74 74. Step 1: Fork the repo and clone it

As of Oct 22, 2026 · Official docs: GitHub: Fork a repository · git clone

The bulk of the code for this project is provided in a GitHub repo. In this step you make your own copy of that repo on GitHub (you fork it) and then copy your fork to your computer (you clone it).

This section assumes that you have already created your own account on GitHub. If you haven’t, please do so now.

74.1 Fork the repo

Open-source software is software whose code anyone may copy and modify. Often developers take a GitHub repository from another developer and continue to develop it in their own way. The original developer has their version of the software and the new developer has their own (different) version of the software. This is known as “forking” a repo. The word fork comes from “a fork in the road” - i.e. the two repos started out the same but will continue in different directions.

You need your own copy of the repo. The course’s copy of the app is https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo: the code from the tutorial video (https://github.com/pixegami/task-app), updated so that it works with today’s Supabase and the other services. Fork this copy, not the video’s original. To do so,

Go to https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo
Click the Fork button. On the “Create a new fork” page, change the Repository name to task-app (the name the course uses), then click Create fork. This puts a copy of the repo in your own GitHub account. If GitHub says you already have a repository with that name, first rename the old one (its Settings page, Repository name).

74.2 Clone your repo to get a copy on your computer

Once you have a copy of the repo in your GitHub account, you can then “pull down” a copy of that repo to the computer that you will be developing on. This is known as “cloning” a repo from GitHub. This allows you to work on your local Git repo and then eventually “push” the changes that you’ve made back to your fork (your copy on GitHub).

To clone your fork to your computer, do the following:

Go to your fork on GitHub (https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-app, with your GitHub user name in place of YOUR-USERNAME).
Click the green Code button. Under HTTPS, click the copy icon next to the URL to copy your fork’s URL.
Open your Terminal and go to the folder where you keep your code projects, for example ~/projects (mkdir -p ~/projects creates it, then cd ~/projects). Don’t use Documents, Desktop or a Dropbox, OneDrive or iCloud folder: syncing a project’s tens of thousands of files causes slow installs, strange file errors, and even uploads your secret keys (see “Where to keep your projects” in Your First Repository). Then type the following command to create a new folder with your own copy of the repo. Replace the words URL_FOR_YOUR_REPO with the URL you copied in the previous step.
```
git clone URL_FOR_YOUR_REPO
```

The new folder is named after the repo, task-app. You can now cd into it:

cd task-app

Then start Claude Code there by typing claude (see Your First Claude Code Session). You can also open the folder in any editor of your choice (e.g. VS Code).

Practice Questions

Easy

Question 1 · Multiple choice

What does it mean to fork a repository on GitHub?

To download a copy of the repository to your own computer
To make your own copy of someone else’s repository in your own GitHub account
To delete a repository from GitHub
To combine two repositories into one

Suggested answer

b. A fork is a copy on GitHub, in your own account. Downloading a copy to your computer (a) is cloning. Forking doesn’t delete (c) or combine (d) anything.

Question 2 · Short answer

Where does the word “fork” come from, and what does it say about the two repositories?

Suggested answer

It comes from “a fork in the road”. The original repository and your fork start out the same and then continue in different directions: the original developer keeps working on their version, and you work on yours.

Question 3 · True or false

You need your own GitHub account before you can fork the task-app repository.

Suggested answer

True. A fork is created inside your own GitHub account, which is why the page asks you to create an account first.

Question 4 · Write the command

Your fork’s URL is https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-app. Write the command that copies it to your computer.

Suggested answer

git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-app

Use your real GitHub user name in place of YOUR-USERNAME, and run the command from the folder where you want the project to live.

Medium

Question 5 · Ordering

Put these steps in the right order:

Run git clone with your fork’s URL
Create a GitHub account (if you don’t have one yet)
cd into the new project folder and start Claude Code (or open the folder in your editor)
Click Fork on https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo
Go to your own copy of the repository on GitHub and copy its URL

Suggested answer

Create a GitHub account (if you don’t have one yet)
Click Fork on https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo
Go to your own copy of the repository on GitHub and copy its URL
Run git clone with your fork’s URL
cd into the new project folder and start Claude Code (or open the folder in your editor)

Question 6 · Compare

Compare forking and cloning: where does each copy live, how do you make it, and what is it for?

Suggested answer

	Fork	Clone
Where the copy lives	On GitHub, in your account	On your computer
How you make it	The Fork button on GitHub	`git clone URL` in the terminal
What it’s for	Your own online version of the project, which you control and can push to	The local copy you actually work on; you push your changes from it back to your fork

Question 7 · Multiple choice

Which URL should you use with git clone in this tutorial?

https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo (the course’s repository)
The URL of your fork in your own GitHub account
The URL of the YouTube video
https://supabase.com

Suggested answer

b. Cloning your fork connects your local repository to your own copy on GitHub, so you can push your changes there. If you cloned the original (a), your local copy would be connected to the course’s repository, which you are not allowed to push to. Options (c) and (d) are web pages, not Git repositories.

Question 8 · Short answer

What does git clone URL create on your computer, and where?

Suggested answer

A new folder containing a copy of the repository: all of the project’s files plus its Git history. The folder is named after the repository (here task-app), and it is created inside the folder you are in when you run the command (your current working directory).

Question 9 · True or false

After you fork a repository, any changes the original developer makes later show up in your fork automatically.

Suggested answer

False. After the fork, the two repositories are separate and go their own ways (“a fork in the road”). If you want the original’s later changes, you have to bring them into your fork on purpose (see Sharing a Repository: Collaborators and Forks).

Hard

Question 10 · Scenario

Sam skipped the fork and cloned https://github.com/y-rosenthal/yr-2026-full-stack-demo directly. Everything works on his laptop, but when he tries to git push his changes, the push fails with a permission error. Why? How can he fix it?

Suggested answer

His local repository is connected to the course’s repository, and only its owner (and people the owner allows) can push to it. To fix it, Sam should fork the repository on GitHub and then either:

point his local repository at his fork: git remote set-url origin https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/task-app, or
clone his fork into a new folder and copy his changes over.

After that, git push sends his changes to his own copy on GitHub.

Question 11 · Short answer

Why does the tutorial have you fork the repository first, instead of just cloning the original?

Suggested answer

The fork gives you your own copy on GitHub that you control. You can push the changes you make on your computer to it (so your work is backed up and can be shared), and your version can go in its own direction without affecting the original developer’s repository, which you couldn’t push to anyway. (Later in the tutorial, a hosting service such as Vercel can deploy the app from your own GitHub repository.)

Question 12 · Scenario

Maria’s working directory is ~/Documents. She runs git clone with her fork’s URL and then immediately types claude in the same terminal. What did she forget, and why does it matter?

Suggested answer

She forgot to cd into the new project folder first:

cd task-app

The page says to cd into the project folder and start Claude Code there. Started in ~/Documents, Claude Code would be looking at her whole Documents folder instead of the project. She should exit Claude Code, run cd task-app (and check with pwd), then start claude again. The same goes for an editor: open the task-app folder itself.