Skip to main content

Forking and cloning gists

Gists are actually Git repositories, which means that you can fork or clone any gist, even if you aren't the original author. You can also view a gist's full commit history, including diffs.

Who can use this feature?

Members of an enterprise with managed users cannot create gists and have read-only access to gists.

Forking gists

Each gist indicates which forks have activity, making it easy to find interesting changes from others.

Cloning gists

If you want to make local changes to a gist and push them up to the web, you can clone a gist and make commits the same as you would with any Git repository. For more information, see "Cloning a repository."

To clone a gist, select the Embed dropdown menu, then click Clone via HTTPS or Clone via SSH.

Screenshot of the "Embed" dropdown menu in GitHub Gist. The dropdown is expanded, and an option labeled “Clone via HTTPS” is outlined in dark orange.

Viewing gist commit history

To view a gist's full commit history, click the "Revisions" tab at the top of the gist.

You will see a full commit history for the gist with diffs.

Screenshot of the "Revisions" page in GitHub Gist. A tab, labeled “Revisions”, is outlined in dark orange.