Checking out branch from a PR from a fork

[markcmiller86]

Sometimes we want to work on a branch associated with a pull request from a fork but we DO NOT want to add a new remote for the fork. For example, suppose you want to work on #21023 in a git clone that lives on your own laptop. You can simply add the fork as a new remote. But, that adds some global git metadata that maybe you do not want to do.

So, here is how to checkout out #21023 without adding a remote.

git fetch origin pull/21023/head:fix-memstream-bounds-check-v003
git checkout fix-memstream-bounds-check-v003

This allows you to examine the code. You can compile the code, etc.

Now, if you wind up needing to push changes to the branch in the forked repo, you can either add the fork as a remote or you can try to push directly to the URL...

git push https://github.com/orbisai0security/visit.git HEAD:fix-memstream-bounds-check-v003

or

git push git@github.com:orbisai0security/visit.git HEAD:fix-memstream-bounds-check-v003

But this works only if the fork honors the allow maintainters to edit permissions and and you use the same protocol (https:// or ssh://) as they do.

[JustinPrivitera]

Does this put you in the detached HEAD state?

[markcmiller86]

No.

And, it turns out LFS'd content may create additional issues doing business this way...that is in a way that avoids adding a new remote. If you are willing to add the forked repo as a new remote in your repo, life is probably a lot easier.