Hello Git users! 
I’m seeking some clarity on working with Git tags. My aim is to truly understand what they are, the proper way to create them, and how to reliably check out remote tags.
I’ve encountered a specific challenge: when I try to use git checkout -b local_branch_name origin/remote_tag_name, I receive an error stating that the “pathspec didn’t match,” even though I can clearly see the tag listed when I run git tag. This is proving to be a bit of a roadblock in my workflow.
Could someone provide some insights into correctly handling remote tag checkouts, and perhaps explain why I’m getting that “pathspec didn’t match” error? Any best practices for integrating tags into my workflow would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help! 
Hi! Your questions about Git tags are excellent, and I can definitely relate to the initial confusion, I used to get confused about git checkout tag because tags aren’t branches in the way you might expect! So @heenakhan.khatri kudos to you for asking this!!
A Git tag is basically a static snapshot of a specific commit, often used for marking important release points in your project’s history. You create a tag with git tag v1.0. But to checkout a tag, you do:
git checkout v1.0
This command puts you in a detached HEAD state, meaning you’re not directly on a branch. If you want to actually work on that version, you can immediately create a new branch from that tag like this:
git checkout -b my-branch v1.0
Also, a crucial point: remote tags aren’t fetched automatically by default when you do a git fetch. You need to specifically run git fetch --tags to pull down all the remote tags first.
Hope this clarifies the nuances of working with Git tags!
Hello @heenakhan.khatri and @Priyadapanicker! Adding another perspective to your excellent questions about working with Git tags.
You’re spot on—when you git checkout tag, it specifically checks out the commit the tag points to but doesn’t automatically create a branch. That’s precisely why doing git checkout -b local_branch_name origin/remote_tag_name results in errors; tags aren’t actually located directly under origin/ in that context.
Instead, the correct approach is to first fetch the tags with git fetch --tags. Once fetched, you can then check out the tag directly:
git checkout tags/remote_tag_name
This command places you in a detached HEAD state. If you then want to create a local branch directly from that fetched tag, you can run:
git checkout -b my-branch v1.0
Also, a key takeaway is that remote tags aren’t fetched by default. Running git fetch --tags is crucial to get them locally before trying to check them out. This way, you effectively avoid the “pathspec” error and get a branch correctly based on the tag.
Hope you find this helpful 
Hello everyone, and @heenakhan.khatri, it’s great to see the valuable contributions continue to flow in from helpful people like @prynka.chatterjee and @Priyadapanicker !. Now, on the topic of Git, which always seems to bring up interesting challenges, I’ve got something to add.
I remember struggling with git checkout tag and remote tags. Tags in Git are just pointers to commits, and they aren’t part of the remote branches namespace, so origin/remote_tag_name doesn’t work. First, fetch all tags:
git fetch --tags
Then, to checkout a tag:
git checkout <tag_name>
This detaches HEAD, so if you want to work on it, create a branch:
git checkout -b new_branch <tag_name>
That fixed the error for me and clarified how to handle tags properly.
This is a fantastic clarification on how Git tags truly operate! It’s a common misconception that tags behave like remote branches, and your explanation clears that up perfectly. The steps provided, from fetching tags to creating a new branch after checkout, offer a very practical and effective workflow. This will definitely help others avoid the “detached HEAD” state unknowingly.
Thanks for sharing this insightful Git tip! It’s these precise instructions that make a real difference in daily development.
Wishing everyone a productive rest of the day! 