clean-gone-branches

name	clean-gone-branches
description	Delete local git branches whose remotes are gone, after verifying via gh CLI that each was actually merged.
license	MIT
compatibility	claude cursor opencode
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0","languages":"all","audience":"developers","workflow":"git","since":"2026-03-19"}

What I do

Clean up orphaned local branches (those whose remote tracking branch is [gone]) by:

1. Running git fetch --prune to sync remote state.
2. Listing all local branches with [gone] remote tracking refs.
3. Verifying each branch's PR status via gh pr list --state all to confirm it was merged (or closed).
4. Showing the user a summary table with PR state and merge date.
5. Asking for confirmation before deleting.
6. Force-deleting confirmed branches with git branch -D.

When to use me

• After a sprint or a batch of PRs land and you want to clean up stale local branches.
• Any time git branch -vv shows several [gone] entries.
• Before switching repos or doing a clean checkout.

Workflow

Step 1: Fetch and prune

git fetch --prune

Step 2: Find orphaned branches

git branch -vv | grep ': gone]'

If nothing found, report "No orphaned branches found." and stop.

Step 3: Verify PR status via gh CLI

For each orphaned branch, run:

gh pr list --head "<branch>" --state all --json state,mergedAt,title \
  --jq '.[0] | "\(.state) | merged: \(.mergedAt // "N/A") | \(.title)"'

Build a summary table:

Branch	PR State	Merged At	PR Title

Flag any branches that are not MERGED (e.g. OPEN or CLOSED without merge) — these need user attention before deletion.

Step 4: Confirm with user

Show the table and ask:

• "Delete all MERGED branches now?"

If any branch has no PR or is not merged, exclude it from the default delete list and call it out explicitly:

• "These branches have no merged PR — skip them or confirm to force-delete anyway?"

Step 5: Delete

git branch -D <branch1> <branch2> ...

Report each deleted branch with its last commit hash.

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Behavior rules

• Never delete without explicit user confirmation.
• Always use git branch -D (force) since git's merge check is against the local default branch, not the remote — remote deletion already confirms the work is done.
• If gh is not available or returns no results, warn the user and do not auto-delete.
• Prefer deleting all confirmed-merged branches in one command rather than one-by-one.