gh-sync

GitHub CLI Extension to sync your fork with its upstream repository.

Features

• Automatically detects the main remote (upstream, github, origin priority)
• Fetches and syncs local branches with their remote counterparts
• Fast-forwards branches that are behind their remote tracking branches
• Deletes local branches that were deleted on the remote (if safely merged)
• Colored output for better visibility
• Verbose logging support to see git commands being executed

Installation

gh extension install him0/gh-sync

Upgrade

gh extension upgrade gh-sync

Usage

gh sync [options]

Options

• --verbose: Show git commands being executed (similar to hub's HUB_VERBOSE=1)
• --color[=WHEN]: Control color output
  • always: Always colorize output
  • never: Never colorize output
  • auto: Colorize output only when stdout is a terminal (default)

Examples

# Basic sync
gh sync

# Sync with verbose output
gh sync --verbose

# Sync with color control
gh sync --color=always
gh sync --color=never

# Combine options
gh sync --verbose --color=never

This will:

1. Check if the current directory is a git repository
2. Find the main remote (priority: upstream, github, origin)
3. Fetch from the main remote with --prune
4. Process each local branch:
   • If branch is behind its remote: fast-forward merge
   • If branch has unpushed commits: show warning
   • If remote branch was deleted and local branch is merged: delete local branch

Example Output

$ gh sync --verbose
$ git fetch --prune --quiet --progress origin
Updated branch feature-branch (was abc1234).
Deleted branch old-feature (was def5678).
warning: 'work-in-progress' seems to contain unpushed commits

Requirements

• GitHub CLI (gh) must be installed and authenticated
• Git must be installed
• The current directory must be a git repository with configured remotes

Notes

• The extension processes all local branches and their remote tracking branches
• Branches with unpushed commits are left untouched (with a warning)
• Local branches are only deleted if they appear to be safely merged into the default branch
• The extension uses the default branch of the main remote (main or master)

Acknowledgments

This project is inspired by hub's sync command. While hub provides a comprehensive set of GitHub CLI features, gh-sync focuses solely on the fork synchronization functionality as a standalone GitHub CLI extension.

License

MIT