What does "This branch is 0 commits ahead and 0 commits behind master" mean on GitHub?
git, github
Solution
This is not a bug.
Once you fork a repo, each of your branch is compared to the branch which is common between the fork and the original repo. That gives you a clear indication about you can or not make a pull request.
In this instance, your branch is `master`, which is means it is compared with itself, since `master` is also in the original repo. Hence the "`0 commit ahead and 0 commit behind`" (with itself) message.
If you had done a commit of your own on, as I mention in "couple of tips on pull request", on a dedicated branch made from `master`, then your branch would have been a commit ahead of `master`. You could then have made a pull request, from the owner of the first repo to consider.
In any case, the purpose of that message is to remind you that the main goal of a fork is to collaborate and contribute back:
- if your dedicated branch is behind, you want to rebase it against `origin/branch` (which you are supposed to keep in sync with the original repo, in other words, you are not supposed to work directly on `master`) in order to make sure your own work is compatible with the latest commits of the first repo,
- if your branch is ahead, you could consider making a pull request and giving back.
Problem
GitHub screenshot: There's only one branch, master. `git status` says there's nothing to commit. How is that branch zero commits ahead and behind itself? I see this on GitHub forks. Is it just a confusing status message?