Initializing a Repository

If you run any but command in a repository that has never been seen by GitButler before, it will automatically run the but init command, which will need to have you confirm the upstream base branch (origin/main for example).

You can also run but init manually to set that up first, or import it as a GitButler project in the GUI.

❯ but init
Initialized GitButler project from .
The default target is origin/main

If there is an origin/HEAD reference (servers will often set this as a target branch), GitButler will use this.

Otherwise, the but init command will try to guess a default base branch by looking for origin/main or origin/master, as these are very common. If it finds one of these, it will set it and move on. If it does not, it will ask you which remote branch it should use as it’s target base.

A base branch has to be set on every project GitButler operates on. This is important to tell what is or is not considered "integrated".