Updating a GitHub fork repo in the web interface

Question

I would like to synchronize a forked GitHub repo with the original using the GitHub web interface.

Most of the solutions on the web talk about doing this on the command-line.

I found the following two threads with the solution I needed -

• update github fork from web only (in other words WITHOUT GIT!)
• https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/28998/

I am able to successfully create a pull request for the forked repo and merge it. However this transaction is recorded as an additional commit in the forked repo.

Now if I compare the original one with the fork this additional commit shows up -

Original repo - https://github.com/linode/docs
Forked repo - https://github.com/jesinwp/docs

Answer 1

The addition of a merge commit is how pull requests work. It's part of the normal process of merging branches in Git and keeps the history clear as far as when a branch gets merged into another.

As far as keeping your forked repo in sync with the upstream repo, AFAIK Github doesn't support that. It basically requires you to fetch both remotes locally and merge the upstream's branch (master, in this case) into the same branch in your forked version.

I'm sure any Git reference can describe this further in detail much better than I can.

Answer 2

As of September 26, 2016, it is now possible to merge a pull request using GitHub's web interface without creating a merge commit. Simply use the "Rebase and merge" option when merging.