Pull

Git · Reference cheat sheet

📖 Overview

git pull fetches from a remote and integrates into the current branch. Default integration is merge; configure or pass --rebase for a linear history. Prefer an explicit fetch + review when the update is risky.

🧩 Core concepts

• Fetch + integrate — updates remote-tracking refs, then merge or rebase.
• Upstream — pull uses the branch’s configured remote/merge ref.
• --rebase — replay local commits on top of the updated tip.
• --ff-only — refuse non-fast-forward updates (safe default for shared mains).
• Autostash — --autostash stashes dirty worktree around rebase/merge.
• Conflict handling — same as merge/rebase; finish with commit or rebase --continue.

💡 Examples

# Pull current upstream (merge)
git pull

# Pull with rebase
git pull --rebase
git pull --rebase origin main

# Fast-forward only
git pull --ff-only

# Explicit remote/branch
git pull origin main

# Autostash local changes
git pull --rebase --autostash

# Safer workflow: fetch, inspect, then integrate
git fetch origin
git log --oneline HEAD..origin/main
git merge --ff-only origin/main
# or: git rebase origin/main

Set rebase-by-default for pulls (optional):

git config pull.rebase true
git config pull.ff only

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Blind git pull on a dirty tree can create messy conflict states — stash or commit first.
• Mixing merge pulls and rebase pulls on the same branch confuses history.
• Pulling with divergent histories creates merge commits unless you rebase/ff-only.
• After a rebased pull of commits already pushed, you may need a force-with-lease push.

🔗 Related

• Fetch
• Merge
• Rebase
• Push
• Branch