How do I fix missing git remote details?

Some repository clones I have allow me to do this:

% git pull
% git push

But other repositories require me to type:

% git pull origin master
% git push origin master

I think I am missing something in the latter case - does anyone know what is (not) going on here? I am using the latest git version, just obviously not using it well.

From stackoverflow

• If you cd into your repository directory and then open up your .git/config file in an editor.

  Append this to the end of the file:

  [branch "master"]
       remote = origin
       merge = refs/heads/master
  

  This is pretty much just an alias so git knows by default to pull from origin master.

• Or if you prefer, you can do the same thing Brian Gianforcaro proposed from the command line:

  git config branch.master.remote origin
  git config branch.master.merge  refs/heads/master
  

• Also, to avoid having to do git push master, you can specify what branches to push in your Git config file, like so:

  [remote "origin"]
          ...
          push = master