GitHub & Secrets Security

Once you have saved commits locally, you should back them up online to GitHub and configure rules to keep secret files safe.

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18.3.1 Pushing Code to GitHub

To push your local repository online, you must link your local Git database to a remote GitHub repository.

Step 1: Create a Repo on GitHub

1. Go to github.com and log in.
2. Click New to create a repository.
3. Name it (e.g., my-first-app) and leave the initialization checkboxes (README, .gitignore) unchecked. Click Create Repository.

Step 2: Link Remote & Push

Copy the commands displayed on GitHub and run them in your local terminal:

# Rename default branch to main
git branch -M main

# Link your local repo to the remote GitHub repo URL
git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/my-first-app.git

# Push your commits online
git push -u origin main

(Subsequent pushes only require running git push!).

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18.3.2 Protecting Secrets: The .gitignore File

In programming (especially AI development), you will work with sensitive credentials, such as API keys. You must never publish these secrets to GitHub.

To prevent Git from tracking and uploading specific files, we create a file named exactly .gitignore in the root of your project directory.

Common items to ignore:

Create a .gitignore file and paste the following content:

# Ignore local environment keys containing secrets
.env

# Ignore virtual environments containing megabytes of downloaded libraries
.venv/
myenv/

# Ignore compiled python bytecode caches
__pycache__/
*.pyc

# Ignore OS metadata files
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

:::warning Critical Rule Always create and write your .gitignore file before running git add .. If you commit a file once, Git will continue to track it even if you add it to .gitignore later. :::