Contributing to open source with a fork: a GitWand walkthrough

The standard way to contribute to a project you don't own is the fork workflow: you create your own copy of the repository on GitHub, work on it, and open a Pull Request back to the original. It's also called a triangular workflow because your code moves across three points — the original repo, your fork, and your local clone — and the fetch and push directions don't always go to the same place.

Most Git GUIs handle this badly. GitHub Desktop, for example, makes no distinction between your fork and the upstream: it shows one origin and one ahead/behind counter. That counter is accurate for your fork but useless for telling you how far behind the original project you are. GitWand does it differently.

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The workflow

1. Fork on GitHub

Find the repository you want to contribute to and click Fork on GitHub. This creates github.com/YOUR-USER/PROJECT — a full copy you control.

2. Clone your fork locally

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USER/PROJECT.git
cd PROJECT

At this point you have one remote: origin, pointing at your fork.

3. Add the original repository as upstream

git remote add upstream https://github.com/ORIGINAL-OWNER/PROJECT.git
git fetch upstream

Now you have two remotes:

• origin — your fork (you push here)
• upstream — the original repo (you pull/fetch from here)

In a standard (non-fork) clone, the fetch remote and the push remote are the same. Here they're different. That's the triangular workflow.

4. Open GitWand

Open GitWand on your local clone. If GitWand detects that your push remote (@{push}) differs from your upstream tracking branch (@{upstream}), it automatically shows a fork badge in the sync button:

↑ 3 fork

This means you have 3 commits on your local branch that haven't been pushed to your fork yet. The main ahead/behind counter still shows your distance from the upstream (the original project), so you always know both things at once.

5. Keep your fork up to date

Before starting work, sync with the original:

git fetch upstream
git rebase upstream/main   # or git merge upstream/main

Then push to your fork to keep it current too:

git push origin main

In GitWand, after git fetch upstream, the behind counter in the header shows how many commits the original project has that you don't. After the rebase, it drops to 0.

6. Create a feature branch

Don't work directly on main. Create a branch:

git checkout -b feat/my-contribution

Or right-click any commit in GitWand's Log → Create branch here. Make your changes, commit them.

7. Push to your fork

git push origin feat/my-contribution

The fork badge updates: ↑ N fork tells you how many commits are waiting to be pushed to your fork. Once you push, the badge disappears.

8. Open a Pull Request

Go to GitHub. There's usually a banner prompting you to open a PR from your recently-pushed branch. Fill in the description, point the base branch at the original repository's main, and submit.

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What GitWand shows that other clients don't

	GitHub Desktop	GitWand
Push remote	origin (your fork)	origin (your fork)
Fetch tracking	origin/main	upstream/main
Ahead/behind counter	ahead/behind of your fork	ahead/behind of the original project
Fork-specific badge	❌	✅ "↑N fork" when commits haven't reached the fork yet

The key difference: in GitHub Desktop, ahead 3 might mean "3 commits ahead of my own fork" — which isn't useful. In GitWand, ahead 3 means "3 commits ahead of the upstream project I'm trying to contribute to", and the separate fork badge tells you the push-to-fork status independently.

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Commit trailers for open source

Many projects require a Signed-off-by trailer on every commit. The Linux kernel, for example, uses the Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO): by signing off, you certify that you have the right to submit the code under the project's license.

In GitWand's commit panel, expand Certification & revue to reveal:

• Certifié par moi (Signed-off-by) — pre-filled with your name and email from git config. One checkbox to add it to every commit.
• Relu par (Reviewed-by) — free text for the reviewer's name.

These are appended as a proper git trailer block after the commit body, matching the format git tools and forges expect.

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Setting up triangular workflow in git config

If you always want your branches to track upstream but push to origin, add this to your global git config:

[branch]
    autoSetupMerge = always
[push]
    default = current

Then when you create a new branch and push it, git automatically pushes to origin/branch-name while tracking upstream/main for the behind counter. GitWand will pick up the resulting triangular configuration automatically.

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In summary

Fork-based contribution is how most open source work gets done, and it's one of the workflows where the gap between a terminal and a good GUI is largest. The combination of an accurate behind counter (relative to the real upstream), a fork-specific push badge, and one-click trailer injection makes the full loop — fork, work, certify, push, PR — something you can do without switching to the terminal at all.