Git Worktree Tidy

git-worktree-tidy

Routine hygiene for bare-repo + worktree layouts. Fetches origin, prunes gone branches and orphaned worktrees, and fast-forwards important local branches.

When to use

User asks to "fetch prune", "clean up stale branches/worktrees", or "update main/dev to latest" in a worktree-based repo.

Hard Rules

• All destructive actions (worktree remove, branch delete) require user confirmation. Present the full list and wait.
• Never force-delete a worktree with uncommitted changes without explicit approval. Flag dirty worktrees separately.
• Use --ff-only when updating branches. If ff-only fails, stop and ask.
• Operate from the .bare directory (or repo root) for branch/worktree management commands.
• Never infer "merged/shipped" from git rev-list origin/main..<branch> or git merge-base --is-ancestor alone. Squash- and rebase-merges land the work under a new SHA, so a fully-shipped branch still shows commits "not in main" and a non-ancestor tip. Verify ship status against the forge's PR merge state (step 3a) before classifying a gone branch as unmerged.

Workflow

1) Locate the bare root

Determine the bare repo directory:

• If cwd contains .bare/, use it
• Otherwise: git rev-parse --git-common-dir

All branch and worktree management commands run from this directory.

2) Fetch + prune

git fetch --prune origin

Report what was pruned (deleted remote-tracking branches, updated refs).

3) Discover stale branches

git branch -vv | grep ': gone]'

Collect branch names whose upstream is gone.

3a) Verify ship status (gone upstream ≠ merged)

A deleted upstream ("gone") does NOT prove the work shipped, and git ancestry is unreliable here: squash- and rebase-merges land the work under a new SHA, so a fully-shipped branch still shows commits "not in main" and a non-ancestor tip. Verify against the forge before deleting — gone-but-unmerged branches are the only ones that lose real work.

For each gone-upstream branch (GitHub example; substitute your forge CLI):

# Was there a merged PR from this head?
gh pr list --state all --head <branch> \
  --json number,state,mergedAt,mergeCommit \
  --jq '.[] | "#\(.number) \(.state) merged=\(.mergedAt // "no")"'

# If merged, confirm nothing was added to the branch AFTER the merge:
# the local tip should equal the PR head at merge.
gh pr view <pr> --json commits --jq '.commits[-1].oid'   # vs: git rev-parse <branch>

Classify each gone branch:

• Merged (verified) — a MERGED PR exists AND its head == local tip → shipped, safe to delete.
• At risk — no merged PR, or the tip has commits dated after the merge (git show -s --format=%ci <tip>) → genuine unshipped work. Flag it; do not delete without explicit approval.

If gh/the forge CLI is unavailable, say so and treat unverifiable branches as at risk rather than assuming merged.

4) Discover stale worktrees

git worktree list
git worktree prune --dry-run

Cross-reference worktrees against the gone-branch list. Check each stale worktree for dirty state:

cd <worktree-path> && git status --short

Categorize:

• Clean + gone: safe to remove
• Dirty + gone: flag for user review
• Prunable metadata: orphaned worktree entries (directory already gone)

5) Confirm deletions

Present a summary table:

Stale worktrees to remove:
  <path> (<branch>) [clean]
  <path> (<branch>) [dirty — N uncommitted changes]

Stale branches:
  <branch>  [merged — PR #N, safe to delete]
  <branch>  [AT RISK — no merged PR / commits after merge; review first]

Prunable worktree metadata:
  <entry>

Call out the at risk branches explicitly so the user is deciding with the ship status in front of them. Wait for user confirmation before proceeding.

6) Remove stale worktrees

For each confirmed worktree:

git worktree remove <name>

If removal fails (dirty), report and skip unless user approved force.

7) Delete stale branches

git branch -D <branch1> <branch2> ...

8) Prune worktree metadata

git worktree prune -v

9) Update important branches

Identify which branches have dedicated worktrees for main, dev, or other important branches (user may specify). For each:

cd <worktree-path> && git pull --ff-only origin <branch>

If ff-only fails, report the divergence and ask for guidance.

10) Final status

Show a summary: what was removed, what was updated, any items skipped.