# Guided Exercise: Fetch First, Decide Second

This is a paper exercise — commit to a plan before working in the Lab.

## Your task

You're about to sync with a shared remote that a teammate has been actively pushing to all day.
You're not sure what they changed. Write out the SAFER sequence of commands (as opposed to
running `git pull` immediately), and explain what each step lets you verify before your own
working files are touched.

## A worked shape to check yourself against

```
git fetch origin
git log HEAD..origin/main --oneline
```

`git fetch` downloads the new commits without touching your branch. The `log` command then
shows you exactly what commits exist on the remote that you don't have locally yet — letting you
review WHAT changed before deciding to merge it in with a subsequent `git merge origin/main` (or
`git pull`, now that you already know roughly what to expect).

## Instructor Notes

**Facilitation:** This exercise directly builds the "fetch first, review, then merge" habit
real teams use on shared branches — worth connecting explicitly to why blind `git pull` on a
busy shared branch is a common source of surprise conflicts.

**Approximate timing:** 8-10 minutes live discussion; 5 minutes self-paced.