Git - Remote and Upstream Management

Setup remotes

# Check current remotes
git remote -v

# Add upstream (original repo your fork came from)
git remote add upstream https://github.com/ADOdb/ADOdb.git

# Add SSH alternative (no password prompts)
git remote add upstream git@github.com:ADOdb/ADOdb.git

# Change existing remote URL
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:lsces/adodb.git

# Remove a remote
git remote remove upstream

Syncing with upstream

# Fetch upstream changes (no merge)
git fetch upstream

# Fetch upstream including tags
git fetch upstream --tags

# Merge upstream into current branch
git merge upstream/master

# Or rebase on upstream (cleaner history)
git rebase upstream/master

Tags

# List local tags
git tag -l

# List tags sorted by version
git tag -l | sort -V

# Fetch tags from upstream (not fetched by default!)
git fetch upstream --tags

# Fetch tags from origin
git fetch origin --tags

# Push single tag to fork
git push origin v5.22.11

# Push all tags to fork
git push origin --tags

# Force push tags (if upstream changed a tag)
git fetch upstream --tags --force
git push origin --tags --force

Check what's different

# Commits in upstream not in your fork
git log --oneline HEAD..upstream/master

# Commits in your fork not in upstream (your changes)
git log --oneline upstream/master..HEAD

# Files changed between versions
git diff v5.22.10..v5.22.11

# Files changed in specific driver
git diff v5.22.10..v5.22.11 -- drivers/adodb-firebird.inc.php

Keeping fork in sync workflow

# 1. Fetch upstream
git fetch upstream --tags

# 2. Check what's new
git log --oneline HEAD..upstream/master

# 3. Merge or rebase
git merge upstream/master
# or
git rebase upstream/master

# 4. Push to your fork
git push origin master
git push origin --tags

Switch remote from HTTPS to SSH

# Check current
git remote get-url origin

# Switch to SSH (no more password prompts)
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:lsces/adodb.git

# Verify
git remote -v

Troubleshooting

Tags not showing in VSCode/fork:

git fetch upstream --tags
git push origin --tags

"Already up to date" but tags missing:

# Tags sync separately from commits!
git fetch --tags  # fetch from all remotes
git push origin --tags

Fork behind upstream:

git fetch upstream
git log --oneline HEAD..upstream/master  # see what's missing
git merge upstream/master
git push origin master

Diverged from upstream (have local changes):

# Rebase keeps your changes on top of upstream
git rebase upstream/master
# Fix any conflicts, then
git push origin master --force-with-lease

Developed with [Claude AI](https://claude.ai) assistance - Anthropic - May 2026