Git workflow

ForkPress exposes each site as a Git smart-HTTP remote:

http://wp.localhost:18080/site.git

Git is an editing and transport interface. The source of truth remains the materialized branch directory.

For command options, see forkpress clone, forkpress commit, forkpress push, and forkpress pull.

sequenceDiagram
    participant Agent as Agent checkout
    participant Git as ForkPress Git remote
    participant Store as .forkpress/cow/git
    participant Branch as ./marketing

    Agent->>Git: clone/fetch
    Git->>Branch: snapshot wordpress/ files + database.sql
    Git->>Store: update Git objects/refs
    Store-->>Agent: Git branch

    Agent->>Agent: edit wordpress/ files
    Agent->>Git: forkpress commit
    Git->>Store: receive pushed commit
    Git->>Branch: apply wordpress/ changes

Clone and edit

forkpress clone http://wp.localhost:18080/site.git site
cd site
git fetch origin
git switch marketing

The checkout contains:

database.sql        # generated database snapshot for model context
wordpress/          # editable WordPress files

Edit files under wordpress/, then push the current branch back to ForkPress:

forkpress commit -m "Update marketing page"

Preview the pushed branch:

http://marketing.wp.localhost:18080/

Database snapshots

database.sql is generated from the branch-local SQLite database. It includes user tables, rows, explicit indexes, triggers, and views. SQLite internals and ForkPress SQLite-driver metadata are omitted.

Credential-shaped columns and key/value rows, such as WordPress password hashes, session tokens, application passwords, and plugin API tokens, are redacted before the snapshot is written into the Git view.

Edits to database.sql are ignored on push. Database changes should happen through WordPress, WP-CLI, or another tool operating on the branch database.

wordpress/wp-content/database/ is private runtime state. ForkPress omits that directory from snapshots and ignores pushed files under that path.

Push normalization

Before each Git request, ForkPress snapshots branch directories into .forkpress/cow/git. Direct edits in ./main or ./marketing become visible to Git on the next clone or fetch.

After a push, ForkPress applies only the pushed wordpress/ tree back to the target branch directory, excluding private runtime paths. It immediately snapshots the branch again so the remote ref matches the server-side source of truth. That normalized ref removes pushed database.sql edits and ignored private runtime paths.

forkpress commit fetches the normalized ref after a successful push and fast-forwards the local checkout when possible.

ForkPress accepts one branch update per Git push. Creating, updating, or deleting preview branches should happen one branch at a time.