Warning: push.default is unset; its implicit value is changing in Git 2.0

It's explained in great detail in the docs, but I'll try to summarize:

matching means git push will push all your local branches to the ones with the same name on the remote. This makes it easy to accidentally push a branch you didn't intend to.

simple means git push will push only the current branch to the one that git pull would pull from, and also checks that their names match. This is a more intuitive behavior, which is why the default is getting changed to this.

This setting only affects the behavior of your local client, and can be overridden by explicitly specifying which branches you want to push on the command line. Other clients can have different settings, it only affects what happens when you don't specify which branches you want to push.

I realize this is an old post but as I just ran into the same issue and had trouble finding the answer I thought I'd add a bit.

So @hammar's answer is correct. Using push.default simple is, in a way, like configuring tracking on your branches so you don't need to specify remotes and branches when pushing and pulling. The matching option will push all branches to their corresponding counterparts on the default remote (which is the first one that was set up unless you've configured your repo otherwise).

One thing I hope others find useful in the future is that I was running Git 1.8 on OS X Mountain Lion and never saw this error. Upgrading to Mavericks is what suddenly made it show up (running git --version will show git version 1.8.3.4 (Apple Git-47) which I'd never seen until the update to the OS.

If you get a message from git complaining about the value 'simple' in the configuration, check your git version.

After upgrading Xcode (on a Mac running Mountain Lion), which also upgraded git from 1.7.4.4 to 1.8.3.4, shells started before the upgrade were still running git 1.7.4.4 and complained about the value 'simple' for push.default in the global config.

The solution was to close the shells running the old version of git and use the new version.

I was wondering why I was getting that big warning message on Ubuntu 16.04 (which comes with Git 2.7.4), but not on Arch Linux. The reason is that the warning was removed in Git 2.8 (March 2016):

Across the transition at around Git version 2.0, the user used to get a pretty loud warning when running "git push" without setting push.default configuration variable. We no longer warn because the transition was completed a long time ago.

So you won't see the warning if you have Git 2.8 and later and don't need to set push.default unless you want to change the default 'simple' behavior.

Brought my answer over from other thread that may close as a duplicate...

From GIT documentation: Git Docs

Below gives the full information. In short, simple will only push the current working branch and even then only if it also has the same name on the remote. This is a very good setting for beginners and will become the default in GIT 2.0

Whereas matching will push all branches locally that have the same name on the remote. (Without regard to your current working branch ). This means potentially many different branches will be pushed, including those that you might not even want to share.

In my personal usage, I generally use a different option: current which pushes the current working branch, (because I always branch for any changes). But for a beginner I'd suggest simple

push.default Defines the action git push should take if no refspec is explicitly given. Different values are well-suited for specific workflows; for instance, in a purely central workflow (i.e. the fetch source is equal to the push destination), upstream is probably what you want. Possible values are: nothing - do not push anything (error out) unless a refspec is explicitly given. This is primarily meant for people who want to avoid mistakes by always being explicit. current - push the current branch to update a branch with the same name on the receiving end. Works in both central and non-central workflows. upstream - push the current branch back to the branch whose changes are usually integrated into the current branch (which is called @{upstream}). This mode only makes sense if you are pushing to the same repository you would normally pull from (i.e. central workflow). simple - in centralized workflow, work like upstream with an added safety to refuse to push if the upstream branch's name is different from the local one. When pushing to a remote that is different from the remote you normally pull from, work as current. This is the safest option and is suited for beginners. This mode will become the default in Git 2.0. matching - push all branches having the same name on both ends. This makes the repository you are pushing to remember the set of branches that will be pushed out (e.g. if you always push maint and master there and no other branches, the repository you push to will have these two branches, and your local maint and master will be pushed there). To use this mode effectively, you have to make sure all the branches you would push out are ready to be pushed out before running git push, as the whole point of this mode is to allow you to push all of the branches in one go. If you usually finish work on only one branch and push out the result, while other branches are unfinished, this mode is not for you. Also this mode is not suitable for pushing into a shared central repository, as other people may add new branches there, or update the tip of existing branches outside your control. This is currently the default, but Git 2.0 will change the default to simple.