Why do I need to do `--set-upstream` all the time?

Question

I create a new branch in Git:

git branch my_branch

Push it:

git push origin my_branch

Now say someone made some changes on the server and I want to pull from origin/my_branch. I do:

git pull

But I get:

You asked me to pull without telling me which branch you
want to merge with, and 'branch.my_branch.merge' in
your configuration file does not tell me, either. Please
specify which branch you want to use on the command line and
try again (e.g. 'git pull <repository> <refspec>').
See git-pull(1) for details.

If you often merge with the same branch, you may want to
use something like the following in your configuration file:

    [branch "my_branch"]
    remote = <nickname>
    merge = <remote-ref>

    [remote "<nickname>"]
    url = <url>
    fetch = <refspec>

See git-config(1) for details.

I learned that I can make it work with:

git branch --set-upstream my_branch origin/my_branch

But why do I need to do this for every branch I create? Isn't it obvious that if I push my_branch into origin/my_branch, then I would want to pull origin/my_branch into my_branch? How can I make this the default behavior?

Answer 1

You can set up a really good alias that can handle this without the overly verbose syntax.

I have the following alias in ~/.gitconfig:

po = "!git push -u origin \"$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)\""

After making a commit on a new branch, you can push your new branch by simply typing the command:

git po

Answer 2

This is my most common use for The Fuck.

$ git push
fatal: The current branch master has no upstream branch.
To push the current branch and set the remote as upstream, use

    git push --set-upstream origin master

$ fuck
git push --set-upstream origin master [enter/↑/↓/ctrl+c]
Counting objects: 9, done.
...

Also, it's fun to type swear words in your terminal.

Answer 3

For those looking for an alias that works with git pull, this is what I use:

alias up="git branch | awk '/^\\* / { print \$2 }' | xargs -I {} git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/{} {}"

Now whenever you get:

$ git pull
There is no tracking information for the current branch.
...

Just run:

$ up
Branch my_branch set up to track remote branch my_branch from origin.
$ git pull

And you're good to go

Answer 4

You can make this happen with less typing. First, change the way your push works:

git config --global push.default current

This will infer the origin my_branch part, thus you can do:

git push -u

Which will both create the remote branch with the same name and track it.

Answer 5

A shortcut, which doesn't depend on remembering the syntax for git branch --set-upstream ¹ is to do:

git push -u origin my_branch

... the first time that you push that branch. Or, to push to the current branch to a branch of the same name (handy for an alias):

git push -u origin HEAD

You only need to use -u once, and that sets up the association between your branch and the one at origin in the same way as git branch --set-upstream does.

Personally, I think it's a good thing to have to set up that association between your branch and one on the remote explicitly. It's just a shame that the rules are different for git push and git pull.

---

¹ It may sound silly, but I very frequently forget to specify the current branch, assuming that's the default - it's not, and the results are most confusing :)

Update 2012-10-11: Apparently I'm not the only person who found it easy to get wrong! Thanks to VonC for pointing out that git 1.8.0 introduces the more obvious git branch --set-upstream-to, which can be used as follows, if you're on the branch my_branch:

git branch --set-upstream-to origin/my_branch

... or with the short option:

git branch -u origin/my_branch

This change, and its reasoning, is described in the release notes for git 1.8.0, release candidate 1:

It was tempting to say git branch --set-upstream origin/master, but that tells Git to arrange the local branch origin/master to integrate with the currently checked out branch, which is highly unlikely what the user meant. The option is deprecated; use the new --set-upstream-to (with a short-and-sweet -u) option instead.

Answer 6

You can also do git push -u origin $(current_branch)