clean-local-branches

name	clean-local-branches
description	Clean up local branches which have been merged into the default branch, and rebase unmerged branches.

This skill helps the user clean up local branches that have already been merged into the default branch (e.g., main or master) and rebases branches which have not.

Step 1: Pre-flight checks

• Check if the user has any uncommitted changes. If so, prompt the user for how to proceed (e.g., stash changes, commit changes, or abort the operation).
• Note the current branch so you can return to it if needed.

Step 2: Update default branch

• Determine the default branch (e.g., main or master).
• Checkout the default branch.
• Run git fetch --prune to update remote refs and remove stale remote tracking branches.
• Pull the latest changes.

Step 3: Rebase all branches and identify merged ones

For each local branch (excluding the default branch and other protected branches like develop):

1. git checkout <branch>
2. git rebase <default>
3. If there are conflicts, abort the rebase (git rebase --abort) and note the branch as Conflict.
4. After a successful rebase, compare the branch tip to the default branch tip (git rev-parse HEAD vs git rev-parse <default>). If they match, the branch is Merged — all its commits were already applied, so rebase dropped them and the tip landed on the default branch. Otherwise, the branch is Rebased (it has commits on top of the default branch).

Also note whether each branch has a remote tracking branch (i.e. origin/<branch> exists). This information is needed in Step 5.

Return to the default branch when done.

This approach reliably detects standard merges, squash merges, and cherry-picks, because rebase drops commits whose changes are already present in the default branch. As a bonus, unmerged branches get rebased onto the latest default branch.

Step 4: Present summary and get confirmation

Present the results in a clear table, for example:

| Branch          | Status   | Proposed Action |
|-----------------|----------|-----------------|
| feature/foo     | Merged   | Delete (local + remote) |
| feature/bar     | Merged   | Delete (local only)     |
| bugfix/baz      | Rebased  | Force push              |
| experiment/qux  | Rebased  | Keep (no remote)        |
| hotfix/abc      | Conflict | Keep (needs manual resolution) |

Ask the user to confirm which merged branches to delete.

Step 5: Execute

• Merged branches: Delete confirmed branches locally using git branch -D <branch>. If the branch also exists on the remote, delete it with git push origin --delete <branch>.
• Rebased branches: If the branch exists on the remote, force push with git push --force-with-lease origin <branch>. If it does not exist on the remote, do nothing (do not push).
• Report any branches that had conflicts and need manual attention.