Git Branch Cleanup Tool

A powerful, smart, and safe batch cleanup tool for Git branches, designed to help developers say goodbye to cluttered branch lists.

中文版

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Are you tired of a long, messy list of merged feature/, fix/, or hotfix/ branches in your project? Manually checking and deleting them is tedious and error-prone.

This tool is your solution! It automates the process of finding, checking, and interactively cleaning up branches that have served their purpose, keeping your repository tidy and professional.

Demo

Here is a demonstration of the tool in action:

=== Git Branch Cleanup Tool ===

This tool will help you clean up local and remote branches that have been merged into a target branch.
The process is as follows:
  1. You will provide a branch prefix (e.g., feature/)
  2. You will provide a target branch for comparison (e.g., develop)
  3. The script will automatically check, sync, and ask for confirmation before deleting each merged branch.
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Enter the branch prefix to check (default: feature/): feature/
Enter the target branch for comparison (default: develop): develop
✓ Inputs saved as defaults for the next run.

Syncing remote branch information (fetch --prune)...
Switching to and updating target branch 'develop'...
✓ Status check for 'develop' passed.

Finding all branches matching the prefix 'feature/'...
Found the following branches to check:
feature/add-login-form
feature/fix-payment-bug
feature/user-profile-refactor

--- Checking branch: feature/add-login-form ---
✓ Merged: Changes from 'feature/add-login-form' are included in 'develop'.
  Delete local and remote branch 'feature/add-login-form'? (y/N): y
  Deleting local branch...
  Deleting remote branch...
  ✓ Deleted.

--- Checking branch: feature/fix-payment-bug ---
✗ Unmerged: Changes from 'feature/fix-payment-bug' are not fully merged. Skipped.

--- Checking branch: feature/user-profile-refactor ---
✓ Merged: Changes from 'feature/user-profile-refactor' are included in 'develop'.
  Delete local and remote branch 'feature/user-profile-refactor'? (y/N): n
  ✗ Skipped by user.

==================================================================
Execution Complete - Final Report
==================================================================
  Total branches checked: 3
  Successfully deleted: 1
  Skipped by user:      1
  Unmerged:             1

List of deleted branches:
  - feature/add-login-form (local+remote)

Branches skipped by user (merged but not deleted):
  - feature/user-profile-refactor

Unmerged branches (require manual review):
  - feature/fix-payment-bug

Script finished.

✨ Key Features

• Smart Discovery: Automatically scans and lists all local and remote branches that match a specified prefix (e.g., feature/).
• Accurate Merge Checking: Uses git merge-base --is-ancestor for its core logic, ensuring that only branches fully merged into the target are marked for deletion. This is more reliable than other methods in complex histories.
• Interactive & Safe Deletion: Prompts for confirmation for each merged branch, giving you the final say and preventing accidental deletion.
• Unified Local & Remote Handling: Auto-detects if a branch exists locally, remotely, or both, and uses a safe deletion order (local first, then remote).
• Input Persistence: Remembers the last branch prefix and target branch you used, speeding up subsequent runs.
• Pre-run Safety Checks: Verifies that the current directory is a Git repo and that the target branch has no uncommitted or unpushed changes before proceeding.
• Clear Summary Report: Provides a detailed, categorized report after execution, showing exactly what was deleted, skipped, or left for manual review.
• Color-coded Output: Uses colors to clearly distinguish between success, warning, and error messages for a better user experience.

🚀 Installation

Option 1: Using curl (Recommended)

# Replace YOUR_USERNAME and YOUR_REPO with your actual details
curl -o git-branch-cleaner.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ryanch741/git-branch-cleaner/main/git-branch-cleaner.sh
chmod +x git-branch-cleaner.sh
# Optional: Make it globally accessible
sudo mv git-branch-cleaner.sh /usr/local/bin/git-branch-cleaner

Option 2: Manual Download

1. Find the git-branch-cleaner.sh script file in this repository.
2. Click the "Raw" button and copy the entire content.
3. Create a new file on your local machine, paste the content, and save it as git-branch-cleaner.sh.
4. In your terminal, grant it executable permissions: chmod +x git-branch-cleaner.sh.

💡 Usage

1. Navigate to your Git repository: cd /path/to/your/project
2. Run the script: ./git-branch-cleaner.sh (or git-branch-cleaner if installed globally).
3. Follow the prompts: Enter the branch prefix and target branch, then confirm deletions with y.

⚙️ Configuration

• Memory File: The script creates a file at ~/.git_cleanup_script.conf to store your last inputs.
• Remote Name: The remote is hardcoded as origin. You can change the REMOTE_NAME variable at the top of the script if you use a different name.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a pull request or create an issue to improve this tool.

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

❤️ Sponsor

If you find this tool helpful and it saves you time, please consider buying me a coffee!

Your support is a great motivator for me to continue maintaining and improving this project. Thank you!

WeChat Pay	Alipay

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.