delete_old_branches.md

Delete old branches

tl;dr; You can remove all non-existent remote branch references in your local repository with

git remote prune origin

When I merge a pull request back into main, I delete the branch on the server

But that doesn't delete it locally.

I end up with a bunch of local branches that need cleaning.

If I switch to such branches I see a message that "the upstream is gone."

> git checkout feature/1234-weaponise-space
Switched to branch 'feature/1234-weaponise-space'
Your branch is based on 'origin/feature/1234-weaponise-space', but the upstream is gone.
	(use "git branch --unset-upstream" to fixup)

Yes. The upstream is gone. Because when the pull request was completed we chose to delete the branch on the server.

Now it's time to delete the local branch.

Delete local branch

To delete a local branch.

1. Make sure you want it gone.

2. Delete it...

   To delete the local branch use one of the following:

    git branch -d branch_name # delete only if fully merged upstream
    git branch -D branch_name # force delete even if not merged to its upstream
   

Find all 'gone' branches to delete

git branch -vv

Lists all branches and has : gone] if their remote component has been removed. e.g.

> git branch -vv

FrogTracking								2583eea0 [origin/FrogTracking: behind 49] monkey-magnet fixed attributes on user columns
Gespacio									e05bafd8 [origin/Gespacio: gone] Added .gitignore file to exclude .hg folder
bug/5928-cat-chaser-ignores-2-user-columns	2583eea0 [origin/bug/5928-cat-chaser-ignores-2-user-columns: gone] monkey-magnet fixed attributes on user columns
env-test									73e5707d [origin/env-test] remove merge markers
feature/5784-moon-tooth						b1ec5764 [origin/feature/5784-moon-tooth: gone] 5784: moon-truth is more testable
feature/5784-sheep-dip-re-encoder			2b60c485 [origin/feature/5784-sheep-dip-re-encoder: gone] remove commented out code
feature/5792-cloud-taser-convert			88019a36 [origin/feature/5792-cloud-taser-convert: gone] Merge branch 'FrogTracking' into feature/5792-cloud-taser-convert
feature/5829-convert-hops-in-shops			3816b859 [origin/feature/5829-convert-hops-in-shops: gone] hops-ify Sync moon-boot-fighter.
feature/5884-funtegra-import-yard			d55774bc [origin/feature/5884-funtegra-import-yard: gone] funtegra: import users from yard
feature/5959-oops-counter-Color				a111c73b [origin/feature/5959-oops-counter-Color: gone] Build pipelines: removed file moon-web-build.yml
feature/5992-monkey-magnet-current-archive	d2f88379 [origin/feature/5992-monkey-magnet-current-archive] Sync monkey-magnet default table renamed
* master									d16af51f [origin/master] Merge master into this branch
refactor/cloud-taser-utc-datetime-handling	5da44411 [origin/refactor/cloud-taser-utc-datetime-handling: gone] moon: 5888 cloud-taser Online.

So the real point here is : gone] substring referring to the missing origin.

To delete the origin

(for example, if you forgot to delete it when merging your pull request)

Delete it on the origin....

git push --delete origin feature/5992-monkey-magnet-current-archive

Then delete it locally (may need to switch out of it first with git co master, for example)

git branch -d feature/5992-monkey-magnet-current-archive

May need to use -D to force the delete if there's some discard-worthy change in there.

A script for this

function Prune-Branches($force = $false) {

    Write-Host "run `git remote prune origin` first to unlink to missing remotes" -f yellow

    git branch -vv |
        Select-String ": gone]" |
        % {

            $branchName = (($_.ToString().Trim()) -split "\s")[0];

            if ($force) {
                if ("release", "main", "master", "dev" -notcontains $branchName) {
                    Write-Host "# Removing: $branchName " -f red;
                    Write-Host "> git branch -D $branchName " -f gray;
                    git branch -D $branchName
                }
                else {
                    Write-Host "**** Protection against deleting $branchName " -f yellow;
                }
            }
            else {
                Write-Host $branchName -f darkcyan -n;
                Write-Host " - not removed";
            }
        }

    if (!$force) {
        Write-Host "Use '" -f cyan -n
        Write-Host "Prune-Branches `$true" -f white -n;
        Write-Host "' to force local deletion of remote-pruned branches" -f cyan;
    }
}