Tracking branches and upstreams

What upstream means

A local branch can track a remote-tracking branch. This gives Git a default destination for push and a default comparison point for pull and status information.

Inspect tracking configuration

git branch -vv shows local branches and their upstream relationships. If a branch has no upstream, Git may require you to specify the remote and branch when pushing.

Set or change the upstream

Use git push -u when publishing a new branch or git branch --set-upstream-to when an existing local branch should track a particular remote branch.