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whazor 2026-02-20 14:20 UTC link

I currently have a TUI addiction. Each time I want something to be easier, I open claude-code and ask for a TUI. Now I have a git worktree manager where I can add/rebase/delete. As TUI library I use Textual which claude handles quite well, especially as it can test-run quite some Python code.

parliament32 2026-02-20 14:24 UTC link

So effectively "I just discovered xargs"? Not to disparage OP but there isn't anything particularly novel here.

sigio 2026-02-20 14:27 UTC link

I've had this command as 'git drop-merged' for a few years now (put as a script in your path named git-drop-merged:

  #!/bin/sh
  git branch --merged | egrep -v "(^\*|master|main|dev)" | xargs --no-run-if-empty
  git branch -d

arusahni 2026-02-20 14:39 UTC link

I use this alias:

    prune-local = "!git fetch -p && for branch in $(git branch -vv | awk '/: gone]/{if ($1!=\"\*\") print $1}'); do git branch -d $branch; done"

1. Fetch the latest from my remote, removing any remote tracking branches that no longer exist

2. Enumerate local branches, selecting each that has been marked as no longer having a remote version (ignoring the current branch)

3. Delete the local branch safely

gritzko 2026-02-20 14:40 UTC link

Speaking of user friendliness of git UI. I am working on a revision control system that (ideally) should be as user friendly as Ctrl+S Ctrl+Z in most common cases. Spent almost a week on design docs, looking for feedback (so far it was very valuable, btw)

https://replicated.wiki/blog/partII.html#navigating-the-hist...

jo-m 2026-02-20 14:43 UTC link

I have something similar, but open fzf to select the branches to delete [1].

    function fcleanb -d "fzf git select branches to delete where the upstream has disappeared"
        set -l branches_to_delete (
            git for-each-ref --sort=committerdate --format='%(refname:lstrip=2) %(upstream:track)' refs/heads/ | \
            egrep '\[gone\]$' | grep -v "master" | \
            awk '{print $1}' | $_FZF_BINARY --multi --exit-0 \
        )

        for branch in $branches_to_delete
            git branch -D "$branch"
        end
    end

[1]: https://github.com/jo-m/dotfiles/blob/29d4cab4ba6a18dc44dcf9...

lloeki 2026-02-20 14:45 UTC link

I've had essentially that - if a bit fancier to accept an optional argument as well as handle common "mainline" branch names - aliased as `git lint` for a while:

    [alias]
        lint = !git branch --merged ${1-} | grep -v -E -e '^[*]?[ ]*(main|master|[0-9]+[.]([0-9]+|x)-stable)$' -e '^[*][ ]+' | xargs -r -n 1 git branch --delete

so:

    git pull --prune && git lint

sits very high in my history stats

jakub_g 2026-02-20 14:48 UTC link

The main issue with `git branch --merged` is that if the repo enforces squash merges, it obviously won't work, because SHA of squash-merged commit in main != SHA of the original branch HEAD.

What tools are the best to do the equivalent but for squash-merged branches detections?

Note: this problem is harder than it seems to do safely, because e.g. I can have a branch `foo` locally that was squash-merged on remote, but before it happened, I might have added a few more commits locally and forgot to push. So naively deleting `foo` locally may make me lose data.

Cherub0774 2026-02-20 15:05 UTC link

We all have something similar, it seems! I stole mine from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7726949/remove-tracking-....

I also set mine up to run on `git checkout master` so that I don't really have to think about it too hard -- it just runs automagically. `gcm` has now become muscle memory for me.

  alias gcm=$'git checkout master || git checkout main && git pull && git remote prune origin && git branch -vv | grep \': gone]\'|  grep -v "\*" | awk \'{ print $1; }\' | xargs -r git branch -D'

d0liver 2026-02-20 15:09 UTC link

IIRC, you can do git branch -D $(git branch) and git will refuse to delete your current branch. Kind of the lazy way. I never work off of master/main, and usually when I need to look at them I checkout the remote branches instead.

EricRiese 2026-02-20 15:44 UTC link

Much more complicated than necessary. I just use

git branch | xargs git branch -d

Don't quote me, that's off the top of my head.

It won't delete unmerged branches by default. The line with the marker for the current branch throws an error but it does no harm. And I just run it with `develop` checked out. If I delete develop by accident I can recreate it from origin/develop.

Sometimes I intentionally delete develop if my develop branch is far behind the feature branch I'm on. If I don't and I have to switch to a really old develop and pull before merging in my feature branch, it creates unnecessary churn on my files and makes my IDE waste time trying to build the obsolete stuff. And depending how obsolete it is and what files have changed, it can be disruptive to the IDE.

WickyNilliams 2026-02-20 15:47 UTC link

I have a cleanup command that integrates with fzf. It pre selects every merged branch, so I can just hit return to delete them all. But it gives me the opportunity to deselect to preserve any branches if I want. It also prunes any remote branches

    # remove merged branches (local and remote)
    cleanup = "!git branch -vv | grep ': gone]' | awk '{print $1}' | fzf --multi --sync --bind start:select-all | xargs git branch -D; git remote prune origin;"

https://github.com/WickyNilliams/dotfiles/blob/c4154dd9b6980...

I've got a few aliases that integrate with fzf like an interactive cherry pick (choose branch, choose 1 or more commits), or a branch selector with a preview panel showing commits to the side. Super useful

The article also mentions that master has changed to main mostly, but some places use develop and other names as their primary branch. For that reason I always use a git config variable to reference such branches. In my global git config it's main. Then I override where necessary in any repo's local config eg here's an update command that updates primary and rebases the current branch on top:

    # switch to primary branch, pull, switch back, rebase
    update = !"git switch ${1:-$(git config user.primaryBranch)}; git pull; git switch -; git rebase -;"

https://github.com/WickyNilliams/dotfiles/blob/c4154dd9b6980...

nikeee 2026-02-20 15:48 UTC link

I use git-trim for that:

https://github.com/foriequal0/git-trim

Readme also explains why it's better than a bash-oneliner in some cases.

maerF0x0 2026-02-20 16:02 UTC link

    DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git remote show origin | sed -n '/HEAD branch/s/.*: //p')

    git branch --merged "origin/$DEFAULT_BRANCH" \
      | grep -vE "^\s*(\*|$DEFAULT_BRANCH)" \
      | xargs -r -n 1 git branch -d

This is the version I'd want in my $EMPLOYER's codebase that has a mix of default branches

gritzko 2026-02-20 16:14 UTC link

If something this natural requires several lines of bash, something is just not right. Maybe branches should go sorted by default, either chronologically or topologically? git's LoC budget is 20x LevelDBs or 30% of PostgreSQL or 3 SQLites. It must be able to do these things out of the box, isn't it?

https://replicated.wiki/blog/partII.html

fphilipe 2026-02-20 16:37 UTC link

Here's my take on the one-liner that I use via a `git tidy` alias[1]. A few points:

* It ensures the default branch is not deleted (main, master)

* It does not touch the current branch

* It does not touch the branch in a different worktree[2]

* It also works with non-merge repos by deleting the local branches that are gone on the remote

    git branch --merged "$(git config init.defaultBranch)" \
    | grep -Fv "$(git config init.defaultBranch)" \
    | grep -vF '*' \
    | grep -vF '+' \
    | xargs git branch -d \
    && git fetch \
    && git remote prune origin \
    && git branch -v \
    | grep -F '[gone]' \
    | grep -vF '*' \
    | grep -vF '+' \
    | awk '{print $1}' \
    | xargs git branch -D

[1]: https://github.com/fphilipe/dotfiles/blob/ba9187d7c895e44c35...

[2]: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-worktree

jldugger 2026-02-20 16:53 UTC link

This looks loosely like something already present in git-extras[1].

    [1]: https://github.com/tj/git-extras/blob/main/Commands.md#git-delete-merged-branches

andrewaylett 2026-02-20 17:50 UTC link

I keep a command `git-remove-merged`, which uses `git ls-remote` to see if the branch is set up to track a remote branch, and if it is then whether the remote branch still exists. On the assumption that branches which have had remote tracking but no longer do are either merged or defunct.

https://gist.github.com/andrewaylett/27c6a33bd2fc8c99eada605...

But actually nowadays I use JJ and don't worry about named branches :).

chill_ai_guy 2026-02-21 00:00 UTC link

The Git command is whatever, pretty basic and stuff i have done forever but i am glad i clicked because ended up going down the rabbithole of the Wikileaks it was sourced from

Some unhinged stuff there. Like the CIA having a project called "Fine Dining" which was basically a catalog of apps that could be put on a USB drive to hide malicious code.

A case officer picks a cover app from a list of 24: VLC, Chrome, Notepad++, 2048, Breakout. Plug in the USB. Cover app opens. Exfiltration runs silently behind it. Target walks back in and the officer can just say "oh was just playing some games on this machine"