How to use the command `git sync` (with examples)

The git sync command is a part of git-extras and is used to synchronize local branches with remote branches. It allows you to easily update your local branch with the latest changes from the remote branch.

Use case 1: Sync the current local branch with its remote branch

Code:

git sync

Motivation: This command is useful when you want to update your local branch with the latest changes from its corresponding remote branch. It helps keep your local branch in sync with the remote repository.

Explanation: When you run git sync without any arguments, it will sync the current local branch with its remote branch. This is determined by the upstream branch configuration of the current repository.

Example output:

Synchronizing local branch 'feature/foo' with 'origin/feature/foo'
Fetching origin
Fast-forwarding 'feature/foo' to 'origin/feature/foo'

Use case 2: Sync the current local branch with the remote main branch

Code:

git sync origin main

Motivation: This command is useful when you want to update your current local branch with the changes from the remote main branch. It allows you to synchronize your branch with the main branch without manually specifying the branch name.

Explanation: When you run git sync origin main, it will sync the current local branch with the remote main branch specified in the origin remote repository.

Example output:

Synchronizing local branch 'feature/foo' with 'origin/main'
Fetching origin
Fast-forwarding 'feature/foo' to 'origin/main'

Use case 3: Sync without cleaning untracked files

Code:

git sync -s remote_name branch_name

Motivation: This command is useful when you want to sync your local branch with the remote branch while skipping the cleaning of untracked files. It helps if you have untracked files that you do not want to remove from your local repository.

Explanation: When you add the -s flag followed by the remote name and branch name (remote_name branch_name), it will sync the local branch with the specified remote branch without cleaning untracked files.

Example output:

Synchronizing local branch 'feature/foo' with 'origin/foo' (without cleaning untracked files)
Fetching origin
Fast-forwarding 'feature/foo' to 'origin/foo'

Conclusion:

In this article, we learned how to use the git sync command to synchronize local branches with remote branches. We explored three different use cases, including syncing the current local branch with its remote branch, syncing with a specific remote main branch, and syncing without cleaning untracked files. These examples demonstrate the versatility of the git sync command and its ability to streamline the synchronization process.