Connecting Colab and GitHub

This guide provides a straightforward approach to connecting Google Colab with GitHub, enabling users to manage their coding projects effectively. It highlights the benefits of using GitHub for version control and collaboration, making it ideal for open-source projects and professional portfolios. By following the steps, users can easily create repositories, save their work, and maintain a clean project history. This resource is essential for anyone looking to enhance their coding workflow and leverage the power of cloud-based collaboration.

Tasha Penwell
29 steps
6 minutes

Create a Free GitHub Account

Sign up for free GitHub account. Follow the prompts. If anything says for you to pay - skip it. Everything we're doing is free. :)

Click here to create a new repository (repo). You can think of a repo as a folder.

Name the repo to something like "MIS2800" Add a short description. Click the toggle to Add README Click "Create Repository"

Create a Colab File to Add to GitHub

Create a new Colab file (we're not adding anything to it yet). Click [[File]]

Click [[Save a copy to GitHub]]

Click to [[Authorize googlecolab]]

If this is your first time using GitHub, you probably only have one repo (the one you created in earlier steps). Select it if it's not already selected.

Leave everything else as default. Make sure the box for [[Include a link to Colab]] is checked

Opening Colab From GitHub

After hitting OK in Colab, it should open your GitHub in the browser. Since we didn't add anything to our Colab, the file is empty. We do see a link to [[Open in Colab]] though. Click on it.

We are back in our Colab file!

Making our Hello World File

In the code block type [[print ("hello world")]]

Run the code

Rename the file to [[HelloWorld]]

Save the file to GitHub by clicking [[File]]

Click [[Save a copy to GitHub]]

Select the repo you created for this class

We see that the file name. Leave it as is. Update the commit message as shown.

Mae sure the check is next to [[Include a link to Colab. ]] Click OK

The pages opens into GitHub and we see the our "hello world" line is there. We also see the file name in our GitHub repo. Click on [[Open in Colab]]

Adding MIS is Best

Add a code block

Type print [[("mis is best!")]]

Click [[Run anyway]]

Click [[File]] > [[Save]]

Update the commit message and click [[OK]]

We see the line of code is added

Exploring the Repo

Click on the repo name. Mine is MIS2800.

We see three files. The README.md file was created when you toggled that switch when creating the repo. You can ignore it. We also see the two Colab files. One is the untitled file and the other is the HelloWorld file.

When working in Google Colab, you generally choose between the convenience of **Google Drive** and the professional control of **GitHub**. ### Saving via Google Drive Mounting This is the most "native" way to use Colab. By mounting your Drive, the environment treats your cloud storage like a local hard drive. - **Best for:** Storing large CSVs, images, or model weights (`.h5`, `.pt`) that are too big for GitHub. - **Workflow:** You run a code snippet to authenticate, and your files appear in the sidebar. - **Pros:** Seamless autosaving; easy to move files around via a GUI; huge storage capacity (GBs to TBs). - **Cons:** No advanced version control (you can't easily "undo" to a specific version from three days ago); can suffer from connection timeouts. ### 2. Saving via GitHub Integration GitHub treats your notebook as a piece of software code. - **Best for:** Open-source projects, sharing code with a team, or keeping a "clean" history of your project's evolution. - **Workflow:** You use the `File` menu to push a "commit" to a specific repository. - **Pros:** You can see exactly what changed line-by-line; you can create different "branches" for experiments; professional standard for portfolios. - **Cons:** GitHub has a **100MB file limit**, making it unsuitable for large datasets; every save requires a manual commit message.

Submission

Copy the URL in GitHub and paste into ISMS submission.

Connecting Colab and GitHub

Tasha Penwell
29 steps
6 minutes

Create a Free GitHub Account

Sign up for free GitHub account. Follow the prompts. If anything says for you to pay - skip it. Everything we're doing is free. :)

Click here to create a new repository (repo). You can think of a repo as a folder.

Name the repo to something like "MIS2800" Add a short description. Click the toggle to Add README Click "Create Repository"

Create a Colab File to Add to GitHub

Create a new Colab file (we're not adding anything to it yet). Click [[File]]

Click [[Save a copy to GitHub]]

Click to [[Authorize googlecolab]]

If this is your first time using GitHub, you probably only have one repo (the one you created in earlier steps). Select it if it's not already selected.

Leave everything else as default. Make sure the box for [[Include a link to Colab]] is checked

Opening Colab From GitHub

After hitting OK in Colab, it should open your GitHub in the browser. Since we didn't add anything to our Colab, the file is empty. We do see a link to [[Open in Colab]] though. Click on it.

We are back in our Colab file!

Making our Hello World File

In the code block type [[print ("hello world")]]

Run the code

Rename the file to [[HelloWorld]]

Save the file to GitHub by clicking [[File]]

Click [[Save a copy to GitHub]]

Select the repo you created for this class

We see that the file name. Leave it as is. Update the commit message as shown.

Mae sure the check is next to [[Include a link to Colab. ]] Click OK

The pages opens into GitHub and we see the our "hello world" line is there. We also see the file name in our GitHub repo. Click on [[Open in Colab]]

Adding MIS is Best

Add a code block

Type print [[("mis is best!")]]

Click [[Run anyway]]

Click [[File]] > [[Save]]

Update the commit message and click [[OK]]

We see the line of code is added

Exploring the Repo

Click on the repo name. Mine is MIS2800.

Submission

Copy the URL in GitHub and paste into ISMS submission.