Git hygiene: clean up merged branches, prune stale remotes, and verify repository state.
Install via CLI
openskills install rube-de/cc-skills---
name: git-ops
description: >-
Git hygiene: clean up merged branches, prune stale remotes,
and verify repository state.
allowed-tools: [Bash, AskUserQuestion]
---
# DLC: Git Ops
Automated git hygiene — clean up merged branches, prune stale remote tracking refs, and verify repository state.
## Step 1: Sync with Remote
Fetch latest state, prune deleted remote branches, and sync the default branch.
```bash
# Detect the default branch dynamically
# 2>/dev/null suppresses errors when symbolic-ref is not set (e.g. shallow clone)
DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's|refs/remotes/origin/||')
# Fallback: check for main, then master
if [ -z "$DEFAULT_BRANCH" ]; then
if git show-ref --verify --quiet refs/remotes/origin/main; then
DEFAULT_BRANCH="main"
elif git show-ref --verify --quiet refs/remotes/origin/master; then
DEFAULT_BRANCH="master"
else
echo "ERROR: Cannot determine default branch. Aborting."
exit 1
fi
fi
echo "Default branch: $DEFAULT_BRANCH"
# Fetch and prune stale remote tracking refs
git fetch origin --prune
# Abort if worktree has uncommitted changes
if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
echo "ERROR: Worktree is dirty — stash or commit your changes before running git-ops."
exit 1
fi
# Capture starting branch before switching — Step 3 uses this for the commit range
START_REF=$(git branch --show-current)
# Switch to default branch and pull (fast-forward only to avoid merge commits)
git checkout "$DEFAULT_BRANCH"
git pull --ff-only origin "$DEFAULT_BRANCH"
```
If `git pull --ff-only` fails, abort with: "ERROR: non-fast-forward update for $DEFAULT_BRANCH. Resolve manually."
## Step 2: Detect Cleanup Candidates
Combine two detection methods and deduplicate:
```bash
# Method 1: Branches fully merged into the default branch
MERGED=$(git branch --merged "$DEFAULT_BRANCH" | grep -v '^\*' | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//')
# Method 2: Branches whose remote tracking ref is gone (plumbing command for reliable parsing)
GONE=$(git for-each-ref --format '%(refname:short) %(upstream:track)' refs/heads | grep '\[gone\]' | cut -d' ' -f1)
# Combine and deduplicate: track which method(s) detected each branch
# Branches in both lists get reason "merged + gone"
```
**Filter out protected branches** — never include these in candidates:
- `$DEFAULT_BRANCH` (the dynamically detected default branch)
- `main`
- `master`
- `develop`
- Any branch matching `release/*`
```bash
# Filter protected branches from the combined candidate list
echo "$CANDIDATES" | grep -v -E "^(main|master|develop|${DEFAULT_BRANCH})$" | grep -v '^release/'
```
For each candidate, record:
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| `name` | Branch name |
| `reason` | `merged` (from method 1), `gone` (from method 2), or `merged + gone` (both) |
| `has_remote` | `yes` if `git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "$name"` succeeds, `no` otherwise |
If no candidates are found, print "No cleanup candidates found. Repository is clean.", skip Steps 4 and 5, and continue with Step 3.
## Step 3: Check Commit Message Quality
Check whether commits on the current branch follow the conventional commit format required by `semantic-release`.
```bash
# Use START_REF captured before default-branch checkout in Step 1; fall back to HEAD
TARGET_REF="${START_REF:-HEAD}"
# Check commits on current branch not yet merged into default branch
COMMITS=$(git log --format="%s" "origin/${DEFAULT_BRANCH}..${TARGET_REF}" 2>/dev/null)
if [ -z "$COMMITS" ]; then
echo "No commits ahead of ${DEFAULT_BRANCH} to check."
else
TOTAL=0; CONVENTIONAL=0; NON_CONVENTIONAL=0; BAD_MSGS=""
while IFS= read -r msg; do
TOTAL=$((TOTAL + 1))
# Single-quoted regex avoids shell expansion; allows optional scope and breaking-change (!)
if echo "$msg" | grep -qE '^(feat|fix|chore|docs|style|refactor|test|perf|ci|build|revert)(\([^)]*\))?(!)?: .+'; then
CONVENTIONAL=$((CONVENTIONAL + 1))
else
NON_CONVENTIONAL=$((NON_CONVENTIONAL + 1))
BAD_MSGS+=$'\n'" - ✗ \"$msg\""
fi
done < <(printf '%s\n' "$COMMITS")
if [ "$NON_CONVENTIONAL" -gt 3 ]; then
COMMIT_SEVERITY="High"
elif [ "$NON_CONVENTIONAL" -gt 0 ]; then
COMMIT_SEVERITY="Medium"
else
COMMIT_SEVERITY="Info"
fi
echo "Commit quality: $COMMIT_SEVERITY ($CONVENTIONAL/$TOTAL conventional)"
fi
```
**Severity table:**
| Condition | Severity |
|-----------|----------|
| All commits conventional | Info (positive) |
| Any non-conventional commit | Medium |
| More than 3 non-conventional commits | High |
Store: `total_commits`, `conventional_count`, `non_conventional_count`, list of non-conventional messages.
This check is **informational only** — results feed into the Step 6 report; no GitHub issue is created.
## Step 4: Present and Confirm
Display the candidate list with reasons:
```text
Found {n} branch(es) to clean up:
{branch-1} (merged, has_remote: no) → delete local only
{branch-2} (gone, has_remote: no) → delete local only
{branch-3} (merged + gone, has_remote: yes) → delete local + remote
```
Use `AskUserQuestion` with three options:
| Option | Behavior |
|--------|----------|
| **Delete all** | Proceed to delete all candidates |
| **Let me pick** | Present each branch individually for yes/no selection |
| **Skip** | Abort cleanup — no branches deleted |
If the user selects **Skip**, print "Cleanup skipped." and jump to Step 6.
If the user selects **Let me pick**, iterate through each candidate and use `AskUserQuestion` to confirm deletion individually. Collect the confirmed subset.
## Step 5: Execute Cleanup
For each confirmed branch:
```bash
# Safe delete — Git will refuse if the branch is not fully merged
if ! git branch -d "$BRANCH_NAME"; then
echo "WARNING: Failed to delete $BRANCH_NAME — skipping."
continue
fi
# If the branch has a remote tracking ref, delete it from origin
if git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin "$BRANCH_NAME" > /dev/null; then
git push origin --delete "$BRANCH_NAME"
fi
```
**Safety rules:**
- Use `-d` (NOT `-D`) — Git's built-in safety check prevents deleting unmerged branches
- NEVER delete protected branches (`$DEFAULT_BRANCH`, `main`, `master`, `develop`, `release/*`) even if they appear in candidates (defense-in-depth)
- If `git branch -d` fails for a branch, report the failure and continue with the next branch — do not abort the entire cleanup
- If `git push origin --delete` fails, report the failure but count the local deletion as successful
## Step 6: Report
Print a summary:
```text
Git ops complete.
Before: {n} local branches
After: {n} local branches
Deleted: {n} branches
Deleted:
- {branch-1} (merged)
- {branch-2} (gone)
Failed (if any):
- {branch-3}: not fully merged (use git branch -D to force)
Remaining:
- main
- develop
- feature/in-progress
Commit message quality:
- Total commits on branch: {n}
- Conventional: {n} Non-conventional: {n}
- Status: [✓ all conventional | ⚠ {n} non-conventional] — severity: {severity}
{For each non-conventional commit:}
- ✗ "{message}"
```
If no branches were deleted (skip or no candidates), omit only the "Deleted" and "Failed" sections — always include the "Remaining" section and the "Commit message quality" section below it.
If no commits are ahead of the default branch (Step 3 found an empty range), replace the entire "Commit message quality:" section (including the header) with:
```text
No commits ahead of {DEFAULT_BRANCH} to check.
```
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