Forks and contributions

A fork is a real repository with explicit lineage to its source. Upstream does not infer fork relationships from similar commit history.

Create a fork

On a public repository, select Fork, choose a destination namespace, and wait for the repository operation to finish. You receive administrator access to your fork without becoming a member of the source workspace.

Synchronize a fork

Fork synchronization is fast-forward only. If your default branch has diverged from the source, Upstream stops and reports the divergence instead of force-pushing over your work.

Contribute upstream

From your fork, select Contribute to compare a source branch with the upstream repository and open a cross-repository Change Request.

The target repository owns the Change Request number, reviews, checks, and merge decision. You retain control of the proposed branch in your fork.

Cross-repository merges into a GitHub-canonical target are currently unavailable. Upstream reports this explicitly instead of silently changing the merge path.