How to Fork a Repository on GitHub?

Forking a repository on GitHub is a common and essential practice for collaborative development. It allows developers to create a personal copy of someone else’s project, enabling them to experiment, make changes, and contribute back without affecting the original codebase.

This blog will walk you through the process of forking a repository on GitHub, explain why it’s useful, and provide best practices for working with forks.

What Does Forking a Repository Mean?

Forking a repository is the process of creating a copy of someone else’s project (a “parent repository”) under your GitHub account. This copy, known as a “fork,” allows you to freely make changes, add new features, or fix bugs without impacting the original project. Forks are commonly used in open-source contributions, where multiple developers collaborate on a project by submitting pull requests (PRs) with their proposed changes.

Once you’ve made your changes, you can create a pull request to suggest those changes to the original repository owner. If they approve your changes, they can merge your pull request into the main codebase.

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Why Fork a Repository?

Forking a repository offers several benefits, especially for collaborative and open-source projects:

1. Experiment Safely: Forking lets you try new features or make changes without the risk of disrupting the original project. You can safely explore new ideas and approaches before suggesting them to the repository owner.
2. Contribute to Open-Source Projects: Forking is the first step in contributing to open-source projects. Once you fork the repository and make changes, you can submit a pull request to contribute your improvements back to the original project.
3. Personalize the Code: Forking gives you the freedom to modify the code for your own use. For example, you may want to use a particular repository as a foundation for a new project or customize it to suit your needs.

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How to Fork a Repository on GitHub

Follow these simple steps to fork a repository on GitHub:

1. Find the Repository You Want to Fork

Go to the GitHub website and navigate to the repository you want to fork. You can search for a repository using the search bar or access it directly if you have the URL.

For example, let’s say you want to fork the popular repository tensorflow/tensorflow:

• URL: https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow

2. Click the “Fork” Button

At the top-right corner of the repository’s page, you will see the Fork button. It’s located next to the “Star” and “Watch” buttons.

Example Fork Button location in the top-right corner of the repository page.

Click the Fork button to start the forking process.

3. Select Your Account (or Organization)

If you’re a member of multiple organizations or have several accounts, GitHub will prompt you to select where you want to fork the repository. You can either choose to fork it to your personal GitHub account or to an organization you belong to.

If you only have one account, GitHub will automatically fork the repository into your personal account.

4. Wait for the Forking Process to Complete

GitHub will take a few seconds to create the fork. Once the forking process is complete, you will be redirected to the forked repository in your own account. The URL of your forked repository will look like this:

https://github.com/your-username/repository-name

5. Clone Your Fork to Your Local Machine

Now that you’ve forked the repository, you likely want to work on it locally. To do so, clone the forked repository to your local machine using Git.

Navigate to your forked repository on GitHub and click the green Code button. Copy the HTTPS or SSH URL provided.

git clone https://github.com/your-username/repository-name.git

Once the repository is cloned, navigate into the project directory:

cd repository-name

Now you have a local copy of the repository that you can modify and commit changes to.

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Making Changes to Your Forked Repository

After forking and cloning the repository, you can start making changes. Here’s how you can work with the code:

1. Create a New Branch: It’s best practice to create a new branch for the changes you want to make. This helps keep your work organized and separate from the main branch (master or main).

   git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature

2. Make Your Changes: Edit the files as needed, add new functionality, fix bugs, or improve documentation. Use your preferred text editor or IDE to make changes to the code.
3. Commit Your Changes: After making your changes, stage and commit them to your branch.

   git add .
   git commit -m "Added a new feature"

4. Push Your Changes: Push your changes back to your forked repository on GitHub.

   git push origin feature/my-new-feature

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Submitting a Pull Request (PR)

Once you’ve made and committed your changes, the next step is to submit a pull request (PR) to the original repository. This is how you propose your changes to the repository owner.

1. Open a Pull Request

Go to the original repository where you want to contribute. GitHub will typically show you a notification asking if you want to submit a pull request with your recently pushed branch. If you don’t see this prompt, click on the Pull Requests tab and then click New Pull Request.

2. Compare Your Changes with the Original Repository

Select the base branch of the original repository (usually main or master) and compare it with the branch you created in your fork.

GitHub will automatically detect the differences between your fork and the base repository. Review the changes to ensure everything looks good.

3. Describe Your Changes

Write a detailed description of the changes you’ve made, why you made them, and any relevant context. This helps the repository maintainers understand your contributions.

4. Submit the Pull Request

Once you’ve reviewed everything, click Create Pull Request to submit it. The repository owner and other contributors can then review your PR, suggest improvements, and eventually merge your changes into the main repository.

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Best Practices for Forking and Contributing

Here are a few tips to follow when forking repositories and contributing:

1. Keep Your Fork Up-to-Date: Over time, the original repository might receive updates from other contributors. To stay up-to-date with the latest changes, regularly pull updates from the original repository into your fork.

   git remote add upstream https://github.com/original-owner/repository-name.git
   git fetch upstream
   git merge upstream/main

2. Follow the Repository’s Contribution Guidelines: Many open-source projects have specific guidelines for contributing, such as coding standards or pull request templates. Always review the project’s documentation (often in a CONTRIBUTING.md file) before submitting a PR.
3. Use Descriptive Branch Names: When creating new branches, give them descriptive names that reflect the work you’re doing, such as feature/login-page or bugfix/header-validation.
4. Test Your Changes Locally: Before submitting a PR, test your changes thoroughly to ensure they work as expected and don’t introduce any bugs.

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Conclusion

Forking repositories on GitHub is a powerful way to contribute to open-source projects, experiment with code, and personalize existing projects. By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can easily fork any repository, make changes, and submit pull requests to contribute back to the original project.

Forking encourages collaboration, provides a safe environment for experimentation, and helps developers share their work in a structured way. So go ahead, fork that repository, and start contributing to the vibrant world of open-source development!