How to Push an Existing Project to GitHub

Warning: Never git add, commit, or push sensitive information to a remote repository. Sensitive information can include, but is not limited to:

• Passwords
• SSH keys
• AWS access keys
• API keys
• Credit card numbers
• PIN numbers

For more information, see "Removing sensitive data from a repository."

Adding a local repository to GitHub with GitHub CLI

1. In the command line, navigate to the root directory of your project.

2. Initialize the local directory as a Git repository.

   git init -b main

3. Stage and commit all the files in your project

   git add . && git commit -m "initial commit"

4. To create a repository for your project on GitHub, use the gh repo create subcommand. When prompted, select Push an existing local repository to GitHub and enter the desired name for your repository. If you want your project to belong to an organization instead of your user account, specify the organization name and project name with organization-name/project-name.

5. Follow the interactive prompts. To add the remote and push the repository, confirm yes when asked to add the remote and push the commits to the current branch.

6. Alternatively, to skip all the prompts, supply the path to the repository with the --source flag and pass a visibility flag (--public, --private, or --internal). For example, gh repo create --source=. --public. Specify a remote with the --remote flag. To push your commits, pass the --push flag. For more information about possible arguments, see the GitHub CLI manual.

Adding a local repository to GitHub using Git

1. Create a new repository on GitHub.com. To avoid errors, do not initialize the new repository with README, license, or gitignore files. You can add these files after your project has been pushed to GitHub.
2. Open TerminalTerminalGit Bash.
3. Change the current working directory to your local project.
4. Initialize the local directory as a Git repository.

   $ git init -b main

5. Add the files in your new local repository. This stages them for the first commit.

   $ git add .
   
   # Adds the files in the local repository and stages them for commit. To unstage a file, use 'git reset HEAD YOUR-FILE'.

6. Commit the files that you've staged in your local repository.

   $ git commit -m "First commit"
   
   # Commits the tracked changes and prepares them to be pushed to a remote repository. To remove this commit and modify the file, use 'git reset --soft HEAD~1' and commit and add the file again.

7. At the top of your repository on GitHub.com's Quick Setup page, click to copy the remote repository URL.
8. In Terminal, add the URL for the remote repository where your local repository will be pushed.

   $ git remote add origin  <REMOTE_URL> 
   
   # Sets the new remote
   
   $ git remote -v
   
   # Verifies the new remote URL

9. Push the changes in your local repository to GitHub.com.

   $ git push -u origin main
   
   # Pushes the changes in your local repository up to the remote repository you specified as the origin

1. Create a new repository on GitHub.com. To avoid errors, do not initialize the new repository with README, license, or gitignore files. You can add these files after your project has been pushed to GitHub.
2. Open TerminalTerminalGit Bash.
3. Change the current working directory to your local project.
4. Initialize the local directory as a Git repository.

   $ git init -b main

5. Add the files in your new local repository. This stages them for the first commit.

   $ git add .
   
   # Adds the files in the local repository and stages them for commit. To unstage a file, use 'git reset HEAD YOUR-FILE'.

6. Commit the files that you've staged in your local repository.

   $ git commit -m "First commit"
   
   # Commits the tracked changes and prepares them to be pushed to a remote repository. To remove this commit and modify the file, use 'git reset --soft HEAD~1' and commit and add the file again.

7. At the top of your repository on GitHub.com's Quick Setup page, click to copy the remote repository URL.
8. In the Command prompt, add the URL for the remote repository where your local repository will be pushed.

   $ git remote add origin  <REMOTE_URL> 
   
   # Sets the new remote
   
   $ git remote -v
   
   # Verifies the new remote URL

9. Push the changes in your local repository to GitHub.com.

   $ git push origin main
   
   # Pushes the changes in your local repository up to the remote repository you specified as the origin