com>"
Confirm with:
git config --list
Look for user.name
and user.email
in the output.
2. Navigate to the Folder You Want to Push
If you’re new to terminal commands, don’t worry—just a few basics are enough. For example, to move to the desktop:
ls # list files/folders in the current directory
cd Desktop/
Pro tip: type the first few letters and press Tab. If there’s a unique match, the rest auto-completes; otherwise Git Bash shows the possibilities—type a little more and press Tab again.
Once you’re on the desktop:
ls # check what’s here
cd <target-folder> # go into the project you want to push
ls # make sure it’s the right folder
3. Push with Git
Run the standard sequence:
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Describe your changes"
git remote add origin <repository-url>
git branch -M <branch-name>
git push origin <branch-name>
Your files should now be in the remote repo.
Common Gotchas (Don’t Panic)
-
“remote origin already exists”
You probably initialized earlier. Remove the existing remote and add the correct one:git remote rm origin git remote add origin <repository-url>
-
Push conflicts
Ifgit push
fails due to conflicts, fetch/pull the latest changes, resolve conflicts locally, commit, then push again. -
Large files
Git doesn’t handle large binaries well. Exclude them (.gitignore
) or use Git LFS if necessary. -
.git
folder
Git metadata (history, config, etc.) lives in the hidden.git
directory. Deleting it resets the repo.
Merge Requests
If you pushed to a separate branch, open a pull request so the repository maintainer can review and merge your changes.