# ITK Git repository primary branch name transition from master to main
**URL:** https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569
**Category:** Community
**Tags:** github, git
**Created:** [June 23, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569 "2025-06-23T19:41:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@matt.mccormick](https://discourse.itk.org/u/matt.mccormick)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/1 "2025-06-23T19:41:18Z")
Hi folks,
**ITK’s default, primary branch name has been renamed from `master` to `main`**.
New GitHub clones will default to this branch.
A few notes on changes that might be required.
## GitHub Forks
When you visit your fork on GitHub, you may encounter:
Click the branch settings link, and click the _pen button icon_ in the repositories _Default branch_ settings:
Then, enter `main`:
Most remote module repositories have aleady made this transition – you may want to make similar changes in any remote module forks.
## Local clones
If you have a local clone that was already configured for development with the `./Utilities/SetupForDevelopment.sh` script,
```auto
cd ITK
git checkout master
git pull upstream main
./Utilities/SetupForDevelopment.sh
```
This will prompt to change the `master` branch to `main`. When doing so, it will also update other local Git configurations accordingly.
## Dashboard submissions
If have CDash dashboard submissions, update your dashboard configuration to include:
```auto
set(dashboard_git_branch main)
```
* * *
If you run into other issues, please make a note on this thread.
---
### Author:  [@Niels\_Dekker](https://discourse.itk.org/u/Niels_Dekker)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 9:02am UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/2 "2025-06-26T09:02:45Z")
Thank you very much @matt.mccormick I like “main” 👍
I’m not sure if it’s related, but I have run into an issue, locally, on Windows (on two computers, actually). When I try to commit, using TortoiseGit, it fails, saying:
```log
Check version of SetupForDevelopment.....................................Passed
local pre-commit.........................................................Passed
kw commit-msg............................................................Failed
- hook id: kw-commit-msg
- exit code: 9009
Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings > App execution aliases.
```
I did install Python locally by running the installer (“python-3.13.5-amd64.exe”). Any clue?
---
### Author:  [@matt.mccormick](https://discourse.itk.org/u/matt.mccormick)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/3 "2025-06-26T13:41:03Z")
@Niels_Dekker that issue is the result of an unrelated recent change that migrates the pre-commit hook from bash to python. Here is a fix:
>
>
> Python may not be available on Windows systems. Use a launcher script to run loc…al Python pre-commit hooks with the Python executable we generate when bootstrapping our pre-commit hooks. The launcher script uses the local Python, which we know will be available and have a sufficient version. It also allows adjusting the path with Windows vs Unix.
---
### Author:  [@ntustison](https://discourse.itk.org/u/ntustison)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/4 "2025-06-27T22:50:35Z")
> [@matt.mccormick](#):
>
> Most remote module repositories have aleady made this transition – you may want to make similar changes in any remote module forks.
Hey @matt.mccormick , should I make this change to the [adaptive denoising module](https://github.com/ntustison/ITKAdaptiveDenoising)?
---
### Author:  [@matt.mccormick](https://discourse.itk.org/u/matt.mccormick)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/5 "2025-06-30T15:15:01Z")
Hey @ntustison , yes that would be great 🙂 👍
---
### Author:  [@simon.rit](https://discourse.itk.org/u/simon.rit)
#### Post date: [July 4, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://discourse.itk.org/t/itk-git-repository-primary-branch-name-transition-from-master-to-main/7569/6 "2025-07-04T09:27:06Z")
After renaming, one needs to update local clones. I have added a note in RTK’s documentation about this (after renaming [RTK](https://github.com/RTKConsortium/RTK), [CudaCommon](https://github.com/RTKConsortium/ITKCudaCommon) and [PCT](https://github.com/RTKConsortium/PCT)):
> **[RTK v3 migration guide - RTK's documentation](https://docs.openrtk.org/en/latest/documentation/docs/rtk_3_migration_guide.html#default-branch-renamed-from-master-to-main)**