Pushing Your Capstone to GitHub — Step by Step

This is the exact workflow to take your capstone notebook and get it onto a public GitHub repo — all using VS Code's interface.

Step 1 — Create the GitHub repo

Go to github.com → new repo (or github.com/new).
Name: descriptive, kebab-case. e.g. saas-churn-analysis.
Description: 1 sentence — "Churn and retention analysis for a fictional SaaS company, capstone for Topfolio Data Analyst track."
Set to Public. (Recruiters can't see private repos.)
Don't initialize with a README from GitHub — we'll add ours locally.
Click "Create repository".

GitHub now shows you a setup page. You'll see an HTTPS URL — https://github.com/your-username/saas-churn-analysis.git. Save this.

Step 2 — Set up your local folder

Make sure your capstone folder has:

Your notebook(s) (.ipynb files)
A README.md (write one — a good template is in the lessons above)
A .gitignore (template below)
Any small supporting data files (large datasets — keep them out of git)

Create a .gitignore

Inside your project folder, create a file named .gitignore with:

.ipynb_checkpoints/
__pycache__/
.DS_Store
.env
venv/
data/raw/
*.pkl

These patterns tell Git to ignore temporary and sensitive files.

Step 3 — Initialize Git in VS Code

Open your capstone folder in VS Code
Open the Source Control panel (Ctrl + Shift + G)
Click "Initialize Repository"
VS Code creates a .git folder — you're now tracking the project

Step 4 — Stage and commit locally

In the Source Control panel, you'll see all your files under "Changes"
Click the + icon next to each file (or "Stage All Changes" + at the top)
Type a commit message in the box above: "Initial capstone: SaaS churn analysis"
Click the checkmark icon (or press Ctrl + Enter)

Your files are now committed locally.

Step 5 — Publish to GitHub

In the Source Control panel, click the "Publish Branch" button
VS Code prompts you to sign in to GitHub (one-time OAuth in your browser)
VS Code shows the repo URL you created in Step 1 — paste it
Choose Public visibility (private repos can't be seen by recruiters)
VS Code pushes your code and confirms success

One-time note: The first time, VS Code handles the OAuth authentication. After that, publishing and pushing work automatically.

Step 6 — Verify

Go to github.com/your-username/saas-churn-analysis. You should see:

Your files listed
Your commit message
Your notebook rendered in the browser — click on it to confirm cells display correctly

Step 7 — Link from your Topfolio profile

In your Topfolio settings, add the repo URL to your GitHub profile field. It'll show on your public portfolio page.

Step 8 — Add a topic + a description

On your GitHub repo page:

Click the gear icon next to "About" (top-right of the file list)
Description: 1-line "what is this"
Add 2-3 topics: data-analysis, python, saas-metrics, topfolio

Topics make the repo searchable when recruiters browse GitHub.

The recurring workflow

Every time you update your notebook after the initial push:

Open the Source Control panel
See your changes listed
Type a meaningful commit message: "added cohort retention section"
Click the checkmark to commit
Click the sync icon in the status bar (bottom-left) to push

Aim for 3+ commits across the capstone build, not 1 giant commit at the end. Consistent commit history shows real work.

Common mistakes

Forgot to set the repo public. Recruiters can't see private repos.
Committed the API key accidentally. If this happens, rotate the key immediately — it's now exposed. Clean the history with BFG Repo-Cleaner.
One giant final commit. Looks like you copied from somewhere. Smaller commits = visible process in your GitHub contribution graph.
No README. A repo without a README looks abandoned. Write one — the template from these lessons covers it.

Takeaway

This workflow takes 10 minutes the first time. After that, the commit + sync loop is 30 seconds per session. Every working session, do it. Your GitHub contribution graph becomes part of your portfolio.