Lesson 05 — Pushing and Pulling

Goal

Send committed work to GitHub and bring other people’s committed work from GitHub back to your computer.

The most important point in this lesson is simple: git push sends commits. It does not commit file changes for you.

Mental model

Place	What lives there	Command that moves work
Working files	Unsaved or saved file edits	Save in your editor
Staging area	The next commit you are preparing	git add filename
Local Git history	Commits on your computer	git commit -m "message"
GitHub	Commits shared with others	git push and git pull

Check yourself: If you only edited a file and did not commit, there is nothing for git push to send.

What push and pull mean

git push

Sends your local commits to GitHub.

git pull

Brings new commits from GitHub to your computer and updates your current branch.

Before you start: read the situation

Run:

git status

Useful status messages:

Message shape	Meaning	Calm next step
working tree clean	No uncommitted file changes	Pull or start work
Changes not staged for commit	File edits exist but are not staged	Review with git diff
Changes to be committed	Staged edits are waiting	Review with git diff --staged, then commit
Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 1 commit	You have a local commit GitHub does not have	Push
Your branch is behind 'origin/main'	GitHub has commits you do not have	Pull

Checklist

1. Start by pulling the latest changes

Before making your own change, get the latest committed work from GitHub:

git pull

Expected shape when nothing new is available:

Already up to date.

• I pulled the latest changes from GitHub.

2. Make a small SQL-related change

Edit a file such as:

queries/01-count-visits.sql

For practice, add a comment that explains the query:

-- Count total visits in the starter data.

Save the file.

• I made one small file change.
• I saved the file.

3. Check status and diff

Run:

git status
git diff

Git should show that a file changed, and git diff should show the exact lines.

• I can see my changed file.
• I reviewed the exact change.
• I understand that an uncommitted file change will not be pushed.

4. Stage and commit the change

Stage the file:

git add queries/01-count-visits.sql

Confirm what will be committed:

git status
git diff --staged

Commit the staged change:

git commit -m "docs: clarify visit count query"

• I staged my changed file.
• I committed the change.

5. Confirm you have a commit to push

Run:

git status

Git may say:

Your branch is ahead of 'origin/main' by 1 commit.

That means you have a local commit that GitHub does not have yet.

• I know whether I have local commits to push.

6. Push your commit

Run:

git push

If this is the first push on a new branch, Git may ask you to use:

git push -u origin branch-name

The -u connects your local branch to the branch on GitHub so future git push and git pull commands know where to go.

• My commit was pushed to GitHub.

7. Confirm on GitHub

Open the repository in GitHub and check one of these:

• the commit list,

• the changed file,

• or the branch page.

• I opened the repository in GitHub.

• I can see my change or commit.

Push does not mean “save everything”

Use this table when learners are unsure what has happened.

What you did	Has Git saved a commit?	Will git push send it?
Edited a file but did not save it	No	No
Saved a file but did not stage it	No	No
Staged a file but did not commit	No	No
Committed the staged change	Yes, locally	Yes
Pushed after committing	Yes, locally and on GitHub	Already sent

Beginner operating rhythm

Before starting work each day:

git pull

Before and after each major step:

git status

Before staging:

git diff

Before committing:

git diff --staged

Completion check

• I can push commits to GitHub.
• I can pull changes from GitHub.
• I understand that push sends committed work up.
• I understand that push does not commit file changes.
• I understand that pull brings GitHub commits down.