branch-cleanup

Branch Cleanup

Context

• Current branch: !git branch --show-current
• Local branches: !git branch --list | wc -l
• Remote branches: !git branch -r | wc -l
• Merged branches: !git branch --merged | grep -v "^\*" | grep -v "main" | grep -v "master" | grep -v "develop" | wc -l

Your Task

Identify and clean up merged and stale branches to maintain a clean repository.

Arguments

• --dry-run (optional): Show what would be deleted without actually deleting
• --remote (optional): Also clean up remote branches
• --force (optional): Delete unmerged branches (use with caution)

Steps

1. Fetch latest changes:

   git fetch --prune
   

2. Identify merged branches:

   git branch --merged | grep -v "^\*" | grep -v "main" | grep -v "master" | grep -v "develop"
   

3. Identify stale branches (no commits in 30+ days):

   git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate refs/heads/ --format='%(refname:short) %(committerdate:relative)'
   

4. Review branches to delete:

   • Merged feature branches
   • Merged bugfix branches
   • Stale branches (no activity in 30+ days)
   • Branches with naming like test-*, tmp-*, wip-*

5. Delete local merged branches:

   git branch --merged | grep -v "^\*" | grep -v "main" | grep -v "master" | grep -v "develop" | xargs git branch -d
   

6. Delete remote merged branches (if --remote flag):

   git branch -r --merged | grep -v "main" | grep -v "master" | grep -v "develop" | sed 's/origin\///' | xargs -I {} git push origin --delete {}
   

7. Report cleanup results:

   • Number of branches deleted
   • List of deleted branches
   • Remaining active branches
   • Disk space saved (if significant)

Examples

Dry run to preview:

/branch-cleanup --dry-run
# Shows what would be deleted without actually deleting

Clean up local branches:

/branch-cleanup
# Deletes merged local branches

Clean up local and remote:

/branch-cleanup --remote
# Deletes merged branches locally and on remote