Sync Your GitHub Project to Gitee (and Other Git Hosts) with One Config

Introduction

GitHub is widely used, but in some regions its speed is slow and images may not load. Gitee (码云) offers faster access in China. By mirroring a project on both platforms you can increase visibility and avoid network issues.

Create Repositories

GitHub

Log in to GitHub and create a new repository (or use an existing one). The article shows a screenshot as an example.

Gitee

On Gitee, create a repository with the same name. During creation select “Import existing repository” and paste the HTTPS URL of the GitHub repo. Gitee will clone the GitHub repository and sync the contents.

Manual Synchronization

If you push changes only to GitHub, Gitee will not update automatically. You can manually trigger a sync from the Gitee project page by clicking the sync icon, which is suitable for occasional updates.

Automatic Synchronization via Git

Configure your local Git repository to push to both remotes. The steps below assume a macOS environment; similar commands work on other OSes.

Clone the GitHub repository

git clone [email protected]:secbr/shiro.git

Enter the project directory; the hidden .git folder contains the configuration. ls .git Typical output includes files such as config, HEAD, refs, etc.

Edit .git/config

Open the config file with vi (or any editor). The original content looks like:

[core]
        repositoryformatversion = 0
        filemode = true
        bare = false
        logallrefupdates = true
        ignorecase = true
        precomposeunicode = true
[remote "origin"]
        url = [email protected]:secbr/shiro.git
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "main"]
        remote = origin
        merge = refs/heads/main

Add a second url line under the same remote section that points to the Gitee repository (the SSH address must match the Gitee account’s key):

[core]
        repositoryformatversion = 0
        filemode = true
        bare = false
        logallrefupdates = true
        ignorecase = true
        precomposeunicode = true
[remote "origin"]
        url = [email protected]:secbr/shiro.git
        url = [email protected]:secbro/shiro.git
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "main"]
        remote = origin
        merge = refs/heads/main

Now the same remote named origin has two URLs. When you push, Git will send the commits to both GitHub and Gitee.

Pushing Changes

After editing files, commit locally and push:

git add .
git commit -m "Update README"
git push origin main

The push operation updates both repositories simultaneously, instantly increasing the project’s exposure.

Conclusion

Using a single .git/config modification you can keep multiple Git hosting services in sync without manual copying. The same approach works for GitLab, Bitbucket, or self‑hosted Git servers. For best performance, limit the number of simultaneous remotes to two to avoid long network delays.