Nv Worktree Cleanup

Clean up git worktrees

End state: stale, merged, and missing worktrees are removed; their local branches are deleted; git worktree prune has run; the user has signed off on every deletion.

Hard rules

1. Never --force remove a worktree without explicit user confirmation. Dirty worktrees stay until the user says otherwise.
2. Never delete the main worktree (the one at git rev-parse --show-toplevel of the primary checkout) or the worktree the agent is currently sitting in. Detect the agent's worktree by comparing pwd (or git rev-parse --show-toplevel from the current directory) against each path from git worktree list. If they match, refuse deletion and tell the user to move first via move_agent_to_root.
3. Confirm deletions in one batch via AskQuestion with allow_multiple: true. Don't delete one-by-one without a single approval step.
4. Use git branch -d (safe delete) by default. Only use -D for branches the user explicitly flags as okay to force-delete.

Workflow

1. Enumerate worktrees

git worktree list --porcelain

Parse into entries: path, branch, HEAD. Skip the primary worktree.

2. Determine the base branch

Check in order:

• git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD (gives e.g. refs/remotes/origin/main)
• Fall back to main, then next, then master

Use origin/<base> for merge checks so local staleness doesn't matter. Run git fetch --prune origin first to make checks accurate.

3. Classify each worktree

For each non-primary worktree, compute one of:

Also flag any worktree that is the current agent root — compare pwd / git rev-parse --show-toplevel against each worktree path, mark matches as such, and exclude them from the removable set.

4. Present the summary and get one consolidated approval

Use AskQuestion with allow_multiple: true. Group by category in the prompt so the user can scan it. For each removable entry, the option label should include path, branch, and reason. Example option labels:

• merged: ../more-dcr-oauths (branch more-dcr-oauths)
• missing: ../old-experiment (branch old-experiment)
• dirty: ../wip-bar (branch wip/bar) — has uncommitted changes

For dirty / unpushed entries, surface them as separate options so the user can opt in to force-removing if they really want to.

5. Execute confirmed removals

For each confirmed worktree:

git worktree remove <path>            # safe path
git worktree remove --force <path>    # only if user opted in for dirty
git branch -d <branch>                # safe delete (refuses if unmerged)
git branch -D <branch>                # only if user opted in (squash-merged or force); squash-merges leave the branch ahead/unmerged in topology so `-d` refuses — confirm merge via `gh pr list` first

For missing entries, skip remove and rely on prune in the next step.

6. Finalize

git worktree prune
git worktree list   # show the user the new state

Report:

• Removed worktrees (with branch names)
• Skipped worktrees and why (dirty/unpushed/active)
• Any branch deletions that failed and why

Anti-patterns

• Don't loop git worktree remove --force over every entry "to be safe". Force is for explicit user opt-in only.
• Don't delete branches before removing the worktree that has them checked out — git branch -d will fail with "checked out at ...". Order is: remove worktree, then delete branch.
• Don't trust a local "branch is behind origin/main" as proof of merge. Squash-merges leave the branch ahead and unmerged in topology; use gh pr list --state merged --head <branch> for that case.
• Don't run git worktree prune before listing — you'll lose the metadata you need to identify missing entries.
• Don't act without git fetch --prune origin first; otherwise "merged into origin/main" checks can be wrong.

Example session

User: "clean up my worktrees"

Agent flow:

1. git fetch --prune origin
2. git worktree list --porcelain → 5 worktrees (1 primary + 4 others)
3. Classify:
   • ../nv-100-x → merged-direct
   • ../nv-200-y → merged-squash (PR #4321 merged)
   • ../nv-300-z → dirty (3 modified files)
   • ../old-experiment → missing on disk
4. AskQuestion: which of these to remove? (multi-select, dirty entry pre-flagged with a warning label)
5. User picks the two merged ones + missing.
6. git worktree remove ../nv-100-x && git branch -d nv-100/x
7. git worktree remove ../nv-200-y && git branch -D nv-200/y (squash-merge needed -D, user confirmed)
8. git worktree prune (cleans up ../old-experiment)
9. Report: 3 removed, 1 skipped (dirty), final git worktree list.