conorbronsdon /recover — Worktree & Branch Cleanup
Scan for orphaned worktrees, stale branches, and partial work left behind by crashed or abandoned Claude Code sessions. Read-only by default — reports findings and waits for approval before cleanup.
Invocation: deliberately model-invocable — scanning is read-only. Every cleanup action is gated on explicit user approval.
When to Use
- After a system crash or forced session termination
- When parallel session hooks warn about stale processes
- When you find commits on unknown branches
- Periodic hygiene (monthly or after heavy parallel work)
Instructions
0. Detect the default branch
Don't assume main. Resolve it once and use it everywhere below:
DEFAULT=$(git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|^origin/||')
DEFAULT=${DEFAULT:-$(git remote show origin 2>/dev/null | sed -n 's/.*HEAD branch: //p')}
DEFAULT=${DEFAULT:-main} # no remote at all — fall back and note it in the report
1. List all worktrees
git worktree list --porcelain
Identify:
- Recently touched worktrees: files or
.gitmetadata modified in the last hours — treat as possibly live.git worktree listcannot tell whether a session is actually running; without a lock/heartbeat file or process evidence, classify as unknown activity and never as orphaned. - Candidate-orphaned worktrees: no recent modification and no activity signal — proceed to inspection, still gated on user approval before any cleanup
- Stale entries: Git tracks a worktree but the directory is gone
2. Inspect orphaned worktrees
For each orphaned worktree:
git -C <worktree-path> status --short
git -C <worktree-path> branch --show-current
git -C <worktree-path> log --oneline -3
git log "$DEFAULT"..<branch-name> --oneline
Classify each as:
- CLEAN: No unmerged commits, no uncommitted changes — safe to remove
- HAS COMMITS: Unmerged commits exist — needs merge decision
- HAS CHANGES: Uncommitted work — needs save decision
- BOTH: Unmerged commits AND uncommitted changes — needs careful handling
3. List stale branches
git branch --no-merged "$DEFAULT"
git remote prune origin --dry-run
git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate --format='%(refname:short) %(committerdate:relative) %(subject)' refs/heads/
Classify:
- MERGED: Already in the default branch — safe to delete
- STALE: Last commit >7 days ago, not merged — flag for review
- ACTIVE: Recent commits — leave alone
4. Check for prunable git state
git worktree prune --dry-run
5. Report
RECOVER — [DATE]
WORKTREES:
- Active: [N]
- Orphaned: [N]
- [path] — [status] — [branch] — [last commit]
- Stale entries: [N]
BRANCHES:
- Merged (safe to delete): [list]
- Stale (>7 days, not merged): [list]
- Active: [list]
PROPOSED ACTIONS:
1. [action] — [target] — [reason]
OVERALL: [CLEAN / N items need attention]
6. Cleanup (with approval only)
Only proceed when explicitly approved. Options:
- Remove orphaned worktree (CLEAN):
git worktree remove <path> - Merge unmerged commits:
git merge <branch> --no-ff - Cherry-pick specific commits:
git cherry-pick <hash> - Delete merged branches:
git branch -d <branch> - Delete stale branches (confirmed discard):
git branch -D <branch> - Prune stale entries:
git worktree prune - Prune remote refs:
git remote prune origin
Design Principles
- Read-only by default. Report, wait for approval.
- Preserve work. Default to merge/cherry-pick over discard.
- Specific. Show exact commit hashes, file lists, branch names.
- Fast. Git commands only. Under 15 seconds for scan.