Overview

When you use Git for code version control, even after creating a new branch for some work, working on it, and then Merge-ing it, unused branches keep piling up locally.

For remote branches, you can delete them automatically by enabling the Automatically delete head branches option in GitHub's settings

But local branches are not deleted automatically and have to be done manually every time. To reduce the hassle, let's write a simple script.

I got help writing the script from ChatGPT. As long as you convey your requirements well these days, it writes a perfect script, so I'm using it really well.

Usage

Command usage

• When the -i option is present, it runs interactively, asking for a confirm before deleting each local branch

> cleanup_prune_local_branches.sh -h
/Users/user/bin/cleanup_prune_local_branches.sh: illegal option -- h
Usage: cleanup_prune_local_branches.sh [-i]
-i: Enable interactive mode with confirmation prompt for each branch deletion

Run example

> cleanup_prune_local_branches.sh -i 

Deleting local branch: chore/throttle
=======[WARN] Are you sure you want to delete unused branch ? [y/N] y
Delete branch...chore/throttle...
Deleted branch chore/throttle (was 696ca70ec).

Deleting local branch: dev-tmp
=======[WARN] Are you sure you want to delete unused branch ? [y/N] y
Delete branch...dev-tmp...
Deleted branch dev-tmp (was a615ec3d6).

Deleting local branch: feat/#1987-integration
=======[WARN] Are you sure you want to delete unused branch ? [y/N] n
cancelled.

Deleting local branch: feat/#1987-robot-path-order
=======[WARN] Are you sure you want to delete unused branch ? [y/N]

Source Code

Here is the full source code of the script.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

IGNORE_BRANCHES=("chores")
INTERACTIVE_MODE=false

# Parse command-line options
while getopts "i" opt; do
  case $opt in
    i)
      INTERACTIVE_MODE=true
      ;;
    *)
      echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") [-i]"
      echo "-i: Enable interactive mode with confirmation prompt for each branch deletion"
      exit 1
      ;;
  esac
done

confirm() {
  local branch=$1
  read -r -p "=======[WARN] Are you sure you want to delete unused branch $branch? [y/N] " response
  case "$response" in
    [yY][eE][sS]|[yY])
      echo "Delete branch...$branch..."
      git branch -D "$branch"
      ;;
    *)
      echo "Skipping branch '$branch'..."
      return 1
      ;;
  esac
}

# Fetch the latest list of remote branches
git fetch --prune

# Check the currently checked-out branch
current_branch=$(git symbolic-ref --short HEAD)

# Iterate over the list of local branches
for branch in $(git branch --format '%(refname:short)'); do
    # Skip the current branch
    if [[ "$branch" == "$current_branch" ]]; then
        continue
    fi

    # Check for branches to exclude
    skip_branch=false
    for ignore in "${IGNORE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
        if [[ "$branch" == "$ignore" ]]; then
            echo "Skipping ignored branch: $branch"
            skip_branch=true
            break
        fi
    done

    if [[ "$skip_branch" == true ]]; then
        continue
    fi

    # Delete branches with no remote
    if ! git show-ref --quiet "refs/remotes/origin/$branch"; then
        echo "Found local branch with no remote: $branch"
        if [[ "$INTERACTIVE_MODE" == true ]]; then
            confirm "$branch"
        else
            echo "Deleting branch...$branch..."
            git branch -D "$branch"
        fi
    fi
done

Using this script, you can effectively clean up unnecessary Git branches locally.