📥 Different Ways of Pulling Updates from Remote

Keeping your local branch in sync with the remote ensures you’re working with the latest code. Below are common ways to do it — starting from safest to most destructive.

✅ Safe / Common Methods

1. git pull

git pull origin main

• What it does: fetch + merge
• Use case: Automatically fetch and merge the latest changes.
• Pros: Simple and convenient.
• Cons: Can create messy merge commits.

2. git fetch + git merge

git fetch origin main
git merge origin/main

• What it does: Downloads changes without applying, then merges.
• Use case: Review before merging.
• Pros: Safer than direct pull.
• Cons: Two-step process.

3. git fetch + git rebase

git fetch origin main
git rebase origin/main

• What it does: Reapplies your commits on top of fetched changes.
• Use case: Keep a clean linear history.
• Pros: Preferred in many teams.
• Cons: Risky if rebasing public branches.

3b. git pull --rebase

git pull --rebase origin main

• Shortcut for:

git fetch origin main
git rebase origin/main

📦 Starting Fresh

4. git clone

git clone https://github.com/username/repo-name.git

• What it does: Creates a full local copy of the repo.
• Use case: First-time setup.
• Cons: Not for updating existing repos.

⚠️ Risky / Destructive

5. git reset --hard origin/main

git fetch origin main
git reset --hard origin/main

• What it does: Forces local branch to match remote exactly.
• Use case: Discard all local changes and start fresh.
• Warning: This deletes uncommitted changes.