How to move a commit from one repo to another repo

[JessicaLucindaCheng]

Overview

We need to write instructions for how to move a commit from one repo to another repo so that leads at Hack for LA can move files between repos when needed.

Action Items

• In a new comment below, write instructions for how to move a commit from one repo to another repo.

Resources/Instructions

• Link to instructions: How to move a commit from one repo to another repo #6595 (comment)
• https://www.elliotblackburn.com/cherry-pick-git-commit-across-repository/

[JessicaLucindaCheng]

[WIP DRAFT] How to move a commit from one repo to another using cherry-pick

These instructions were adapted from Elliot Blackburn's Moving a git commit from one repository to another.

Prerequisites

• You know how to or can figure out how to
  • find a commit SHA,
  • use git commands,
  • fork a repository (repo),
  • clone the forked repo onto your computer, and
  • create a new branch based on an existing branch.

Notes

• If you are trying to preserve author history when moving a file to another repo, the following instructions will only work if you want to move a file with only one commit in its history.
• The instructions are written to adhere to the workflow on the Hack for LA Website Team.

Assumptions

1. You are using GitHub to host your remote repositories.
2. The repository for where the commits will come from and the repository for where the commits will be moved to exist already or have been created. Also, the repositories have at least one branch, such as the main or master branch.
3. You have Git installed on your local machine. If you need instructions on how to install Git on your local machine, see section 1.2 Dev setup (2): Installing Git from the Hack for LA Website Team's CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Instructions

A. Copy Commits From One Repository to Another

Forking and Cloning Repositories

On GitHub, do the following

1. Fork the repo where you want to copy the commits to ¹. For these instructions, I will refer to this as the forked new repo.
2. In your forked new repo, create a new branch based on the branch you want to work off of, such as the main or master branch ². I will refer to this as the working branch and this will be the branch you push your work to.
3. Fork the repo where you have the commits currently ¹. For these instructions, I will refer to this as the forked old repo.
4. Clone a copy of your forked old repo to your local machine ³.
5. For the commit(s) you want to copy, find the commit(s) SHA. There are multiple ways to find the commit SHA, including on GitHub or locally on your computer ⁴.

On Your Local Machine, Copy Commits

6. On your local machine, in your forked old repo, add a remote that will fetch and push to your forked new-repo ⁵⁶.

   git remote add [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME] https://github.com/[GITHUB-HANDLE]/[FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME].git
   

   • Replace [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME| with the name of your remote forked new repo.
   • Replace [GITHUB-HANDLE] with your GitHub handle.
   • Replace [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME| with the name of your remote forked new repo.
7. Fetch your forked new repo ⁷.

   git fetch [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME]
   

   • [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME| is the name of your remote forked new repo.
8. Create a local branch based on your forked new repo's working branch ⁵⁸.

   git checkout -b [WORKING-BRANCH-NAME] --track [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME]/[WORKING-BRANCH-NAME]
   

   • [WORKING-BRANCH-NAME] should be replaced with the name of your forked new repo's working branch.
   • [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME] should be replaced with the name of your forked new repo.
9. Cherry-pick the commit you want to copy ⁵⁹.

   git cherry-pick [COMMIT-SHA]
   

   • [COMMIT-SHA] should be replaced with the commit SHA.
10. If you have more commits to copy, repeat steps 8 and 9.
11. Push cherry-picked commit to the new-repo ⁵¹⁰.

git push [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME] [WORKING-BRANCH-NAME]

• [FORKED-NEW-REPO-NAME] should be replaced with the name of your remote forked new repo.
• [WORKING-BRANCH-NAME] should be replaced with the name of your forked new repo's working branch.

Create a Pull Request

12. When creating your pull request ¹¹,

• Base repository should be the original repo where you want to copy the commits to.
• Base should be the branch where you want to copy the commits to.
• Head repository should be your forked new repo.
• Compare should be your forked new repo's working branch.
• Example:
  [REDO IMAGE WITHOUT ANNOTATIONS]

Merge the pull request

[ADD INSTRUCTIONS HERE]

• I recommend using rebase merging to preserve who authored the file.
• To see examples of the commit history of the various methods of merging, see these branches in my forked repo:
  • Using rebase & merge: Recommended
  • Using merge commit: Okay but results in an additional commit.
  • Using squash & merge: Not recommended because it doesn't preserve author's credit

B. Remove files from the old repo

Delete the files
[ADD INSTRUCTIONS HERE]

Resources

Footnotes

1. Forking a repository ↩ ↩²

2. Creating a branch via the branches overview ↩

3. Cloning your forked repository ↩

4. Finding a commit's SHA ↩

5. Moving a git commit from one repository to another ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Adding a remote repository ↩

7. git fetch ↩

8. git checkout ↩

9. git cherry-pick ↩

10. git push ↩

11. Creating a pull request from a fork ↩

[JessicaLucindaCheng]

Issue Progress Update

• Progress: Started a first draft: How to move a commit from one repo to another repo #6595 (comment)
• Blockers: None
• Availability: 8 hours
• ETA: Monday, January 6, 2025

Tasks

• Create an issue here to make a new guide https://github.com/hackforla/knowledgebase-content/issues/new/choose
• Add info about commits and link to https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/committing-changes-to-your-project/creating-and-editing-commits/about-commits
• Note: cherry-pick only moves the specific commit and not the whole history
• Will cloning both repos at beginning, remove need to git fetch new repo later?
• Way to directly cherry-pick items into a specific folder? Or need to work on moving files on the branch after pushing commits to remote? Or separate issue?