The plain explanation is the right starting point: it’s Google Drive for code. Picture a shared drive built for software: you put folders in it and give people access, but it also remembers changes, supports review, and gives developers and agents a standard way to work together.
A repository is like one shared project folder holding code, skills, documentation, settings, and a README that explains what the repo is for. If you’re lost in a repo, read the README first. GitHub isn’t only for professional developers: if your team shares Claude skills, scripts, or website files, it may be the cleanest home because agents already understand its conventions.
How it shows up
GitHub sits on top of git. Git tracks the changes; GitHub hosts the repo, shows them in a browser, and gives teams a place to review before changes affect everyone. Someone works on a branch and opens a pull request; others, or agents, review the difference, and if there’s a conflict GitHub shows it before the change ships. So one person’s edit doesn’t quietly become the whole team’s new process. GitHub is also a working surface for agents: Codex and Claude Code can read files, propose edits, and prepare changes for review, within the permissions you give them.
Why you care
GitHub can feel intimidating (branches, commits, pull requests, issues, actions), but you don’t need all of it at once. Start with the shared-drive analogy, then add the one thing that makes it different: GitHub remembers and reviews changes. Shared AI work gets safer when the shared folder has a history and a review desk.