How to Check If a Git Branch Is Tracking a Remote Branch

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn how to check if a local Git branch is tracking a remote branch. We will explore two primary methods: using the git branch -vv command to quickly see tracking information and using the git config command to verify the upstream configuration.

Through hands-on examples, you will understand how to interpret the output of these commands and identify which remote branch your local branch is connected to, if any. We will also briefly touch upon the concept of non-tracking branches.

Skills Graph

Run git branch -vv to Check Tracking

In this step, we'll learn how to check the tracking status of your local branches using the git branch -vv command. This command is very useful for seeing which remote branch your local branch is connected to, if any.

First, let's make sure we are in our project directory. Open your terminal and navigate to the my-time-machine directory:

cd ~/project/my-time-machine

Now, run the git branch -vv command:

git branch -vv

You should see output similar to this:

* master a1b2c3d [origin/master] Send a message to the future

Let's break down this output:

• * master: The asterisk (*) indicates that master is your current active branch.
• a1b2c3d: This is the short version of the latest commit hash on this branch.
• [origin/master]: This part tells you that your local master branch is tracking the master branch on a remote repository named origin. We haven't added a remote yet, but Git is showing you the potential tracking information.
• Send a message to the future: This is the commit message of the latest commit on this branch.

Understanding branch tracking is important, especially when you start collaborating with others or pushing your code to platforms like GitHub. It helps you know if your local branch is up-to-date with the remote version and where your changes will go when you push them.

In the next steps, we will explore how to set up and verify upstream branches, which is the remote branch your local branch tracks.

Use git config to Verify Upstream

In the previous step, we saw that git branch -vv showed [origin/master]. This indicates that our local master branch is configured to track the master branch on a remote named origin. Even though we haven't added a remote yet, Git has default configurations that suggest this tracking relationship.

We can verify this configuration using the git config command. This command allows us to view and modify Git's configuration settings.

Make sure you are still in the ~/project/my-time-machine directory.

Now, let's check the configuration for our master branch's remote:

git config branch.master.remote

This command specifically asks Git for the value of the remote setting for the master branch.

You should see the output:

origin

This confirms that the master branch is configured to use origin as its remote.

Next, let's check the configuration for the remote branch name that our local master branch tracks:

git config branch.master.merge

This command asks Git for the value of the merge setting for the master branch, which specifies the remote branch to merge into the local branch.

You should see the output:

refs/heads/master

This confirms that the master branch is configured to track the master branch on the remote. refs/heads/master is the full reference name for the master branch.

Using git config is a powerful way to understand and manage the detailed settings of your Git repository, including how your local branches interact with remote repositories.

Test Non-Tracking Branches

In the previous steps, we saw how our master branch is configured to track a remote branch. Now, let's create a new local branch that does not track a remote branch and see how git branch -vv reports its status.

Make sure you are still in the ~/project/my-time-machine directory.

First, let's create a new branch called experiment:

git branch experiment

This command creates a new branch named experiment but does not switch to it.

Now, let's run git branch -vv again to see the status of all our local branches:

git branch -vv

You should see output similar to this:

* master    a1b2c3d [origin/master] Send a message to the future
  experiment a1b2c3d Send a message to the future

Notice the difference in the output for the experiment branch compared to the master branch. The experiment branch does not show [origin/...] after the commit hash. This indicates that the experiment branch is a local branch that is not currently tracking any remote branch.

This is a common scenario when you create a new branch locally for experimentation or developing a new feature before you decide to share it with others on a remote repository.

You can explicitly set an upstream branch for a local branch using git branch --set-upstream-to=<remote>/<remote-branch> <local-branch>. However, for now, it's important to understand that not all local branches automatically track a remote branch.

This concludes our exploration of checking branch tracking status. You've learned how to use git branch -vv and git config to understand how your local branches are configured to interact with remotes.

Summary

In this lab, we learned how to check if a Git branch is tracking a remote branch. We used the git branch -vv command to see the tracking status of local branches, identifying the remote branch and repository being tracked.

We also explored how to use the git config command to verify the upstream configuration for a branch, confirming the remote branch that a local branch is set to track. Finally, we tested the behavior of non-tracking branches to understand how Git handles branches without an explicit upstream configuration.