Question

I’m trying to update a Git repository on GitHub. I made a bunch of changes, added them, committed then attempted to do a git push. The response tells me that everything is up to date, but clearly it’s not.

git remote show origin

responds with the repository I’d expect.

Why is Git telling me the repository is up to date when there are local commits that aren’t visible on the repository?

  [searchgraph]  git status
# On branch develop
# Untracked files:
#   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
#
#       Capfile
#       config/deploy.rb
nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

  [searchgraph]  git add .

  [searchgraph]  git status
# On branch develop
# Changes to be committed:
#   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
#
#       new file:   Capfile
#       new file:   config/deploy.rb
#

  [searchgraph]  git commit -m "Added Capistrano deployment"
[develop 12e8af7] Added Capistrano deployment
 2 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Capfile
 create mode 100644 config/deploy.rb

  [searchgraph]  git push
Everything up-to-date

  [searchgraph]  git status
# On branch develop
nothing to commit (working directory clean)

Answer 1

git push doesn’t push all of your local branches: how would it know which remote branches to push them to? It only pushes local branches which have been configured to push to a particular remote branch.

On my version of Git (1.6.5.3), when I run git remote show origin it actually prints out which branches are configured for push:

Local refs configured for 'git push':
  master pushes to master (up to date)
  quux   pushes to quux   (fast forwardable)

Q. But I could push to master without worrying about all this!

When you git clone, by default it sets up your local master branch to push to the remote’s master branch (locally referred to as origin/master), so if you only commit on master, then a simple git push will always push your changes back.

However, from the output snippet you posted, you’re on a branch called develop, which I’m guessing hasn’t been set up to push to anything. So git push without arguments won’t push commits on that branch.

When it says “Everything up-to-date”, it means “all the branches you’ve told me how to push are up to date”.

Q. So how can I push my commits?

If what you want to do is put your changes from develop into origin/master, then you should probably merge them into your local master then push that:

git checkout master
git merge develop
git push             # will push 'master'

If what you want is to create a develop branch on the remote, separate from master, then supply arguments to git push:

git push origin develop

That will: create a new branch on the remote called develop; and bring that branch up to date with your local develop branch; and set develop to push to origin/develop so that in future, git push without arguments will push develop automatically.

If you want to push your local develop to a remote branch called something other than develop, then you can say:

git push origin develop:something-else

However, that form won’t set up develop to always push to origin/something-else in future; it’s a one-shot operation.