# Launching GitHub repository into Binder fails

**URL:** <https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992>\
**Category:** Binder\
**Created:** [June 27, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992 "2020-06-27T12:29:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tauno537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@tauno537](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/tauno537)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/1 "2020-06-27T12:29:25Z")

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Hi!

I tried to launch my GitHub repository into Binder but got the error message that the repository URL is not correct. Can’t figure out what is wrong with my settings. Any advice would be helpful.

GitHub repository name or URL:  
[https://github.com/tauno537/datascience/tree/master/natural\_language\_processing/text\_summarization/extractive\_text\_summarization](https://github.com/tauno537/datascience/tree/master/natural_language_processing/text_summarization/extractive_text_summarization)

Git branch, tag, or commit: master  
Path to a notebook file (optional): test\_UI.ipynb

Copy the URL below and share your Binder with others:  
[https://mybinder.org/v2/gh/tauno537/datascience/tree/master/natural\_language\_processing/text\_summarization/extractive\_text\_summarization/master?filepath=test\_UI.ipynb](https://mybinder.org/v2/gh/tauno537/datascience/tree/master/natural_language_processing/text_summarization/extractive_text_summarization/master?filepath=test_UI.ipynb)

Build logs:  
Could not resolve ref for gh:tauno537/datascience/tree/master/natural\_language\_processing/text\_summarization/extractive\_text\_summarization/master. Double check your URL.

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**Author:** ![fomightez](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/fomightez/32/495_2.png) [@fomightez](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/fomightez)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/2 "2020-06-27T13:49:17Z")

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Your binder config files have to be in the root of a repository or within a sub folder called `binder` or `.binder` which has to be in the root of a repository.

You are simply targeting too deep in a hierarchy of a repository.

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**Author:** ![tauno537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@tauno537](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/tauno537)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/3 "2020-06-27T14:42:20Z")

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I moved the file ‘requirements.txt’ into a folder ‘datascience’ but nothing changed.

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**Author:** ![sgibson91](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/sgibson91/32/487_2.png) [@sgibson91](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/sgibson91)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/4 "2020-06-27T16:33:56Z")

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Move requirements.txt to the top level of your repository and the repository URL you provide in the mybinder form should be [https://github.com/tauno537/datascience](https://github.com/tauno537/datascience)  
The path to your notebook file should be natural\_language\_processing/text\_summarization/extractive\_text\_summarization/test\_UI.ipynb

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tauno537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@tauno537](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/tauno537)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/5 "2020-06-27T17:29:21Z")

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Thanks! Now it works 🙂

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**Author:** ![Paulo\_Santos](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/paulo_santos/32/2932_2.png) [@Paulo\_Santos](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/Paulo_Santos)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/6 "2020-10-23T02:04:18Z")

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Hi,

I’m having the same problem. Followed the solution posted here, but no success. I’ll be very thankful if you could give me a hint (too many hours on this already!). My repo is here:

> **[paedusan/snake2](https://github.com/paedusan/snake2)**
>
> deploying on Binder. Contribute to paedusan/snake2 development by creating an account on GitHub.

It is public and the requirements.txt are in the root of the repository.

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**Author:** ![sgibson91](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/sgibson91/32/487_2.png) [@sgibson91](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/sgibson91)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 5:44am UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/7 "2020-10-23T05:44:39Z")

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Your default branch name is `main` and we haven’t yet upgraded mybinder to search for this instead of `master` (I will be working on this next week). There is a box on the [mybinder.org](http://mybinder.org) form to provide a branch name, type `main` in there and it should work.

See this thread [Can't solve Could not resolve ref for gh:fredericfoulonlycee/math\_spe\_python/master](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/cant-solve-could-not-resolve-ref-for-gh-fredericfoulonlycee-math-spe-python-master/6301)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Paulo\_Santos](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/paulo_santos/32/2932_2.png) [@Paulo\_Santos](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/Paulo_Santos)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2020, 6:22am UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/8 "2020-10-23T06:22:44Z")

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Hi,

Many thanks for the answer!

I’ve re-coded the whole thing from scratch and it worked at the end. I’ll keep an eye open for hte branch names next time.

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**Author:** ![darchcruise](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/darchcruise/32/4750_2.png) [@darchcruise](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/darchcruise)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/9 "2021-07-09T23:17:48Z")

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I had the same problem. Make sure your Github repo is set to public (it cannot be private for Binder to work). Initially, I had it set to private. Once I changed (settings, manage access, switched visibility) to public it built “launched successfully”.

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**Author:** ![venkata\_gajulpalli](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/venkata_gajulpalli/32/8539_2.png) [@venkata\_gajulpalli](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/venkata_gajulpalli)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 12:36pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/10 "2022-11-21T12:36:10Z")

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I have the same problem. Can anybody help me

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fomightez](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/fomightez/32/495_2.png) [@fomightez](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/fomightez)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/launching-github-repository-into-binder-fails/4992/11 "2022-11-21T13:39:19Z")

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@venkata_gajulpalli No one posting above has a problem as they followed the advice and it was worked out. You’ll want to see what they posted and did to fix things & work through trying that.

If that doesn’t help, please pay attention to what others posted to request help. Repositories have to be public to work with MyBinder and so you can share the links with us & what you’ve tried based on what particular examples and then usually those knowledgeable can provide **specific** guidance.