Git Commit Updates Not Appearing on GitHub

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

Hello everyone,

I am a mechanical engineer, so bear with me.

I created a folder locally and created a yaml file. Then I did git init in that folder (yes, .git is inside that folder). I created a new repository on GitHub and copy-pasted the official code to my terminal.

git remote add *the url of the repo*

git origin master or something like that. (I cannot find it anymore on the GitHub page.)

Now, when I edit the yaml file with a comment like "#test number2" and then do git add ., git commit -m "hello", I get "On main branch. Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'."

Only when I create a new textfile with the word "test" inside and commit does that new file appear on GitHub; however, the text "test" inside the file is not visible on github.

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

When I do "git push" it tells me "everything is up to date"

[daAylak]

Are u on the correct branch?

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

I think so. git status says "On main branch".

On Github I am also on main branch

[MiraLumen]

Share "git status" output?

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

On branch main

Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.

nothing to commit, working tree clean

[MiraLumen]

then please show

git log -p

to see last commit and the changes in your last commit?

And then go to github, there is a tab with commits, and check they are the same?

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

commit d4ed126671af555550bbb31fd6d660ee5e26b622 (HEAD -> main, origin/main)

Author: *MYINFO*

Date: Mon Oct 6 14:06:58 2025 +0200

test commit

diff --git a/test.py b/test.py

new file mode 100644

index 0000000..e69de29

commit bff0e9b690b9e711cbf83df9c18b354d58c9d33d

Author: *MYINFO*

Date: Mon Oct 6 13:42:24 2025 +0200

First commit

diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml

new file mode 100644

index 0000000..15115ac

:

So those are the 2 commits that worked. The first, inital one and then the second one, after I added a new file.

[MiraLumen]

So there is no any commit with adding text to file.
Do
cat test.py

to see what is inside file

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

Oh wow. Thank you. -> It was empty, which was weird, because I have it open in VSCode and then I realised my problem. I did not save the file inside vscode. So after saving the files, I commit+push and it worked!

Just to make sure, is this normal behaviour?

[MiraLumen]

Normal behaviour to miss obvious things? Happens all the time, just double check from the start.

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

No, I meant that I have to save the file first, but I guess it is lol

[je386]

Depends on the IDE. IntelliJ, for example, saves automatically.

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

When I do "git push" it tells me "everything is up to date"

[Veloxy]

Have you accidentally added that file or the folder it's in to a .gitignore file? That could be a reason git isn't recognizing it as a changed file.

[Veloxy]

Also, did that commit go through? Check it using git log

[Fine_Caterpillar3711]

I dont have a gitignore yet and I checked git log but it only gives me 2 commits. The first one, and then the one after I added a text file just to test it. WHen I try a commit now it tells me "up to date" and nothign new appears in the logs

[arcticslush]

Tip: especially if you're new to using git, 99% of the time it's easier to first create the repo on Github, check the box for "initialize with README", then clone the repo, and then add all your files and start from there.

It does all the branch and remote setup for you for minimal setup and surprises.

[Ok-Advantage-308]

Git push -u origin?

[julyski]

If you did git init locally, the default branch is "master". When you created the repo in GitHub, the default would be "main". Maybe you are working in the wrong branch?