branch-cleanup

Branch Cleanup

Audit and clean up local and remote branches safely. Always categorises before deleting.

Step 1 — Gather Repository State

echo "=== Current branch ==="
git branch --show-current

echo "=== All local branches (by last commit) ==="
git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate refs/heads/ \
  --format='%(refname:short)  %(committerdate:relative)  %(authorname)'

echo "=== Merged into develop/main ==="
git branch --merged develop 2>/dev/null || git branch --merged main 2>/dev/null

echo "=== Remote tracking branches ==="
git branch -r

Step 2 — Determine Mode

Check $ARGUMENTS for a mode flag:

Flag	Behaviour
(none)	Interactive — confirm before each deletion
--dry-run	Show what would be deleted; make no changes
--force	Delete all merged branches without per-branch confirmation
--remote-only	Prune stale remote-tracking refs only; skip local branches
--local-only	Delete merged local branches only; skip remote prune

Step 3 — Protected Branches (NEVER delete)

Skip these regardless of mode or flags:

• main, master, develop, staging, production
• Any branch matching release/* or hotfix/*
• The currently checked-out branch
• Any branch with unpushed commits (git log origin/<branch>..<branch> returns commits)

Step 4 — Categorise Branches

Classify every non-protected branch into one of:

1. Safe to delete — merged into develop/main, no unpushed commits
2. Stale — last commit > 30 days ago, not merged → list for human review, do NOT auto-delete
3. Orphaned remote — remote-tracking ref with no active PR → prune with git remote prune origin

Step 5 — Execute Cleanup

# Always prune stale remote-tracking refs first (safe, no branch deleted)
git remote prune origin

# Get merged branches excluding protected patterns
git branch --merged develop 2>/dev/null | \
  grep -vE '^\*|\bmain\b|\bmaster\b|\bdevelop\b|\bstaging\b|\bproduction\b|release/|hotfix/'