What is GitHub? And how to use it

The first time I opened a GitHub link, I had no idea what I was looking at—just a bunch of files, commit messages that might as well have been written using hieroglyphs, and a lot of buttons I was too scared to click. 

If you’re not a programmer, GitHub can definitely feel intimidating at first. But once you understand the basics, it’s surprisingly approachable and incredibly useful. Whether you’re learning to code, building a website, or experimenting with AI tools, GitHub helps you keep your projects organized and collaborate with others.

Here, I’ll walk you through what GitHub is, how it works, and ways to start using it. 

Table of contents: 

What is GitHub? 

GitHub is a web-based platform for creating, storing, and collaborating on coding projects. It’s built on Git, a version control system that tracks every change made to your files. 

Git allows for branching, which lets you create a separate copy of the code so you can make changes without touching the original version. Imagine five people working on a jigsaw puzzle. Instead of crowding around one board, each person gets their own copy of the puzzle to work on. Once someone finishes part of their puzzle, they can suggest adding it to the main board. That’s how Git branching works—everyone can experiment freely, and then combine their best work.

How does GitHub work?

Before diving into how GitHub works, it’s helpful to understand a few key terms. (For a deeper dive into each one, check out Zapier’s guide on how to use GitHub.) 

• Repository: This is where all coding projects are stored. It’s also commonly referred to as repo. 

• Commits: These are snapshots (saved states) of changes made to a coding project’s file at specific moments. 

• Branch: This creates a separate copy of the code, which you can modify without changing the main code. 

• Push: This is when you upload files to or update existing files in a remote GitHub repository.

• Pull: This fetches and downloads the latest updates from a remote repo, and then merges those changes into a local one. 

• Merge: This is when you combine changes from one branch into another. 

• Pull request: This is when a contributor makes changes in a branch and requests to merge it back into the master branch.

What is GitHub used for? 

Broadly speaking, GitHub is used to store, manage, and collaborate on coding projects. In practice, this means you can use GitHub to do things like: 

• Showcase your portfolio. Since public repositories are visible to everyone on the internet, you can use them to showcase projects and contribute to open source projects. If you have projects you’re not yet ready to share or that contain sensitive information, you can also make the repository private. 

• Host your website. You can use GitHub Pages as your free hosting solution for static (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) websites. For example, I use a GitHub Page to host this Pomodoro timer I built.

• Collaborate with AI. In addition to collaborating on coding projects with humans, you can use GitHub Copilot (GitHub’s AI coding assistant) to help write and revise code. Note: You can use GitHub Copilot for free for up to 50 requests per month. 

• Move projects across AI apps. If you use multiple AI coding tools—like Lovable for front-end prototyping and Cursor for backend development—you can use GitHub to transfer your project between platforms. Simply create a GitHub repo, upload your project files, and then import the repo into your next tool. This lets you take advantage of each tool’s strengths while keeping your project organized in one central place.

GitHub commands: An overview

Here’s an overview of essential GitHub commands you’ll need to use. Keep this cheat sheet handy—you’ll use them regularly.

General GitHub commands

• git clone [repo-URL]: Create a local copy of a remote repository 

• git add: Add a file to the staging area

• git status: Check the status of different files

• git commit -m “[descriptive message]”: Save changes with an explanation 

• git push: Upload the changes to a remote repository 

• git pull: Download the latest changes to a local repository 

GitHub branching commands

• git checkout -b [branch-name]: Create a new branch and switch to it

• git checkout main: Switch to your main branch

• git merge [branch-name]: Merge changes from the specific branch into the active branch. Note: You’ll need to first switch to your brain branch (use git checkout main).

• git branch: List all local branches

• git check [branch-name]: Switch to a different branch within your local repository

Tracking commands

Automate GitHub 

If you’re using GitHub, you’re probably not working in a vacuum. You’re collaborating with others, sharing progress, and juggling tasks across multiple tools. But when you’re deep in the flow, it’s easy to push code and forget to notify your team—or lose track of what needs to happen next.

That’s where AI orchestration comes in. By connecting GitHub with Zapier’s built-in AI tools, you can build adaptive workflows that respond to real-time context. For example, when a pull request is opened, you can use AI to summarize the differences and post it in Slack, route it to the right reviewer based on file type, and log issues with semantic tagging in Notion or Jira. This way, your GitHub activity isn’t just tracked—it’s amplified across your entire system.

Learn more about how to automate GitHub, or get started with one of these templates.

Related reading: 

This article was originally published in August 2021 by Justin Pot. The most recent update was published in July 2025.