Git Cleanup

Intelligently identify and remove stale branches, orphaned remotes, and unused worktrees — with confirmation at every step.

Preferences

Before starting, use the Read tool to read ~/.claude/skills/git-cleanup/preferences.md. If the file does not exist, treat as "no preferences set".

Context

•Working directory: !echo $PWD
•Git repos in cwd: !ls -d */ 2>/dev/null | while read d; do [ -d "$d/.git" ] && echo "$d"; done | tr '\n' ', '
•Current repo branch: !git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null || echo "not a git repo"

Command routing

Check $ARGUMENTS:

•help → display help then stop
•config → interactive setup then stop
•reset → delete ~/.claude/skills/git-cleanup/preferences.md, confirm, stop
•anything else → parse as natural language or repo path, then run

Help

code

Git Cleanup — Smart cleanup of stale branches, remotes, and worktrees

Usage:
  /git-cleanup                              Auto-detect repos, clean everything
  /git-cleanup ai-assemble                  Clean a specific repo
  /git-cleanup just local branches          Natural language — local only
  /git-cleanup dry run                      Show what would be deleted
  /git-cleanup skip linear                  Skip Linear issue checks
  /git-cleanup ai-assemble remote only      Clean only remote branches
  /git-cleanup config                       Set preferences
  /git-cleanup reset                        Clear preferences
  /git-cleanup help                         This help

Smart detection:
  - If inside a git repo, uses that repo
  - If in a parent directory, scans for git repos and lets you pick
  - If one repo found, uses it automatically

Current preferences:
  (shown above under Preferences)

Config

Use AskUserQuestion to collect:

•Q1: Protected branches — branches to never delete (default: main, all-demos, develop)
•Q2: Linear integration — Enable Linear issue status checks? (default: Yes)
•Q3: Ticket pattern — regex to extract ticket IDs from branch names (default: AIS-\d+)
•Q4: Auto-confirm merged — Auto-delete branches already merged into base? (default: No — always ask)

Save to ~/.claude/skills/git-cleanup/preferences.md.

Reset

Delete ~/.claude/skills/git-cleanup/preferences.md and confirm: "Preferences cleared. Using defaults."

First-time detection

If no preferences file exists, show:

First time using /git-cleanup? Run /git-cleanup config to set defaults, or just continue with sensible defaults.

Then proceed with defaults:

•Protected branches: main, all-demos, develop
•Linear integration: enabled
•Ticket pattern: AIS-\d+
•Auto-confirm merged: no

Workflow

Step 1: Parse arguments and find repos

Parse $ARGUMENTS as natural language. Extract:

•Repo path — explicit path, or auto-detect
•Scope modifiers — "local only", "remote only", "worktrees only"
•Dry run — "dry run", "preview", "just show"
•Skip integrations — "skip linear", "no linear", "no ticket check"

Smart repo detection:

•If $ARGUMENTS contains a path or directory name → use it
•If currently inside a git repo (.git exists) → use current directory
•
If in a parent directory → scan child directories for .git
- •If exactly one repo found → use it automatically
- •If multiple found → ask user which to clean (or "all")
- •If none found → error and stop

Step 2: Gather git state

For each repo, collect:

bash

# Protected branches (from prefs or defaults)
PROTECTED="main|all-demos|develop"

# Local branches and their merge status
git branch --format='%(refname:short) %(upstream:track)'
git branch --merged main
git branch --merged all-demos

# Remote branches
git branch -r --format='%(refname:short)'

# Worktrees
git worktree list

# Stale remote tracking
git remote prune origin --dry-run

Step 3: Categorize branches

Sort every branch into one of these categories:

Safe to delete (green):

•Local branches fully merged into a protected branch
•Local branches with [gone] upstream (remote deleted)
•Remote branches with no corresponding local branch AND no open PR

Probably safe (yellow):

•Branches matching a ticket pattern where the Linear issue is Done/Canceled/Duplicate
•Branches older than 90 days with no recent commits
•Worktrees pointing to branches in the "safe" category

Needs review (red):

•Branches with unmerged commits
•Branches matching a ticket pattern where the Linear issue is still open/in-progress
•The current branch (never auto-delete)
•Protected branches (never delete)

Step 4: Check Linear context (unless skipped)

For branches matching the ticket pattern (e.g., mostafa/ais-921-... → AIS-921):

•Extract ticket ID from branch name using the configured pattern
•Use mcp__claude_ai_Linear__get_issue to fetch issue status
•
Map status:
- •Done, Canceled, Duplicate → "probably safe" (issue is closed)
- •In Progress, In Review, Todo → "needs review" (issue is active)
- •Not found → "needs review" (can't confirm)

Present the Linear context alongside each branch.

Step 5: Present cleanup plan

Show a categorized summary:

code

Git Cleanup Plan — ai-assemble

SAFE TO DELETE (merged/gone):
  Local:
    - feature/old-thing          (merged into main)
    - fix/typo                   (remote gone)
  Remote:
    - origin/feature/old-thing   (no local, no PR)

PROBABLY SAFE (closed tickets):
  Local:
    - mostafa/ais-800-old-task   (AIS-800: Done ✓)
  Worktrees:
    - .pilot-worktree            (branch deleted)

NEEDS REVIEW:
    - mostafa/ais-922-refactor   (AIS-922: In Progress)

PROTECTED (never touched):
    - main, all-demos, develop

If --dry-run / "dry run" was specified, show this plan and stop.

Step 6: Confirm and execute

Use AskUserQuestion to confirm each category:

Q1: "Delete N safe-to-delete branches?" → Yes all / Pick individually / Skip Q2: "Delete N probably-safe branches?" → Yes all / Pick individually / Skip Q3: "Any needs-review branches to delete?" → Pick individually / Skip all

For each confirmed deletion:

•Local branch: git branch -d <branch> (safe delete) or git branch -D <branch> if needed
•Remote branch: git push origin --delete <branch>
•Worktree: git worktree remove <path>
•Stale remotes: git remote prune origin

Report each deletion as it happens.

Step 7: Report results

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Git Cleanup Complete — ai-assemble

  Local branches deleted:   3
  Remote branches deleted:  2
  Worktrees removed:        1
  Stale remotes pruned:     yes

  Skipped (needs review):   2
  Protected:                3

Extensibility

The skill is designed to work with any ticketing integration. The core pattern is:

•Extract ticket ID from branch name using a configurable regex
•Look up ticket status via an integration (Linear MCP, GitHub issues, Jira, etc.)
•Map status to safe/unsafe categories

To add a new integration:

•Update config to allow selecting the integration type
•Add the appropriate MCP tools to allowed-tools
•Add a status lookup step in Step 4

Principles

•Never delete without confirmation — every deletion is explicitly confirmed by the user, even "safe" ones (unless auto-confirm is configured).
•Never touch protected branches — main, all-demos, develop, and any configured protected branches are untouchable.
•Context over heuristics — prefer Linear/ticketing status over age-based heuristics when deciding if a branch is safe to delete.
•Show the reasoning — always explain WHY a branch is categorized as safe/probably-safe/needs-review.
•Graceful without integrations — if Linear is unavailable or skipped, fall back to git-only heuristics (merge status, remote tracking, age).