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Fetch

What is Fetch?

The act of downloading the latest history and changes from a remote repository without automatically merging them into your current work.

Fetching securely downloads new data from a remote repository so you can see what others have been working on. Unlike a pull, a fetch does not alter your working directory or merge any code. It strictly updates your local copy of the remote tracking branches, allowing you to review changes safely.

How it relates to Orbit

Orbit checks remote Git history when reporting whether local prompt commits have been published. See Git Tab & Recovery for details.

When you would use it

You use fetch when you want to see the latest updates on the server but aren't yet ready to blend that code into your own working files.

Common operations

  • Checking to see if a teammate pushed new commits to a shared branch.
  • Inspecting changes before deciding whether to merge them.

Related terms

Where this is taught

No learning path uses this term yet. Browse the Learning Atlas for guided sequences through related ideas.

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