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Share a repo by hand

Put your files online and let one person in — all from the browser, no terminal. This is the manual alternative to letting your agent do it. Slower per share, but nothing to install.

Time: ~5 min the first time you upload; ~1 min to invite each person. You'll need: a GitHub account (~10 min once) and your files in a folder you can find. Last verified: 2026-06-07 · UI labels confirmed against GitHub's own docs.

The faster default is one sentence to your agent — see GitHub repository. Reach for this page only if you'd rather click than install anything.

New to all this? Start with Create a GitHub account, then come back here.

The faster way (skip this page)

If you have Claude Code set up and the GitHub CLI connected, don't do any of the below. Just say:

Make a private repo from this folder and push it.

The by-hand steps below are for when you don't want to install the CLI at all.

Make the repo

  1. Sign in at github.com, then click the + in the top-right corner and pick New repository.
  2. Name it. Type a short name (no spaces). Add a one-line description if you like.
  3. Pick who can see it:
  4. Private — only people you invite. The usual choice.
  5. Public — anyone with the link reads and copies it. No account needed on their end.
  6. Leave the checkboxes off (README, .gitignore, license) if you're uploading an existing folder — they can collide with your files. You can add them later.
  7. Click "Create repository". You land on a near-empty page with setup hints — ignore the command-line block.

Put your files in

  1. On the new repo page, click Add file → Upload files (or just drag your folder onto the page).
  2. Drag the whole folder in, or click choose your files and select them. Subfolders come along.
  3. Limits: up to 100 files at once, 25 MiB per file in the browser. [confirmed] Bigger or more than that → you'll need the agent/CLI path instead.
  4. Scroll down, type a short note in the commit message box (e.g. "first upload"), leave "Commit directly to the main branch" selected, and click Commit changes.

Your files are now online. Refresh — you'll see them listed.

Let one person in (private repos)

Skip this for a public repo — anyone with the link is already in.

  1. On the repo, click Settings (top tabs), then Collaborators in the left sidebar.
  2. Click Add people and type their GitHub username (most reliable), full name, or a verified email.
  3. Pick them from the list and confirm. They get an email invite.
  4. They must accept within 7 days, signed in to the account that owns that email — or the invite won't land. [confirmed] (expiry) · email-match [estimate]

To remove someone later: same Settings → Collaborators screen, click Remove. Their access stops at once; anything they already downloaded stays with them.

Sharing with more than a handful? Inviting one-by-one gets old — group them in an organization and grant by team. → Give someone access

You're done when

You can open the repo and see your files, and (for a private repo) your collaborator has accepted and can see it too. Send them the repo's URL — that's the share.

If it doesn't work

  • "Upload" greyed out or stuck → a file is over 25 MiB, or you're over 100 files. Drop the big/extra files, or switch to the agent path which has no such cap. [confirmed]
  • Your folder uploaded but looks empty/flat → some browsers don't take nested folders by drag-and-drop. Use choose your files instead, or zip it first (note: a ZIP gives them files, not a ready-to-run project).
  • No "Settings" tab on the repo → you're not the owner, or you're viewing someone else's repo. Settings only shows on repos you own.
  • They never got the invite → the email isn't verified on their GitHub account. Re-invite by username instead, and check it didn't expire (7 days).
  • They clicked the link and see "404" → the repo is private and they haven't accepted yet, or you sent the wrong URL. Confirm the invite shows as accepted under Collaborators.
  • You meant it to be private but it's public (or vice-versa) → Settings → General → Danger Zone → Change visibility. Flipping public→private won't un-copy anything already taken.

Watch / read

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