/clean-branches

Clean Branches Command

Clean up merged and stale git branches

Instructions

Follow this systematic approach to clean up git branches: **$ARGUMENTS**

1. **Repository State Analysis**

• Check current branch and uncommitted changes
• List all local and remote branches
• Identify the main/master branch name
• Review recent branch activity and merge history

   # Check current status
   git status
   git branch -a
   git remote -v
   
   # Check main branch name
   git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD | sed 's@^refs/remotes/origin/@@'

2. **Safety Precautions**

• Ensure working directory is clean
• Switch to main/master branch
• Pull latest changes from remote
• Create backup of current branch state if needed

   # Ensure clean state
   git stash push -m "Backup before branch cleanup"
   git checkout main  # or master
   git pull origin main

3. **Identify Merged Branches**

• List branches that have been merged into main
• Exclude protected branches (main, master, develop)
• Check both local and remote merged branches
• Verify merge status to avoid accidental deletion

   # List merged local branches
   git branch --merged main | grep -v "main\\|master\\|develop\\|\\*"
   
   # List merged remote branches
   git branch -r --merged main | grep -v "main\\|master\\|develop\\|HEAD"

4. **Identify Stale Branches**

• Find branches with no recent activity
• Check last commit date for each branch
• Identify branches older than specified timeframe (e.g., 30 days)
• Consider branch naming patterns for feature/hotfix branches

   # List branches by last commit date
   git for-each-ref --format='%(committerdate) %(authorname) %(refname)' --sort=committerdate refs/heads
   
   # Find branches older than 30 days
   git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short) %(committerdate)' refs/heads | awk '$2 < "'$(date -d '30 days ago' '+%Y-%m-%d')'"'

5. **Interactive Branch Review**

• Review each branch before deletion
• Check if branch has unmerged changes
• Verify branch purpose and status
• Ask for confirmation before deletion

   # Check for unmerged changes
   git log main..branch-name --oneline
   
   # Show branch information
   git show-branch branch-name main

6. **Protected Branch Configuration**

• Identify branches that should never be deleted
• Configure protection rules for important branches
• Document branch protection policies
• Set up automated protection for new repositories

   # Example protected branches
   PROTECTED_BRANCHES=("main" "master" "develop" "staging" "production")

7. **Local Branch Cleanup**

• Delete merged local branches safely
• Remove stale feature branches
• Clean up tracking branches for deleted remotes
• Update local branch references

   # Delete merged branches (interactive)
   git branch --merged main | grep -v "main\\|master\\|develop\\|\\*" | xargs -n 1 -p git branch -d
   
   # Force delete if needed (use with caution)
   git branch -D branch-name

8. **Remote Branch Cleanup**

• Remove merged remote branches
• Clean up remote tracking references
• Delete obsolete remote branches
• Update remote branch information

   # Prune remote tracking branches
   git remote prune origin
   
   # Delete remote branch
   git push origin --delete branch-name
   
   # Remove local tracking of deleted remote branches
   git branch -dr origin/branch-name

9. **Automated Cleanup Script**

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # Git branch cleanup script
   set -e
   
   # Configuration
   MAIN_BRANCH="main"
   PROTECTED_BRANCHES=("main" "master" "develop" "staging" "production")
   STALE_DAYS=30
   
   # Functions
   is_protected() {
       local branch=$1
       for protected in "${PROTECTED_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
           if [[ "$branch" == "$protected" ]]; then
               return 0
           fi
       done
       return 1
   }
   
   # Switch to main branch
   git checkout $MAIN_BRANCH
   git pull origin $MAIN_BRANCH
   
   # Clean up merged branches
   echo "Cleaning up merged branches..."
   merged_branches=$(git branch --merged $MAIN_BRANCH | grep -v "\\*\\|$MAIN_BRANCH")
   
   for branch in $merged_branches; do
       if ! is_protected "$branch"; then
           echo "Deleting merged branch: $branch"
           git branch -d "$branch"
       fi
   done
   
   # Prune remote tracking branches
   echo "Pruning remote tracking branches..."
   git remote prune origin
   
   echo "Branch cleanup completed!"

10. **Team Coordination**

• Notify team before cleaning shared branches
• Check if branches are being used by others
• Coordinate branch cleanup schedules
• Document branch cleanup procedures

11. **Branch Naming Convention Cleanup**

• Identify branches with non-standard naming
• Clean up temporary or experimental branches
• Remove old hotfix and feature branches
• Enforce consistent naming conventions

12. **Verification and Validation**

• Verify important branches are still present
• Check that no active work was deleted
• Validate remote branch synchronization
• Confirm team members have no issues

    # Verify cleanup results
    git branch -a
    git remote show origin

13. **Documentation and Reporting**

• Document what branches were cleaned up
• Report any issues or conflicts found
• Update team documentation about branch lifecycle
• Create branch cleanup schedule and policies

14. **Rollback Procedures**

• Document how to recover deleted branches
• Use reflog to find deleted branch commits
• Create emergency recovery procedures
• Set up branch restoration scripts

    # Recover deleted branch using reflog
    git reflog --no-merges --since="2 weeks ago"
    git checkout -b recovered-branch commit-hash