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ce-clean-gone-branches

reviewed

Clean up local branches whose remote tracking branch is gone. Use when the user says "clean up branches", "delete gone branches", "prune local branches", "clean gone", or wants to remove stale local branches that no longer exist on the remote. Also handles removing associated worktrees for branches that have them.

>_EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin/plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-clean-gone-branches·commit caf5e12

name: ce-clean-gone-branches description: Clean up local branches whose remote tracking branch is gone. Use when the user says "clean up branches", "delete gone branches", "prune local branches", "clean gone", or wants to remove stale local branches that no longer exist on the remote. Also handles removing associated worktrees for branches that have them.

Clean Gone Branches

Delete local branches whose remote tracking branch has been deleted, including any associated worktrees.

Workflow

Step 1: Discover gone branches

Run the discovery script to fetch the latest remote state and identify gone branches:

bash scripts/clean-gone

scripts/clean-gone

The script runs git fetch --prune first, then parses git branch -vv for branches marked : gone].

If the script outputs __NONE__, report that no stale branches were found and stop.

Step 2: Present branches and ask for confirmation

Show the user the list of branches that will be deleted. Format as a simple list:

These local branches have been deleted from the remote:

  - feature/old-thing
  - bugfix/resolved-issue
  - experiment/abandoned

Delete all of them? (y/n)

Wait for the user's answer using the platform's blocking question tool: AskUserQuestion in Claude Code (call ToolSearch with select:AskUserQuestion first if its schema isn't loaded), request_user_input in Codex, ask_user in Gemini, ask_user in Pi (requires the pi-ask-user extension). Fall back to presenting the list in chat only when no blocking tool exists in the harness or the call errors (e.g., Codex edit modes) — not because a schema load is required. Never silently skip the question.

This is a yes-or-no decision on the entire list -- do not offer multi-selection or per-branch choices.

Step 3: Delete confirmed branches

If the user confirms, delete each branch. For each branch:

  1. Check if it has an associated worktree (git worktree list | grep "\\[$branch\\]")
  2. If a worktree exists and is not the main repo root, remove it first: git worktree remove --force "$worktree_path"
  3. Delete the branch: git branch -D "$branch"

Report results as you go:

Removed worktree: .worktrees/feature/old-thing
Deleted branch: feature/old-thing
Deleted branch: bugfix/resolved-issue
Deleted branch: experiment/abandoned

Cleaned up 3 branches.

If the user declines, acknowledge and stop without deleting anything.