If you're new to Git and GitHub, it's super common to get confused between forking and cloning a repo. Here's a simple breakdown that helped me early on:
🪝 Fork = Copy on GitHub
When you fork a repo, you're making a copy of someone else’s project into your GitHub account.
It's like saying: “I want my own version of this project in the cloud.”
You’ll use this when:
- You want to contribute to open-source but don’t have write access.
- You want to try something without touching the original repo.
- You're collaborating on projects outside your organization.
📍 Happens on GitHub (or GitLab)
📍 Used to submit Pull Requests
💻 Clone = Copy on Your Computer
When you clone a repo, you’re downloading the code to your local machine so you can edit, run, and test it.
It's like saying: “I want this code on my laptop so I can work on it.”
You’ll use this when:
- You want to start developing locally.
- You need to make code changes, test, or explore the repo.
📍 Happens on your terminal
📍 Used for local development
🛠 Example Workflow
# Step 1: Fork the repo on GitHub
# You now have a copy under your username
# Step 2: Clone your fork locally
git clone https://github.com/your-username/project-name.git
# Step 3: Work on code, commit, push, and open a pull request!
⚡ Summary
| Action | What it Does | Where it Happens | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fork | Copies repo to your GitHub | GitHub UI | Contribute to open source |
| Clone | Copies repo to your PC | Terminal / CLI | Develop locally |
If you're contributing to a project you don’t own — always fork first, then clone your fork.
🔁 When I Used git fork Instead of git clone — A Real Example
If you're just getting into Git and GitHub, you might wonder:
“Why do I need to fork a repo? Can’t I just clone it?”
Let me share a real-world situation where forking was the only way I could contribute to a project 👇
💡 The Situation
I wanted to fix a small bug in a DevOps project hosted on GitHub — it had an issue in its Helm chart for Kubernetes.
But… I didn't have write access to the original repo. I couldn’t push changes or create a new branch there.
✅ The Solution: Fork First, Then Clone
So I did this:
Step - 1: Forked the repository to my GitHub account using the Fork button.
Now I had my own personal copy on GitHub.
Step - 2: Cloned my fork to my local machine:
git clone https://github.com/my-username/devops-helm-project.git
Step - 3: Created a new branch and made my bug fix:
git checkout -b bugfix-helm-values
Step - 4: Committed the changes and pushed to my fork:
git push origin bugfix-helm-values
Step - 5: Opened a Pull Request to the original project (called the “upstream” repo).
🤔 Why Not Just Clone?
Cloning only gives you a read-only copy of someone else’s repo.
You can’t push to it or open a pull request unless you're a collaborator.
Forking, on the other hand, gives you full control of your own copy — and lets you contribute back through pull requests.
📌 Summary
| Action | Why I Did It |
|---|---|
| Fork | Needed write access to my own copy |
| Clone | Needed code locally to make changes |
| Pull Request | To propose changes back to original repo |
🧠 Lesson Learned:
If you don’t have push access, always fork first. Clone second. Contribute third.
Let me know your first fork + PR story in the comments! 👇
Top comments (1)
Most of the time, it's easier to fork. . 🤞🏻😁😍So great