Branch Cleanup

Find and delete merged/stale local and remote branches

Find and safely delete merged and stale git branches.

Step-by-Step

1. List all local branches with tracking info:

git branch -vv

2. Find local branches already merged into main:

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

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

git for-each-ref --sort=committerdate refs/remotes/ \
  --format='%(committerdate:short) %(refname:short)' | head -30

4. Show the list to the user and ask for confirmation before deleting.

5. Delete confirmed branches:

git branch -d branch-name                 # local (safe — refuses unmerged)
git push origin --delete branch-name      # remote
git remote prune origin                   # clean stale tracking refs

Protected Branches (never delete)

main, master, develop, staging, production, release/*

Safety

• Always use -d (not -D) — it refuses to delete unmerged branches
• Show git log main..branch-name --oneline for any branch the user is unsure about