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Script to clean up branches #1218

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Merged
aaronpowell merged 1 commit into from
Mar 30, 2026
Merged

Script to clean up branches #1218

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80 changes: 80 additions & 0 deletions scripts/delete-gone-branches.sh
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
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#!/bin/bash

set -euo pipefail

usage() {
cat <<'EOF'
Usage: bash scripts/delete-gone-branches.sh [--apply]

Find local branches whose upstream is marked "[gone]" and delete them.

Options:
--apply Actually delete the branches with `git branch -D`
--help Show this help text

Without --apply, the script prints what it would delete.
EOF
}

apply=false

case "${1:-}" in
"")
;;
--apply)
apply=true
;;
--help|-h)
usage
exit 0
;;
*)
echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2
usage >&2
exit 1
;;
esac

git fetch --prune --quiet

mapfile -t gone_branches < <(
git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short) %(upstream:track)' refs/heads |
while IFS= read -r line; do
branch=${line% *}
tracking=${line#"$branch "}
Comment on lines +41 to +44
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Copilot AI Mar 30, 2026

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The for-each-ref output is parsed by splitting on the last space (branch=${line% *}), which is brittle and can mis-parse if the formatted fields ever contain spaces (or if the format is adjusted later). Prefer using an explicit delimiter in the --format (e.g., a tab) and read the two fields separately to make the selection of [gone] branches robust.

Suggested change
git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short) %(upstream:track)' refs/heads |
while IFS= read -r line; do
branch=${line% *}
tracking=${line#"$branch "}
git for-each-ref --format=$'%(refname:short)\t%(upstream:track)' refs/heads |
while IFS=$'\t' read -r branch tracking; do

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
if [[ "$tracking" == "[gone]" ]]; then
printf '%s\n' "$branch"
fi
done
)

if [[ ${#gone_branches[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
echo "No local branches with gone upstreams found."
exit 0
fi

current_branch="$(git branch --show-current)"

echo "Found ${#gone_branches[@]} branch(es) with gone upstreams:"
printf ' %s\n' "${gone_branches[@]}"

if [[ "$apply" != true ]]; then
echo
echo "Dry run only. Re-run with --apply to delete them."
exit 0
fi

deleted_count=0

for branch in "${gone_branches[@]}"; do
if [[ "$branch" == "$current_branch" ]]; then
echo "Skipping current branch: $branch"
continue
fi

git branch -D "$branch"
deleted_count=$((deleted_count + 1))
Comment on lines +75 to +76
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Copilot AI Mar 30, 2026

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Because the script runs with set -e, any failure from git branch -D (e.g., branch checked out in another worktree, permissions, etc.) will terminate the whole script and skip deleting the remaining branches. Consider handling deletion per-branch (capturing failures and continuing) and only incrementing deleted_count on successful deletes, so one problematic branch doesn’t stop the cleanup run.

Suggested change
git branch -D "$branch"
deleted_count=$((deleted_count + 1))
if git branch -D "$branch"; then
deleted_count=$((deleted_count + 1))
else
echo "Failed to delete branch: $branch" >&2
fi

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done

echo
echo "Deleted $deleted_count branch(es)."
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