Git Push Set Upstream: Fix "The Current Branch Has No Upstream Branch"

You created a new branch, made a commit, typed git push, and Git stopped with this:

fatal: The current branch feature has no upstream branch.
To push the current branch and set the remote as upstream, use

    git push --set-upstream origin feature

To have this happen automatically for branches without a tracking
upstream, see 'push.autoSetupRemote' in 'git help config'.

Your branch exists only on your computer and isn’t linked to any branch on the remote yet. The fix is the command Git suggests: push once with --set-upstream (or its short form, -u), and plain git push works from then on.

What causes “the current branch has no upstream branch”

An upstream (or tracking) branch is the remote branch your local branch is linked to, such as origin/feature for your local feature. Git uses that link to know where an argument-less git push or git pull should go.

Branches you get by checking out a remote branch usually get an upstream automatically. A branch you create yourself with git switch -c or git checkout -b doesn’t have one until you set it.

Git’s default push behavior, push.default=simple, pushes the current branch to a branch with the same name on the remote, and in the usual setup (pushing to the same remote you pull from, typically origin) it needs an upstream configured. No upstream, no push, so Git stops and tells you how to set it.

How to fix it

Fix 1: Push with -u (set upstream while pushing)

This is the fix for almost everyone. Replace feature with your branch name:

git push -u origin feature

This pushes your branch to the remote called origin and, because of -u, records origin/feature as its upstream. You’ll see output like:

 * [new branch]      feature -> feature
branch 'feature' set up to track 'origin/feature'.

The long form does exactly the same thing:

git push --set-upstream origin feature

You only need -u once per branch. After that, just run:

git push

Tip: To avoid typing the branch name, use HEAD, which means “the branch I’m on”: git push -u origin HEAD. The git manual describes git push origin HEAD as a handy way to push the current branch to the same name on the remote.

If the remote isn’t called origin, check its name first:

git remote -v

This lists each remote with its URL. Use that name instead of origin in the commands above.

Fix 2: Set the upstream on a branch that’s already on the remote

If the branch already exists on the remote (maybe you pushed it without -u, or a teammate created it), you can link your local branch without pushing:

git fetch origin
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/feature

The first command makes sure your copy knows about the remote branch. The second sets origin/feature as the upstream of your current branch. The short form is git branch -u origin/feature. To set it for a different local branch, add its name at the end: git branch -u origin/feature feature.

If the remote branch doesn’t exist yet, Git refuses with:

fatal: the requested upstream branch 'origin/feature' does not exist

In that case, use Fix 1 to push the branch with -u instead.

Fix 3: Make Git set the upstream automatically

If you create a lot of short-lived branches, you can tell Git to set the upstream for you on the first push:

git config --global push.autoSetupRemote true

With this setting, when the current branch has no upstream, a plain git push behaves as if you had added --set-upstream. Per the git documentation, it takes effect when push.default is simple (the default since Git 2.0), upstream or current. It suits simple workflows where every branch has the same name on the remote. Current versions of Git point to it at the end of the error message.

Check which upstream each branch tracks

To see the upstream of every local branch:

git branch -vv

Example output:

* feature 568a62e [origin/feature] Add search box
  main    1ae2a45 [origin/main: ahead 2] Fix footer links
  test    5ea463a Try new layout

Here feature tracks origin/feature, main tracks origin/main and has two local commits that aren’t pushed, and test has no upstream at all. The ahead and behind numbers come from your last fetch, so run git fetch first if you want them up to date.

Change or remove an upstream

To point the current branch at a different remote branch:

git branch -u origin/other-branch

To remove the upstream from the current branch:

git branch --unset-upstream

If you link a branch to a remote branch with a different name, plain git push under the default simple setting refuses and suggests git push origin HEAD:<name> or git push origin HEAD. Keeping local and remote branch names the same avoids that.

Related errors

• error: src refspec feature does not match any: the branch name in your push command doesn’t exist locally, or the branch has no commits yet. See error: src refspec main does not match any.
• fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git: you’re running the command outside your project folder. See fatal: not a git repository.
• ! [rejected] ... (non-fast-forward) after you amended or rebased: your branch has an upstream, but its history changed. Read git push —force-with-lease before forcing anything.

If it still doesn’t work

• Run git status. The first lines show your branch and, if it has one, its upstream and whether you’re ahead or behind.
• Run git remote -v to confirm the remote exists and points at the right URL. If there’s no remote at all, add one with git remote add origin <url>.
• If the push asks for credentials and fails, the upstream isn’t the problem; check your access to the remote repository with whoever manages it.
• If you’re unsure what a branch is tracking, git branch -vv is the quickest answer.

For more Git walkthroughs, browse the programming guides, including how to undo the last commit in Git.