GitHub Foundations Certification Fact Sheet¶

Exam Overview¶

Exam Name: GitHub Foundations Duration: 120 minutes Questions: 75 multiple choice questions Passing Score: 70% Cost: $99 USD Delivery: Online proctored Prerequisites: None Validity: 3 years

Official Exam Page - Registration and details GitHub Foundations Study Guide - Official study guide GitHub Skills - Interactive learning paths

Target Audience¶

This certification is designed for: - Developers new to GitHub and version control - Students and early-career professionals - Project managers and team leads using GitHub - Anyone seeking to validate GitHub platform knowledge - Professionals transitioning to collaborative development

Domain 1: Introduction to Git and GitHub (22%)¶

Git Basics¶

Core Concepts: - Repository - A directory tracked by Git containing project files and history - Commit - A snapshot of changes with a message, author, and timestamp - Branch - A lightweight movable pointer to a commit - HEAD - A pointer to the current branch/commit you are working on - Remote - A version of the repository hosted on a server (e.g., GitHub) - Working directory - The files you see and edit on your local machine - Staging area (index) - A holding area for changes to be included in the next commit

Git Handbook - Git fundamentals Git Cheat Sheet - Quick reference for commands

Essential Git Commands: | Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | git init | Initialize a new repository | | git clone <url> | Copy a remote repository locally | | git add <file> | Stage changes for commit | | git commit -m "message" | Create a commit with staged changes | | git push | Upload local commits to remote | | git pull | Fetch and merge remote changes | | git fetch | Download remote changes without merging | | git branch | List, create, or delete branches | | git checkout / git switch | Switch between branches | | git merge | Combine branch histories | | git rebase | Reapply commits on top of another base | | git status | Show working directory status | | git log | View commit history | | git diff | Show changes between commits/working directory | | git stash | Temporarily save uncommitted changes | | git reset | Unstage or undo commits |

Using Git - Comprehensive Git guide About Git - Git overview

Git vs GitHub¶

About GitHub - GitHub and Git relationship

GitHub Account Types and Plans¶

GitHub Plans - Plan comparison Account Types - Personal, Organization, Enterprise

GitHub Mobile and Desktop¶

• GitHub Mobile - iOS and Android app for managing notifications, issues, PRs on the go
• GitHub Desktop - GUI application for Git operations without command line
• GitHub CLI (gh) - Command-line tool for GitHub operations

GitHub Mobile - Mobile app features GitHub Desktop - Desktop application guide GitHub CLI - CLI tool documentation

Domain 2: Working with GitHub Repositories (8%)¶

Repository Management¶

Creating Repositories: - New repositories can be created via web, CLI, API, or Desktop - Choose visibility: public, private, or internal (organizations only) - Initialize with README, .gitignore, and license

Key Repository Files: | File | Purpose | |------|---------| | README.md | Project description and documentation | | .gitignore | Files/directories to exclude from tracking | | LICENSE | Open source license terms | | CODEOWNERS | Automatic review assignment rules | | CONTRIBUTING.md | Contribution guidelines | | CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | Community behavior standards | | SECURITY.md | Security vulnerability reporting | | FUNDING.yml | Sponsorship configuration |

Creating a Repository - Step-by-step guide About READMEs - README best practices Licensing a Repository - License guide

Clone vs Fork¶

Cloning a Repository - Clone guide Fork a Repository - Fork guide

GitHub Pages¶

• Free static site hosting directly from a repository
• Supports custom domains and HTTPS
• Can use Jekyll or custom static site generators
• Source can be from root, /docs folder, or gh-pages branch

GitHub Pages - Pages documentation

Domain 3: Collaboration Features (30%)¶

Issues¶

• Track bugs, feature requests, tasks, and discussions
• Support labels, assignees, milestones, and projects
• Can be linked to pull requests using keywords (fixes, closes, resolves)
• Templates can be created for consistent issue reporting
• Support task lists with checkboxes

About Issues - Issues overview Creating an Issue - Issue creation Linking a PR to an Issue - Auto-closing issues

Pull Requests¶

Lifecycle: 1. Create a branch from the base branch 2. Make commits with changes 3. Open a pull request 4. Request reviewers and address feedback 5. Pass required checks (CI, code review) 6. Merge the pull request 7. Delete the feature branch (optional)

PR Features: - Draft pull requests - signal work in progress - Review requests - assign specific reviewers - Code review comments - inline suggestions - Suggested changes - propose specific code changes - Status checks - automated CI/CD validation - Auto-merge - merge when all conditions are met

About Pull Requests - PR overview Creating a Pull Request - PR creation Reviewing Changes - Code review guide

Merge Strategies¶

About Merge Methods - Merge strategies

Branch Protection Rules¶

• Require pull request reviews before merging
• Require status checks to pass before merging
• Require signed commits
• Require linear history
• Restrict who can push to matching branches
• Require conversation resolution before merging
• Lock branch (read-only)

Branch Protection Rules - Protection settings CODEOWNERS - Automatic review assignment

GitHub Markdown¶

Essential syntax for communication on GitHub: - Headers, bold, italic, strikethrough - Lists (ordered, unordered, task lists) - Links and images - Code blocks and syntax highlighting - Tables - Alerts/admonitions (Note, Warning, Important) - Mermaid diagrams - Mathematical expressions (LaTeX) - Emoji shortcodes

Basic Formatting Syntax - Markdown reference GitHub Flavored Markdown - GFM specification

Domain 4: Modern Development (13%)¶

GitHub Actions Basics¶

• Workflow - Automated process defined in YAML, stored in .github/workflows/
• Event/Trigger - What starts the workflow (push, pull_request, schedule, etc.)
• Job - A set of steps that run on a single runner
• Step - An individual task (runs a command or an action)
• Action - A reusable unit of code from the Marketplace or custom
• Runner - The machine that executes the workflow (GitHub-hosted or self-hosted)

Understanding GitHub Actions - Actions overview Workflow Syntax - YAML reference GitHub Marketplace - Actions marketplace

GitHub Codespaces¶

• Cloud-hosted development environment
• Accessible via browser or VS Code
• Pre-configured with devcontainer.json
• Includes default tools, SDKs, and extensions
• Billed per compute and storage usage
• Supports port forwarding and dotfiles

GitHub Codespaces Overview - Codespaces documentation

GitHub Copilot Basics¶

• AI-powered code completion tool
• Integrates with VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, and more
• Provides code suggestions, chat, and explanations
• Available in Individual, Business, and Enterprise plans

GitHub Copilot - Copilot documentation

Domain 5: Project Management (7%)¶

GitHub Projects¶

New Projects (recommended): - Flexible table, board, and roadmap views - Custom fields (text, number, date, single select, iteration) - Built-in workflows for automation - Supports cross-repository tracking - Insights and charts

Classic Projects: - Kanban-style boards - Limited to a single repository or organization - Being superseded by new Projects

About Projects - Projects overview Quickstart for Projects - Getting started

Milestones¶

• Group issues and PRs into milestones with due dates
• Track progress as percentage complete
• Useful for release planning and sprint tracking

About Milestones - Milestones guide

Domain 6: Privacy, Security, and Administration (10%)¶

Authentication¶

• Two-factor authentication (2FA) - Required for all GitHub.com accounts
• SSH Keys - Secure authentication for Git operations
• Personal Access Tokens (PATs) - Token-based API/CLI authentication
• GPG/SSH Signing - Verify commit authorship
• SAML SSO - Enterprise single sign-on (Enterprise plan)

About 2FA - 2FA setup SSH Keys - SSH configuration Personal Access Tokens - PAT management

Security Features¶

• Dependabot alerts - Notify about vulnerable dependencies
• Secret scanning - Detect exposed secrets in repositories
• Code scanning - Find potential security vulnerabilities in code
• Security advisories - Report and manage security vulnerabilities
• Security policy - SECURITY.md file for vulnerability reporting

Dependabot Alerts - Dependency vulnerability alerts Secret Scanning - Secret detection Code Scanning - Code analysis

Organization Management¶

• Roles: Owner, Member, Billing Manager, Outside Collaborator
• Teams: Group members with cascading access permissions
• Repository permissions: Read, Triage, Write, Maintain, Admin
• Audit log: Track organization activity

Organization Roles - Role permissions Managing Teams - Team management

Domain 7: Benefits of the GitHub Community (10%)¶

Open Source¶

Common Licenses: | License | Type | Key Feature | |---------|------|-------------| | MIT | Permissive | Simple, minimal restrictions | | Apache 2.0 | Permissive | Patent protection included | | GPL v3 | Copyleft | Derivative work must be GPL | | BSD ⅔ | Permissive | Similar to MIT | | LGPL | Weak copyleft | Libraries can be linked freely | | Unlicense | Public domain | No restrictions whatsoever |

Choose a License - License comparison tool Open Source Guide - GitHub's open source guide

Contributing to Open Source¶

1. Find a project (GitHub Explore, Topics, Good First Issues)
2. Read CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
3. Fork the repository
4. Create a feature branch
5. Make changes and commit
6. Open a pull request
7. Address review feedback

Contributing to Projects - Contribution guide GitHub Explore - Discover projects

InnerSource¶

• Applying open source practices within an organization
• Internal collaboration across teams and departments
• Shared codebases with internal visibility
• Benefits: reduced duplication, faster development, knowledge sharing

InnerSource Introduction - InnerSource fundamentals

Community Features¶

• GitHub Sponsors - Fund open source maintainers
• GitHub Stars - Recognize community contributors
• GitHub Discussions - Forum-style conversations in repositories
• Community profiles - Health score for repositories

GitHub Sponsors - Sponsorship program GitHub Discussions - Discussions feature

Exam Tips¶

High-Priority Topics (by weight)¶

1. Collaboration Features (30%) - Master issues, PRs, code review
2. Git and GitHub (22%) - Know all Git commands and concepts
3. Modern Development (13%) - Understand Actions, Codespaces, Copilot basics
4. Security (10%) - Know 2FA, SSH, basic security features
5. Community (10%) - Understand open source, licenses, InnerSource
6. Repositories (8%) - Repository management essentials
7. Project Management (7%) - Projects, milestones, labels

Key Differentiators to Remember¶

• git fetch downloads but does NOT merge; git pull does both
• Fork creates a server-side copy; clone creates a local copy
• Squash merge creates one commit; merge commit preserves all
• Issues track work; Discussions are for conversations
• Classic Projects are per-repo; new Projects are cross-repo
• Personal Access Tokens (classic) vs fine-grained tokens
• GitHub-hosted runners vs self-hosted runners