🚀 Step-by-Step Guide to Push a New Project to GitHub
🧰 Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- Git installed
- A GitHub account
- Your project directory ready (e.g.,
my-project)
🪄 STEP 1 — Initialize Git in Your Project
Go inside your project folder:
cd ~/path/to/my-project
Initialize a new Git repository:
git init
This creates a hidden .git folder that tracks changes in your project.
🧩 STEP 2 — (Optional) Create a .gitignore File
You can tell Git which files/folders not to track (like virtual environments, credentials, build files, etc.):
Example .gitignore:
__pycache__/
.env
node_modules/
venv/
*.log
Add it to your project root.
👤 STEP 3 — Set Your Git Identity
Set your global username and email (Git needs this for commits):
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
Check your config:
git config --list
🧱 STEP 4 — Add and Commit Your Files
Tell Git to track your files:
git add .
Then make your first commit:
git commit -m "Initial commit"
☁️ STEP 5 — Create a Repository on GitHub
- Go to GitHub → New Repository
- Choose a name (e.g.,
my-project) - DO NOT initialize with a README, .gitignore, or license (since your local repo already has one)
- Click Create repository
You’ll now see a page with instructions like:
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/my-project.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main
🌍 STEP 6 — Add the Remote (Connect Local → GitHub)
Copy the remote URL from GitHub and add it:
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/my-project.git
Check that it was added correctly:
git remote -v
🪜 STEP 7 — Rename Default Branch (Optional but Recommended)
GitHub uses main as the default branch.
If your repo uses master, rename it:
git branch -M main
🚢 STEP 8 — Push Your Code to GitHub
Push your local branch to GitHub for the first time:
git push -u origin main
If you kept master:
git push -u origin master
-usets the remote tracking branch, so next time you can just usegit push.
🔑 STEP 9 — (Optional) Set Up SSH Authentication
So you don’t have to enter your username/password every time.
1. Generate a new SSH key:
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"
Press Enter through defaults (it saves to ~/.ssh/id_ed25519).
2. Add the SSH key to your GitHub account:
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
Copy the output → Go to GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys → New SSH key → Paste and save.
3. Test it:
ssh -T git@github.com
If successful, you’ll see:
Hi username! You’ve successfully authenticated.
Then you can change your remote to SSH:
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:username/my-project.git
🔄 STEP 10 — Common Commands for Future Updates
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Check file changes | git status |
| Stage all changes | git add . |
| Commit changes | git commit -m "Your message" |
| Push changes to GitHub | git push |
| Pull latest changes | git pull |
| View commit history | git log --oneline |
✅ Summary
Here’s a quick recap of the minimal commands to push a new project:
cd my-project
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/username/my-project.git
git push -u origin main
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