Patching Programs From Forks

Chris Titus — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explains how to patch programs from forks using Git. It covers the steps to clone a forked repository, create a patch file, and apply it to the original repository.

Creating Patch Files

Go to the repo that is ahead of the project that you want patched.

git format-patch -1 <COMMITSHA>

Git commit sha located at:

Patching the Original Repo

Check the stats and if there will be any rejects from patching

Stats:

git apply --stat <PATCHFILE>

Check for rejects:

git apply --check <PATCHFILE>

Apply a clean patch:

git am <PATCHFILE>

Apply a patch with rejects:

git am --reject <PATCHFILE>

Note: You may need to resolve conflicts manually if there are rejects. Look in the directory for any *.rej and manually fix the lines that did NOT get applied!

Git on Chris Titus Tech | Tech Content Creator

Patching Programs From Forks

Creating Patch Files

Patching the Original Repo