branch-cleaner

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Identify and clean up stale git branches locally and on remotes with safe, reversible steps. Use when asked to prune, list, or delete merged/old branches or audit branch hygiene.

12installs

Sourcejmerta/codex-skills

Added on2026-02-19

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add jmerta/codex-skills branch-cleaner

SKILL.md Content

View Translation Comparison →

Branch cleaner

Goal

Safely identify stale branches and provide explicit delete/prune commands.

Inputs to confirm (ask if missing)

Default branch (main/master/develop).
Remote name (origin) and whether remote deletion is desired.
Safety rules: keep patterns (release/, hotfix/), minimum age, merged-only.

Workflow

Sync and inspect
- Run
```
git fetch --prune
```
  .
- Check
```
git status
```
  and note uncommitted changes.

Build candidate lists

Local merged into default:
```
git branch --merged <base>
```
Local not merged (list only):
```
git branch --no-merged <base>
```
Remote merged:
```
git branch -r --merged <base>
```

Stale by date:

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

Exclude protected branches
- Always keep
```
<base>
```
  , current branch, and user-provided patterns.
Confirm with user
- Present candidates grouped by local vs remote.
Provide delete commands
- Delete branches approved for deletion by the user

Optional GitHub CLI checks

```
gh pr list --state merged --base <base>
```
to correlate merged branches.
```
gh pr view <branch>
```
to verify status if needed.

Deliverables

Candidate lists and rationale.
Warnings for unmerged or recently updated branches.
Don't remove remote branches unless explicitly approved.