How to use Git properly in Replit

Click Tools in the left sidebar and select Git. If your Repl does not have a Git repository yet, you will see an Initialize Repository button. Click it to create a local Git repository in your project. This is the same as running git init in the Shell. Once initialized, the Git pane shows a list of changed files, a commit message input, and buttons for branching and syncing. Every file in your project is initially untracked — you will commit them in the next step.

In the Git pane, you will see all your files listed as changes. Click the checkbox next to each file you want to include in the commit, or click the top-level checkbox to select all files. Enter a commit message like 'Initial commit' in the text field and click Commit. This creates a snapshot of your entire project that you can return to at any time. Replit's Agent can also auto-generate commit messages — click the sparkle icon next to the commit message field to let AI describe your changes.

In the Git pane, click the Connect to GitHub button. If this is your first time, Replit will ask you to authorize the GitHub integration through OAuth. Select your GitHub account, choose Create a new repository or pick an existing empty repository, and confirm. Replit pushes your code to the main branch on GitHub. From this point, changes sync bidirectionally — commits made in Replit appear on GitHub, and pushes to GitHub from other editors are pulled into Replit when you open the workspace.

Before making significant changes, create a branch to isolate your work from the main codebase. In the Git pane, click the branch dropdown (showing 'main') and select Create Branch. Name it descriptively — like feature/user-dashboard or fix/login-bug. You can also create branches in the Shell with git checkout -b branch-name. Working on branches keeps the main branch stable and lets you review changes before merging them.

1# Create a branch from Shell (alternative to Git pane):
2git checkout -b feature/user-dashboard
3
4# List all branches:
5git branch
6
7# Switch back to main:
8git checkout main

After completing and testing your feature, merge it back into main. Switch to the main branch using the branch dropdown in the Git pane or by running git checkout main in the Shell. Then merge your feature branch either through the Git pane merge option or in Shell with git merge feature/user-dashboard. If there are no conflicts, the merge completes automatically. Push the updated main branch to GitHub. If you are using the GitHub integration, you can also create a Pull Request on GitHub and merge there.

1# Merge from Shell:
2git checkout main
3git merge feature/user-dashboard
4
5# Push merged main to GitHub:
6git push origin main
7
8# Delete the feature branch after merging:
9git branch -d feature/user-dashboard

When two people edit the same lines in the same file, Git cannot merge automatically and creates a conflict. Replit highlights conflict markers in the affected files — you will see <<<<<<< HEAD, =======, and >>>>>>> branch-name markers. Edit the file to keep the correct code, removing all conflict markers. After resolving all conflicts, stage the fixed files in the Git pane and commit. If conflicts feel overwhelming, use the Shell to abort the merge with git merge --abort and discuss the conflicting changes with your collaborator before trying again.

1# Example conflict markers in a file:
2<<<<<<< HEAD
3def greet(name):
4    return f"Hello, {name}!"
5=======
6def greet(name):
7    return f"Hi there, {name}! Welcome back."
8>>>>>>> feature/new-greeting
9
10# Resolved version (pick one or combine):
11def greet(name):
12    return f"Hi there, {name}! Welcome back."

The Git pane covers basic operations, but for advanced workflows use the full Git CLI in the Shell. You can push to specific remotes, pull with rebase, view detailed logs, cherry-pick commits, and manage tags. For private repositories, store a personal access token in Tools → Secrets as GIT_URL and use it for push/pull operations. The Shell also has the gh (GitHub CLI) and glab (GitLab CLI) tools pre-installed for managing issues and pull requests from the terminal.

1# View detailed commit history:
2git log --oneline --graph --all
3
4# Pull with rebase (cleaner history):
5git pull --rebase origin main
6
7# Push to a private repo using a personal access token:
8# First, add the token in Tools → Secrets as GITHUB_TOKEN
9git push https://$GITHUB_TOKEN@github.com/user/repo.git main
10
11# Create a tag for a release:
12git tag v1.0.0
13git push --tags