How to use SourceTree to convert a local folder to a git repo

[Francis Barton]

Hi - here is what I want to do. I have a local folder with some files in it (not currently a git repo). I want to use SourceTree to use this folder as the site of a new repo, i.e. do the equivalent of 'git init' and then add the folder as a new remote repo on my BitBucket account. When I tried to do this, by doing "Clone/New... > Create" ,SourceTree complained that the local folder already had files in it.

???

My expectation was that SourceTree would have this kind of job as one of the basic tasks it would be capable of, to make creating new repos easy, without using the command line or going to the Bitbucket web interface. Maybe I am wrong.

What, if anything, am I doing wrong in this situation? Or does SourceTree not after all have this functionality?

Edit: OK so I found this page that covers what I want to do: https://confluence.atlassian.com/bitbucket/add-unversioned-code-to-a-repository-877177133.html - it would seem that you have to do the git init stuff from the command line; SourceTree can't do this for you. I don't mind the command line at all, I just thought that SourceTree would save me the trouble.

[Ana Retamal · Accepted solution]

Hi Francis! 

I see you found your answer already. Sourcetree won't be able to initialize git repositories, you'll need to do that on the terminal and then Sourcetree will be able to work with them.

Have a good day!

Ana

[Francis Barton]

Thanks Ana.

Is this a feature that SourceTree will be able to have in future, or is there some conceptual reason why it won't ever be able to do the init thing? It would be a helpful feature, I feel.