git-detect-merged

name	git-detect-merged
description	Detect whether local branches/worktrees have been merged into a target branch (default: main), including squash merges. Args: [target-branch]

Git Detect Merged

Detect whether local branches and worktrees have their changes already merged into a target branch. Handles both regular merges and squash merges.

Args

/git-detect-merged [target-branch]

• target-branch — branch to check against. Default: main.

Refer to the target branch as $TARGET below.

Pre-filter: scope to branches forked from $TARGET

When $TARGET is not main, only consider branches that forked from $TARGET's own commits — not from shared ancestry with main. This prevents deleting unrelated branches (e.g. branches off bar when cleaning up foo).

1. Compute target_fork = git merge-base main $TARGET.
2. For each candidate branch B, compute branch_base = git merge-base $TARGET B.
3. Check: git merge-base --is-ancestor $branch_base $target_fork.
   • If yes → B forked from shared history (before $TARGET diverged from main). Skip it.
   • If no → B forked from $TARGET's own commits. Keep it.

Always exclude main and $TARGET from candidates.

When $TARGET is main, skip this pre-filter — all branches are in scope.

Step A: Regular merge detection

Run git branch --merged $TARGET. From the results, apply the pre-filter above and exclude $TARGET and main.

Step B: Squash merge detection

Branches NOT listed by --merged may still have been squash-merged. For each remaining local branch that passes the pre-filter, run:

~/.claude/scripts/git-is-squash-merged $TARGET <branch>

• Exit 0 → squash-merged. Mark as candidate.
• Exit 1 → not merged. Skip it.

The script handles both single-commit cherry checks and multi-commit combined patch-id detection internally.

Detecting active work

A branch or worktree is considered "actively being worked on" if any of these are true:

• The worktree has uncommitted changes (staged or unstaged): cd to the worktree path first, then run git status --porcelain — any output means dirty.
• The worktree has untracked files outside .tmp/: visible in --porcelain output (lines starting with ??). Ignore untracked .tmp/ content.
• The branch is currently checked out in any worktree (including the main working tree).

Output

Report each branch with:

• Branch name
• Target branch checked against
• Merge type: regular or squash
• Active work status: clean, dirty, or checked-out
• Associated worktree path (if any)