Skip to content
git-branch

GitHub Action

Delete abandoned branches

v2.0.3 Latest version

Delete abandoned branches

git-branch

Delete abandoned branches

Deletes old branches from your repo as long as they aren't part of an open pull request, the default branch, or protected.

Installation

Copy and paste the following snippet into your .yml file.

 
              
- name: Delete abandoned branches

              
  uses: phpdocker-io/[email protected]
Learn more about this action in phpdocker-io/github-actions-delete-abandoned-branches

Choose a version

Delete abandoned branches

Github action to delete abandoned branches.

Warning

This action WILL delete branches from your repository, so you need to make your due diligence when choosing to use it and with which settings. I am not responsible for any mishaps that might occur.

Abandoned branches

A branch must meet all the following criteria to be deemed abandoned and safe to delete:

  • Must NOT be the default branch (eg master or main, depending on your repository settings)
  • Must NOT be a protected branch
  • Must NOT have any open pull requests
  • Must NOT be the base of an open pull request of another branch. The base of a pull request is the branch you told GitHub you want to merge your pull request into.
  • Must NOT be in an optional list of branches to ignore
  • Must match one of the given branch prefixes (optional)
  • Must be older than a given amount of days

Inputs

* mandatory

Name Description Example
github_token* Required. The github token to use on requests to the github api. You can use the one github actions provide. ${{ github.token }}
last_commit_age_days How old in days must be the last commit into the branch for the branch to be deleted. Default: 60 90
ignore_branches Comma-separated list of branches to ignore and never delete. You don't need to add your protected branches here. Default: null foo,bar
allowed_prefixes Comma-separated list of prefixes a branch must match to be deleted. Default: null feature/,bugfix/
dry_run Whether we're actually deleting branches at all. Possible values: yes, no (case sensitive). Default: yes no
github_base_url The github API's base url. You only need to override this when using Github Enterprise on a different domain. Default: https://api.github.com https://github.mycompany.com/api/v3

Note: dry run

By default, the action will only perform a dry run. It will go in, gather all branches that qualify for deletion and give you the list on the actions' output, but without actually deleting anything. Make sure you configure your stuff correctly before setting dry_run to no

Example

The following workflow will run on a schedule (daily at 00:00) and will delete all abandoned branches older than 100 days on a github enterprise install.

name: Delete abandoned branches

on:
  # Run daily at midnight
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"

  # Allow workflow to be manually run from the GitHub UI
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  cleanup_old_branches:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Satisfy my repo CDO
    steps:
      - name: Delete those pesky dead branches
        uses: phpdocker-io/github-actions-delete-abandoned-branches@v2
        id: delete_stuff
        with:
          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
          last_commit_age_days: 100
          ignore_branches: next-version,dont-deleteme
          github_base_url: https://github.mycompany.com/api/v3

          # Disable dry run and actually get stuff deleted
          dry_run: no

      - name: Get output
        run: "echo 'Deleted branches: ${{ steps.delete_stuff.outputs.deleted_branches }}'"

The following workflow will run on a schedule (daily at 13:00) and will delete all abandoned branches older than 7 days that are prefixed with feature/ and deleteme/, leaving all the rest.

name: Delete abandoned branches

on:
  # Run daily at midnight
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 13 * * *"

  # Allow workflow to be manually run from the GitHub UI
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  cleanup_old_branches:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Satisfy my repo CDO
    steps:
      - name: Delete those pesky dead branches
        uses: phpdocker-io/github-actions-delete-abandoned-branches@v2
        id: delete_stuff
        with:
          github_token: ${{ github.token }}
          last_commit_age_days: 7
          allowed_prefixes: feature/,deleteme/
          ignore_branches: next-version,dont-deleteme

          # Disable dry run and actually get stuff deleted
          dry_run: no

      - name: Get output
        run: "echo 'Deleted branches: ${{ steps.delete_stuff.outputs.deleted_branches }}'"