git-worktree-cleanup-and-branch-hygiene

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remaining branches by lifecycle (worktree-agent remnants, orphan pre-restructure branches with no common ancestor, superseded feature branches, protected branches), (4) delete merged branches remotely first, then locally, (5) for unmerged branches with value, dry-run merges and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.