Audits git repository hygiene: worktree state, stale branches, uncommitted changes,
orphaned worktrees, and hook configuration. Finds the rot before it causes a crisis.
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Audits git repository hygiene: worktree state, stale branches, uncommitted changes,
orphaned worktrees, and hook configuration. Finds the rot before it causes a crisis.
[{"skill":"git-workflow-expert","reason":"Auditing finds problems; git-workflow-expert fixes them with proper strategy"},{"skill":"monorepo-management","reason":"Monorepos accumulate worktree and branch debt faster than single-repo projects"},{"skill":"multi-agent-coordination","reason":"Multi-agent workflows create worktrees that must be tracked and cleaned up"},{"skill":"dag-isolation-manager","reason":"DAG execution creates worktrees for isolation that need lifecycle management"}]
Git Workflow Auditor
Systematic audit of git repository state. Detects stale branches, orphaned worktrees, uncommitted work at risk of loss, hook misconfigurations, and branch hygiene violations. Designed for repositories where multiple developers or agents create branches and worktrees that nobody remembers to clean up.
When to Use
Use for:
Periodic repository health checks (weekly or before releases)
Detecting stale worktrees left behind by crashed agent processes
Finding branches with unmerged work that someone forgot about
Auditing git hooks for completeness and correct configuration
Identifying uncommitted changes across multiple worktrees
Cleaning up after multi-agent DAG execution sessions
Pre-migration audits before moving to a new branching strategy
Diagnosing disk space issues caused by accumulated worktrees
Do NOT use for:
Choosing a branching strategy (use git-workflow-expert)
Setting up CI/CD pipelines (use github-actions-pipeline-builder)
Worktrees are the primary isolation mechanism for parallel agent execution. They accumulate silently. A crashed agent leaves its worktree behind. Ten crashed agents later, you have ten stale worktrees consuming disk and creating confusion.
# List all worktrees with their state
git worktree list --porcelain
# Parse into structured audit
git worktree list --porcelain | awk '
/^worktree / { path=$2 }
/^HEAD / { head=$2 }
/^branch / { branch=$2 }
/^detached/ { branch="DETACHED" }
/^$/ { printf "%-60s %-12s %s\n", path, (branch == "DETACHED" ? "DETACHED" : branch), head; path=""; head=""; branch="" }
'
Worktree classification:
State
Detection
Risk
Action
Active + clean
Has branch, no uncommitted changes
None
Leave alone
Active + dirty
Has branch, uncommitted changes
Data loss on cleanup
Commit or stash before removing
Detached HEAD
No branch reference
Moderate — work may be orphaned
Check reflog, create branch if needed
Orphaned
Directory missing but git still tracks it
Confusing state
git worktree prune
Stale
Last commit >7 days old, no recent activity
Disk waste, confusion
Investigate, then remove
Locked
.lock file present
Blocks prune
Check if lock is legitimate
# Find orphaned worktrees (directory gone but git still references)
git worktree list --porcelain | grep "^worktree " | awk '{print $2}' | whileread -r wt; doif [ ! -d "$wt" ]; thenecho"ORPHANED: $wt (directory does not exist)"fidone# Find stale worktrees (no commits in 7+ days)
git worktree list --porcelain | grep "^worktree " | awk '{print $2}' | whileread -r wt; doif [ -d "$wt" ]; then
last_commit=$(git -C "$wt"log -1 --format="%ci" 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$last_commit" ]; then
days_old=$(( ($(date +%s) - $(date -jf "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %z" "$last_commit" +%s 2>/dev/null || date -d "$last_commit" +%s 2>/dev/null)) / 86400 ))
if [ "$days_old" -gt 7 ]; thenecho"STALE ($days_old days): $wt"fififidone# Check for dirty worktrees (uncommitted changes)
git worktree list --porcelain | grep "^worktree " | awk '{print $2}' | whileread -r wt; doif [ -d "$wt" ]; then
status=$(git -C "$wt" status --porcelain 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$status" ]; then
file_count=$(echo"$status" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
echo"DIRTY ($file_count files): $wt"fifidone
2. Branch Hygiene Audit
Branches that have been merged but not deleted. Branches that haven't been touched in months. Branches with no upstream tracking. Each one is a small piece of confusion that compounds.
# Branches merged into main that haven't been deleted
git branch --merged main | grep -v "^\*\|main\|master" | whileread -r branch; doecho"MERGED (safe to delete): $branch"done# Branches NOT merged, sorted by last commit date
git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate --format='%(refname:short) %(committerdate:relative) %(authorname)' refs/heads/ | \
whileread -r branch date author; do
merged=$(git branch --merged main | grep -c "^\s*$branch$")
if [ "$merged" -eq 0 ] && [ "$branch" != "main" ] && [ "$branch" != "master" ]; thenecho"UNMERGED: $branch (last commit: $date by $author)"fidone# Remote branches with no local tracking
git branch -r | grep -v HEAD | whileread -r remote_branch; do
local_branch="${remote_branch#origin/}"if ! git branch --list "$local_branch" | grep -q .; then# Check if it's stale
last_date=$(git log -1 --format="%cr""$remote_branch" 2>/dev/null)
echo"REMOTE ONLY: $remote_branch (last commit: $last_date)"fidone# Branches with diverged upstream
git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short) %(upstream:short) %(upstream:track)' refs/heads/ | \
grep -v "^\s*$" | whileread -r local upstream track; doif [[ "$track" == *"ahead"* ]] && [[ "$track" == *"behind"* ]]; thenecho"DIVERGED: $local ($track)"elif [[ "$track" == *"gone"* ]]; thenecho"UPSTREAM GONE: $local (remote branch deleted)"fidone
Branch age thresholds:
Age
Status
Recommendation
< 7 days
Active
Leave alone
7-30 days
Aging
Check with author
30-90 days
Stale
Strong candidate for deletion if merged
> 90 days
Abandoned
Delete if merged, archive if unmerged with value
3. Uncommitted Work Detection
The most dangerous state: valuable work that exists only as uncommitted changes, one git clean away from oblivion.
# Check main worktree
main_status=$(git status --porcelain)
if [ -n "$main_status" ]; thenecho"MAIN WORKTREE has uncommitted changes:"echo"$main_status" | head -20
staged=$(echo"$main_status" | grep "^[MADRCU]" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
unstaged=$(echo"$main_status" | grep "^.[MADRCU]" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
untracked=$(echo"$main_status" | grep "^??" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
echo" Staged: $staged | Unstaged: $unstaged | Untracked: $untracked"fi# Check all worktrees
git worktree list --porcelain | grep "^worktree " | awk '{print $2}' | whileread -r wt; do
status=$(git -C "$wt" status --porcelain 2>/dev/null)
if [ -n "$status" ]; then
branch=$(git -C "$wt" branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo"DETACHED")
echo""echo"UNCOMMITTED in $wt (branch: $branch):"echo"$status" | head -10
total=$(echo"$status" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
if [ "$total" -gt 10 ]; thenecho" ... and $((total - 10)) more files"fifidone
4. Git Hooks Audit
Hooks are the immune system of the repository. Missing or misconfigured hooks mean quality gates are down.
HOOKS_DIR=".git/hooks"# Check for Husky (modern standard)if [ -d ".husky" ]; then
HOOKS_DIR=".husky"echo"Hook system: Husky"elif [ -f ".lefthookrc" ] || [ -f "lefthook.yml" ]; thenecho"Hook system: Lefthook"elseecho"Hook system: Native git hooks"fi# Expected hooks
EXPECTED_HOOKS=("pre-commit""commit-msg""pre-push")
for hook in"${EXPECTED_HOOKS[@]}"; do
hook_file="$HOOKS_DIR/$hook"if [ -f "$hook_file" ]; thenif [ -x "$hook_file" ]; thenecho"OK: $hook (executable)"elseecho"WARNING: $hook exists but is NOT executable"fielseecho"MISSING: $hook"fidone# Check if hooks are being bypassed# Look for --no-verify in recent commits (sign of habitual skipping)
git log --oneline -50 | whileread -r sha msg; do# Can't detect --no-verify from log, but can check for missing# conventional commit format if commit-msg hook should enforce itif ! echo"$msg" | grep -qE "^[a-f0-9]+ (feat|fix|docs|style|refactor|test|chore|build|ci|perf)"; thenecho"UNCONVENTIONAL: $sha$msg"fidone 2>/dev/null | head -10
5. Disk Usage Audit
Git repositories grow. Worktrees multiply. Nobody notices until the disk is full.
# Repository size
repo_size=$(du -sh .git | awk '{print $1}')
echo"Repository (.git): $repo_size"# Worktree sizes
git worktree list --porcelain | grep "^worktree " | awk '{print $2}' | whileread -r wt; doif [ -d "$wt" ]; then
wt_size=$(du -sh "$wt" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}')
echo"Worktree: $wt ($wt_size)"fidone# Largest objects in pack (potential LFS candidates)
git rev-list --objects --all | \
git cat-file --batch-check='%(objecttype) %(objectname) %(objectsize) %(rest)' | \
grep "^blob" | sort -t' ' -k3 -rn | head -10 | \
whileread -r type sha size path; do
size_mb=$(echo"scale=1; $size / 1048576" | bc)
echo"LARGE OBJECT: ${size_mb}MB - $path"done# Check for large files that should be in LFS
find . -not -path './.git/*' -type f -size +10M 2>/dev/null | whileread -r file; doecho"LARGE FILE (>10MB): $file ($(du -h "$file" | awk '{print $1}'))"done
Decision Points
When to Auto-Clean vs Require Human Review
Condition
Auto-Clean OK?
Reasoning
Orphaned worktree (directory gone)
Yes
git worktree prune is safe; the directory is already gone
Merged branch, local only
Yes
Work is in main, branch is redundant
Merged branch, has remote
Ask first
Others may reference the remote branch
Stale branch, unmerged
Never auto-clean
May contain valuable unfinished work
Dirty worktree
Never auto-clean
Uncommitted changes would be lost
Locked worktree
Never auto-clean
Lock exists for a reason; investigate
Audit Frequency Recommendations
Project Type
Frequency
Trigger
Solo developer
Monthly
Before release
Small team (2-5)
Bi-weekly
Sprint boundaries
Large team (5+)
Weekly
Automated in CI
Multi-agent execution
After every session
Agent cleanup hook
Monorepo
Weekly
Worktree count check
Anti-Patterns
Anti-Pattern: "Delete All Merged Branches" Scripts
What it looks like: A cron job that runs git branch --merged main | xargs git branch -d weekly.
Why wrong: Not all merged branches should be deleted. Release branches (release/v2.1), environment branches (staging, production), and long-lived integration branches are "merged" in the sense that main contains their work, but they serve ongoing purposes. Blanket deletion destroys these.
Instead: Maintain an explicit allowlist of protected branch patterns. Only auto-delete branches matching feature-branch naming conventions (e.g., feat/*, fix/*, chore/*). Require human confirmation for anything else.
Anti-Pattern: Never Cleaning Worktrees
What it looks like: 30 worktrees on disk, 25 of them stale, developer says "I'll clean them up eventually."
Why wrong: Each worktree is a full checkout. In a 500MB repo, 30 worktrees consume 15GB. More importantly, stale worktrees create confusion about which checkout is the "real" one. Agents may accidentally operate in a stale worktree.
Instead: Enforce a worktree limit. If you have more than 5 worktrees, you must justify each one. Run the audit after every multi-agent session and clean up immediately.
Anti-Pattern: Hooks Without Enforcement
What it looks like: Pre-commit hooks configured but half the team uses --no-verify because "the hooks are too slow."
Why wrong: Hooks that are routinely bypassed provide false confidence. The team thinks quality gates are active. They are not. Server-side hooks (pre-receive) cannot be bypassed and should be the enforcement layer. Client-side hooks are a convenience, not a guarantee.
Instead: If hooks are too slow, fix the performance (use lint-staged for incremental linting, cache test results). Track --no-verify usage via server-side hook that checks for missing expected metadata. If client hooks ran, they would have added metadata; absence means they were skipped.
Anti-Pattern: Auditing Without Action
What it looks like: Weekly audit report emailed to the team. Nobody reads it. Nothing changes.
Why wrong: An audit that produces no action is waste. It exists to make someone feel like hygiene is being maintained, while the actual hygiene declines.
Instead: Audit results must produce tickets or automated cleanup. Every WARNING must have an owner. Every FAIL must block something (merge, deploy, or release). If nobody acts on audit results, stop running the audit and invest the time in automation instead.
Quality Checklist
A complete audit covers:
All worktrees enumerated with state classification (active/stale/orphaned/dirty)
Orphaned worktrees pruned
Stale worktrees flagged with last commit date and author
Dirty worktrees inventoried with uncommitted file counts
Merged branches identified for deletion
Unmerged stale branches flagged with owner and last activity date
Branches with deleted upstream remotes identified
Diverged branches flagged for rebase or resolution
