Session 1 — Exercises: First Workflow with GitHub Desktop

Last updated on 2026-03-05 | Edit this page

Overview

In this session you will clone your repository, make local edits, commit, push, pull, and explore the commit history using GitHub Desktop.

Time frame: approximately 70 minutes of hands-on work.

Task 1: Clone and First Local Commit

Level 1 — Clone your repository

  1. Open GitHub Desktop.
  2. Click File → Clone repository (or the Clone a repository button on the start screen).
  3. Find your git-intro-<yourname> repository in the list and click Clone.
  4. Choose a local path (e.g. your Desktop or Documents folder).
Callout

Checkpoint 1

GitHub Desktop shows your repository with “No local changes”. The repository files are now on your computer in the folder you selected.

BASH 

git clone https://github.com/USERNAME/git-intro-yourname.git
cd git-intro-yourname

Level 2 — Make a local edit and commit

  1. Open your README.md in a text editor (you can right-click the repository in GitHub Desktop and choose Open in Visual Studio Code or your preferred editor).

  2. Add a new section:

    MARKDOWN 

    ## Goals for This Workshop

- Learn the basics of version control
- Collaborate with others using GitHub
- Build confidence with git workflows

  3. Save the file.

  4. Switch back to GitHub Desktop — you should see the changes highlighted.

  5. Write a commit message: Add workshop goals to README

  6. Click Commit to main.

Callout

Checkpoint 2

The commit appears in the History tab. Your change summary shows the added lines in green.

Note, so far, your changes are still only known within your local repository. They have not been shared with GitHub or anyone else until you push them (Task 2).

Level 3 — Make multiple commits

Create a new file within your project and add/commit it to the local repository. Use a descriptive message for the new file to practice the habit of small, focused commits.

Task 2: Push and Pull

Level 1 — Push your commits

  1. In GitHub Desktop, click the Push origin button in the toolbar.
  2. Go to your repository on github.com and verify that your new commits are visible.
Callout

Checkpoint 3

Your GitHub repository page shows the updated README with the goals section.

Level 2 — Edit on GitHub and pull

  1. On GitHub, click the pencil icon on README.md.

  2. Add a “Fun fact” section:

    MARKDOWN 

    ## Fun Fact

I once ate an entire pizza by myself in under 10 minutes. 🍕

  3. Commit the change directly on GitHub with the message Add fun fact.

  4. Switch back to GitHub Desktop and click Fetch origin, then Pull origin.

  5. Open README.md locally — the fun fact should now be there.

Callout

Checkpoint 4

Your local README.md contains both the workshop goals (added locally) and the fun fact (added on GitHub). Both edits are visible in the History tab.

BASH 

# Push local commits
git push

# Pull remote changes
git pull

Level 3 — Inspect the history in detail

  1. In GitHub Desktop, go to the History tab.
  2. Click on different commits and examine the diff (green = added, red = removed).
  3. On GitHub, go to the Commits page and click on a commit to see the same diff in the web UI.
  4. Can you find the commit SHA (the short code like a1b2c3d) for each of your commits?

Task 3: Best Practices Review

Level 1 — Evaluate commit messages

Look at the commit messages in your history. For each one, answer:

  • Is it clear what changed?
  • Is it short enough (≤ 50 characters)?
  • Could someone else understand it without context?

Level 2 — Refine your workflow

  1. Create a .gitignore file in your repository that ignores .DS_Store and Thumbs.db.
  2. Commit and push the .gitignore file.
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
*~

Summary

By the end of this session you should have: