Worktree Cleanup

Worktree Cleanup

Remove a git worktree and its associated branch after work is complete. Typically invoked after a PR is merged, after CONSOLIDATE merges sub-scope branches, or manually by the user.

When to Use

• After peer-review merges a PR (automatic cleanup)
• After CONSOLIDATE merges sub-scope branches
• Manual cleanup of stale worktrees (/PACT:worktree-cleanup)
• User aborts a workflow and wants to clean up

Process

Follow these steps in order. Surface all git errors clearly — the user resolves them.

Step 1: Identify Target

Determine which worktree to remove.

If a worktree path or branch name was provided: Use that directly.

If no target was specified: List all worktrees and ask the user which to clean up.

git worktree list

Present the list and ask: "Which worktree should I remove?"

Step 1.5: Harvest docs/ Artifacts Before Teardown

git worktree remove deletes the worktree's docs/ directory irrecoverably — that directory is gitignored and worktree-ephemeral, so the phase artifacts it holds (docs/preparation/, docs/architecture/, docs/plans/, docs/review/, docs/decision-logs/) are gone the instant the worktree is removed. Those artifacts are the fuller substance behind each phase's distilled HANDOFF. This step is the single chokepoint that protects them for all teardown callers — peer-review auto-cleanup, CONSOLIDATE sub-scope early-teardown, and manual /PACT:worktree-cleanup alike — so harvest MUST precede remove.

Run this exact command, substituting the target worktree's absolute path from Step 1 — the same path Step 2 will remove:

[ -d "{abs_worktree}/docs" ] && echo DIR_PRESENT || { [ -x "{abs_worktree}" ] && echo DIR_ABSENT || echo CANNOT_OBSERVE; }
find -L "{abs_worktree}/docs" -type f

Then apply this guard. It is two independent decisions — what to harvest, and whether removal is licensed. A failed probe must never suppress the harvest; it only withholds the removal.

1. Harvest whatever find listed. Every listed file is an unharvested artifact, however the probe ended. If a secretary/team is reachable, trigger a secretary harvest of the worktree's docs/ artifacts and confirm it completes before going on. The secretary reads + distills each artifact into pact-memory (its pact-handoff-harvest Step 3.5 resolves artifact_paths events and reads the disk artifacts while the worktree is still live — this guard is what guarantees that liveness). If find listed nothing, there is nothing to harvest.

2. Removal is licensed only if the probe was conclusive — DIR_ABSENT, or DIR_PRESENT with find exiting zero — and every listed artifact was harvested; then proceed directly to Step 2. Otherwise do NOT remove: surface a loud warning naming what is unharvested or unreadable and will be irrecoverably deleted by removal, and let the user decide whether to proceed, harvest manually first, or abort. A non-zero exit means docs/ holds a subtree your instrument could not read, so no harvest can have covered it.

This guard is conditional by design: it must NOT unconditionally block, or it would break the no-team manual-cleanup path. (A user who chooses --force past the loud warning is the accepted out-of-scope edge.)

Step 2: Navigate to Repo Root and Remove the Worktree

Before removal, the shell's working directory must NOT be inside the worktree being removed. Compute the repo root, cd to it, and remove the worktree — all in a single bash call. This is critical because if the shell CWD is inside the deleted worktree, all subsequent commands will fail.

# Compute repo root, cd there, then remove the worktree — must be ONE bash call
MAIN_GIT_DIR=$(git rev-parse --git-common-dir)
REPO_ROOT=$(cd "$(dirname "$MAIN_GIT_DIR")" && pwd)
cd "$REPO_ROOT" && git worktree remove "$REPO_ROOT/.worktrees/{branch}"

Note: Claude Code's Bash tool persists the working directory between calls. After this command, subsequent calls will run from $REPO_ROOT.

If removal fails (uncommitted changes):

Git will refuse with an error like: fatal: cannot remove: '.worktrees/{branch}' has changes.

Surface this to the user:

Cannot remove worktree — uncommitted changes exist in .worktrees/{branch}.
Options:
  1. Commit or stash changes first, then retry cleanup
  2. Force removal: git worktree remove --force "$REPO_ROOT/.worktrees/{branch}"
     (This discards uncommitted changes permanently)

Do NOT force-remove automatically. The user must choose.

Step 3: Delete the Branch

After the worktree is removed, delete the local branch.

git branch -d {branch}

If deletion fails (branch not fully merged):

Git will refuse with an error like: error: branch '{branch}' is not fully merged.

Surface this to the user:

Cannot delete branch — '{branch}' is not fully merged.
Options:
  1. Merge the branch first, then retry cleanup
  2. Force delete: git branch -D {branch}
     (This deletes the branch even if unmerged — changes may be lost)

Do NOT force-delete automatically. The user must choose.

Step 4: Report

Cleaned up worktree for {branch}
  Worktree removed: .worktrees/{branch}
  Branch deleted: {branch}

Edge Cases