Git Branch Pruner

Overview

Safely identifies and removes merged, stale, and orphaned Git branches.

When to Use

• User asks to "clean up branches" or "delete merged branches"
• Branch list is too long to manage

How It Works

Step 1: Identify main branch

git branch --show-current

git remote show origin | findstr "HEAD branch"

Step 2: List all branches

git branch -a --format "%(refname:short) %(upstream:short) %(committerdate:short)"

Step 3: Categorize

Merged: already in main/master

Stale: no commit in 90+ days

Orphaned: no upstream tracking

Active: recent commits under 30 days

Step 4: Safe deletion

1. Always show user what will be deleted first
2. Exclude protected branches: main, master, develop, release/*
3. Exclude branches with unpushed commits
4. Ask for confirmation before deletion

Output Format

Merged branches (safe to delete):

feature-old-login -> DELETE

bugfix-typo-2024 -> DELETE

Protected (do not delete):

main <- current

develop

Commands: git branch -d (safe) or git branch -D (force)

Remote: git push origin --delete branch-name