This exercise walks you through the basic Git workflow using VS Code’s Source Control tab and GitHub’s web interface. By the end, you will have cloned a repository, created a branch, made changes, and merged them back.

Content developed by Ben Rambo-Martin

Prerequisites

  • VS Code installed
  • Git installed
  • A GitHub account with access to your institute’s repository

1. Clone the Repository

  1. Open VS Code.
  2. Click the Source Control tab in the left sidebar (the icon that looks like a branching graph).
  3. If no folder is open, you will see a Clone Repository button. Click it.
  4. Paste your institute’s repository URL (e.g., https://github.com/your-org/your-repo.git) into the input box that appears at the top of the window.
  5. Choose a local folder to clone into and click Select as Repository Destination.
  6. When prompted, click Open to open the cloned repository in VS Code.

2. Create a Branch

  1. In the Source Control tab, click the … (more actions) menu at the top of the panel.
  2. Navigate to Branch > Create Branch….
  3. Name your branch something descriptive, e.g., update-readme-yourname.
  4. Press Enter — VS Code will create the branch and switch to it automatically.
  5. You can confirm the active branch by looking at the bottom-left corner of the VS Code status bar.

3. Edit the README

  1. Click the Explorer tab in the left sidebar to view your files.
  2. Open the README.md file.

  3. Add a line with your name and today’s date, for example:

    ## Contributors
- Your Name (2026-04-16)
  4. Save the file (Ctrl+S / Cmd+S).

4. Stage and Commit

  1. Click the Source Control tab in the left sidebar.
  2. You should see README.md listed under the Changes section.
  3. Hover over README.md and click the + (Stage Changes) icon to move it to the Staged Changes section.
  4. Type a commit message in the Message text box at the top of the Source Control panel, e.g., Add contributor name to README.
  5. Click the Commit button (checkmark icon) to commit your staged changes.

5. Push to GitHub

  1. After committing, the Commit button in the Source Control tab will change to Publish Branch (since this is a new branch).
  2. Click Publish Branch to push your branch to GitHub.
  3. If prompted, authenticate with GitHub and select the remote to publish to.

6. Create a Pull Request and Merge (GitHub Website)

  1. Open your repository on github.com.
  2. You should see a banner saying your branch was recently pushed. Click Compare & pull request.
  3. Review the changes, add a title and description if needed, then click Create pull request.
  4. Once the pull request is created and any reviewers have approved, click Merge pull request.
  5. Click Confirm merge.
  6. Optionally, delete the branch on GitHub by clicking Delete branch.

7. Pull the Merged Changes Locally

  1. In VS Code, click the Source Control tab.
  2. Click the … menu and navigate to Branch > Checkout to…, then select main.
  3. Click the … menu again and select Pull to pull the latest changes from GitHub.
  4. Your local main branch now includes the merged changes.

You have now completed a full Git workflow — clone, branch, edit, commit, push, and merge. This is the foundation for collaborating on code with your team.