git fetch and git pull are both Git commands that involve retrieving updates from a remote repository, but they have some key differences in how they operate.

What does git fetch do?

Fetching is the operation of retrieving new changes from a remote repository without merging them into your working branch.

When you run git fetch, Git contacts the remote repository and fetches any new branches or changesets.

It updates the remote tracking branches (e.g., origin/master) in your local repository to reflect the state of the remote repository.

It does not modify your working directory or merge any changes into your local branch.

Example:

git fetch origin

What does git pull do?

Pulling is a combination of fetching and merging. It fetches the changes from the remote repository and automatically merges them into your current branch.

It is essentially equivalent to running git fetch followed by git merge.

If you have local changes in your working branch, git pull will attempt to merge the remote changes with your local changes.

If there are conflicts, you’ll need to resolve them.

Example:

git pull origin master

When should you fetch

If you want to see what changes are available in the remote repository without merging them into your working branch immediately, you can use git fetch.

When should you pull

If you want to fetch the changes and merge them into your working branch in one step, you can use git pull.

The choice between them often depends on your workflow and whether you want more control over the merging process.