Digital Garden and github issue

1. Understand the Core Issue

Obsidian Digital Garden often makes its own commits/pushes directly to the GitHub repository behind the scenes.
If you make local commits in parallel without pulling those remote commits first, you can end up with diverging branches.

Result: You get merge conflicts, non-fast-forward errors, or forced pushes.

2. Recommended Workflow

Start by Pulling
- Anytime you open your Obsidian vault on a machine, do a quick:
```
git pull --rebase
```
  or
```
git pull
```
- This ensures you have the latest changes, including what the Digital Garden plugin might have pushed from another device.
Work on Your Notes
- Add new notes, modify existing ones, etc.
Obsidian Digital Garden Publishes
- If you trigger a publish from Obsidian, it may create new commits in the remote repository.
Pull Again Before Your Final Commit
- Right before you commit and push your local changes, pull again:
```
git pull --rebase
```
- This step incorporates any commits the Digital Garden plugin made while you were working.
Commit & Push Your Local Changes
- Stage and commit your changes:
```
git add .
git commit -m "My local changes"
```
- Push them:
```
git push
```
- Now your local repository and the remote are fully in sync.
Repeat on Every Machine
- Whenever you switch machines, just repeat the same sequence (pull first, work, publish from Obsidian, pull again if needed, then commit and push).

3. (Optional) Use a Dedicated “Publish” Branch

Some users prefer to keep Digital Garden commits isolated on a different branch (e.g., publish or gh-pages). If the plugin supports that:

Configure Digital Garden to push to publish (or gh-pages).
Work on main locally, commit your notes.
When ready to publish:
- Merge or rebase your main branch into publish, or just let the plugin do its own push to that branch.
Result: The plugin’s automated commits don’t interfere with your main workflow.

This is more advanced, and not all Obsidian publishing plugins handle a separate branch easily. If it’s supported, it can help keep your main branch clean.

4. Practical Tips & Tricks

Enable “Pull Rebase by Default”
If you prefer a linear history (no merge commits), set:
```
git config --global pull.rebase true
```
Then git pull will always rebase automatically.
Watch for Merge Conflicts
If you see conflict markers (<<<<<<< HEAD, =======, >>>>>>>), you need to decide how to merge the changes. Commit or stash your local work before pulling to reduce the risk of conflicts.
Avoid Force Pushes
Only force push if you really need to overwrite the remote history. In a multi-device or multi-collaborator scenario, force pushes can cause confusion for others.
Use .gitignore
Sometimes, Obsidian workspace files (.obsidian/workspace.json) change frequently. If you don’t care about preserving that state across machines, add it to .gitignore so it doesn’t cause frequent “unnecessary” commits.

Mermaid Diagram

flowchart LR
    A[Pull official main] --> B[Work on main]
    B --> C[Commit and push to main]
    C --> D[Checkout publish branch]
    D --> E[Pull rebase from publish]
    E --> F[Merge or rebase main into publish]
    F --> G[Resolve conflicts and commit]
    G --> H[Push publish]
    H --> I[Digital Garden plugin]
    I --> J[Site published from publish]

Pull official main – Update your local main from the remote repo.
Work on main – Make edits in Obsidian.
Commit and push – Send changes to origin/main.
Checkout publish – Switch to the publish branch.
Pull rebase from publish – Get the latest changes on the publish branch.
Merge or rebase – Bring main changes into publish.
Resolve conflicts – If needed, fix and commit.
Push publish – Update the remote publish branch.
Digital Garden plugin – Detects changes in publish.
Site published – The plugin updates the live site from publish.

Step-by-Step Table

Step	Action	Example Commands
1. Pull official main	Update your local `main` to match the remote.	`bash<br>git checkout main<br>git pull --rebase origin main<br>`
2. Work on main	Make changes in Obsidian (notes, files, etc.).	(No Git commands yet)
3. Commit and push	Stage, commit, and push your local changes to `origin/main`.	`bash<br>git add .<br>git commit -m "Local changes"<br>git push origin main<br>`
4. Checkout publish	Switch from `main` to the `publish` branch.	`bash<br>git checkout publish<br>`
5. Pull rebase from publish	Ensure `publish` is up to date with its remote counterpart.	`bash<br>git pull --rebase origin publish<br>`
6. Merge or rebase main into publish	Incorporate your latest `main` changes into `publish`.	Merge: `bash<br>git merge main<br>` Rebase: `bash<br>git rebase main<br>`
7. Resolve conflicts	If there are conflicts, edit the files to remove conflict markers, then commit.	`bash<br>git add .<br>git commit -m "Resolve conflicts"<br>`
8. Push publish	Push the updated `publish` branch to the remote repository.	`bash<br>git push origin publish<br>`
9. Digital Garden plugin	Automatically detects new commits on `publish` and updates the site.	(Plugin-driven; no direct command)
10. Site published from publish	Your site is now live using the changes in `publish`.	(Result of plugin deployment)

Key Points

Always pull or rebase main from the remote repository (Step 1) before doing local work, so you have the official version.
Use publish (or gh-pages) as a dedicated publishing branch, separate from your day-to-day editing on main.
Merge vs. Rebase: Merging creates a merge commit, while rebasing creates a linear history. Choose based on your team’s preference.
Conflict Resolution: If both main and publish changed the same lines, you must fix conflicts manually before committing.
Plugin Configuration: Ensure the Digital Garden plugin is set to publish from the publish branch (or whichever branch you choose).