| name | git-worktree-cleanup-and-branch-hygiene |
| description | Systematic approach to cleaning up stale git worktrees, orphan branches, and branch hygiene at scale across multiple repos |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| source | auto-extracted |
| extracted | "2026-04-14T00:00:00.000Z" |
| metadata | {"tags":["git","workflow","automation","repository-maintenance"]} |
Git Worktree Cleanup and Branch Hygiene at Scale
When managing automation-heavy repos with accumulated stale worktrees and branches: (1) identify worktrees attached to merged branches via git worktree list, (2) remove them with git worktree remove before deleting branches (worktrees block deletion), (3) categorize remaining branches by lifecycle (worktree-agent remnants, orphan pre-restructure branches with no common ancestor, superseded feature branches, protected branches), (4) delete merged branches remotely first, then locally, (5) for unmerged branches with value, dry-run merges and resolve conflicts by keeping the current main version if divergence predates recent updates. This prevents disk bloat and merge conflicts from automation artifacts.
