# deadbranch
[](https://crates.io/crates/deadbranch)
[](https://crates.io/crates/deadbranch)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/deadbranch)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/deadbranch)
[](https://github.com/armgabrielyan/deadbranch/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](LICENSE)
**Clean up stale git branches safely.**
## Table of Contents
- [Demo](#demo)
- [Features](#-features)
- [Installation](#-installation)
- [Quick Install (macOS/Linux)](#-quick-install-macoslinux)
- [Homebrew (macOS/Linux)](#-homebrew-macoslinux)
- [npm/npx](#-npmnpx)
- [Cargo (from source)](#-cargo-from-source)
- [Manual Download](#️-manual-download)
- [Build from Source](#-build-from-source)
- [Shell Completions](#-shell-completions)
- [Quick Start](#-quick-start)
- [Usage](#️-usage)
- [List Stale Branches](#-list-stale-branches)
- [Delete Stale Branches](#️-delete-stale-branches)
- [Interactive Mode](#️-interactive-mode)
- [Dry Run Mode](#-dry-run-mode)
- [Configuration](#️-configuration)
- [Backup Management](#-backup-management)
- [Branch Statistics](#-branch-statistics)
- [Safety Features](#️-safety-features)
- [Restoring Deleted Branches](#️-restoring-deleted-branches)
- [Pattern Matching](#-pattern-matching)
- [Requirements](#-requirements)
- [Roadmap](#️-roadmap)
- [License](#-license)
- [Contributing](#-contributing)
`deadbranch` helps you identify and remove old, unused git branches that clutter your repository. It's designed to be **safe by default** — protecting important branches and requiring explicit confirmation before any deletion.
## Demo

## ✨ Features
- 🔍 **List stale branches** — Find branches older than N days (default: 30)
- 🔒 **Safe deletion** — Only deletes merged branches by default
- 🛡️ **Protected branches** — Never touches `main`, `master`, `develop`, `staging`, or `production`
- 🚧 **WIP detection** — Automatically excludes `wip/*` and `draft/*` branches
- 💾 **Backup creation** — Saves deleted branch SHAs for easy restoration
- 👁️ **Dry-run mode** — Preview what would be deleted without making changes
- 🌐 **Local & remote** — Works with both local and remote branches
- 🖥️ **Interactive TUI mode** — Full-screen TUI with Vim navigation, fuzzy search, visual range selection, and 6-column sorting
## 📦 Installation
### ⚡ Quick Install (macOS/Linux)
```bash
### 🍺 Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
```bash
brew install armgabrielyan/tap/deadbranch
```
### 📦 npm/npx
```bash
# Install globally
npm install -g deadbranch
# Or run directly
npx deadbranch list
```
### 🦀 Cargo (from source)
```bash
cargo install deadbranch
```
### ⬇️ Manual Download
Download pre-built binaries from the [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/armgabrielyan/deadbranch/releases) page.
| Linux | x86_64 (glibc) | `deadbranch-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |
| Linux | x86_64 (musl/static) | `deadbranch-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz` |
| Linux | ARM64 | `deadbranch-VERSION-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz` |
| macOS | Intel | `deadbranch-VERSION-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |
| macOS | Apple Silicon | `deadbranch-VERSION-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz` |
| Windows | x86_64 | `deadbranch-VERSION-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` |
### 🔨 Build from Source
```bash
git clone https://github.com/armgabrielyan/deadbranch
cd deadbranch
cargo build --release
# Binary will be at target/release/deadbranch
```
## 🐚 Shell Completions
`deadbranch` can generate tab-completion scripts for bash, zsh, and fish.
### Bash
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions
deadbranch completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/deadbranch
```
Requires bash-completion 2.x to be active. On macOS without Homebrew's bash, source the file manually in `~/.bash_profile`:
```bash
source ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/deadbranch
```
### Zsh
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.zfunc
deadbranch completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_deadbranch
```
Then add the following to your `~/.zshrc` **before** the `compinit` call (or add it if you don't have one):
```zsh
fpath=(~/.zfunc $fpath)
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit
```
Reload your shell or run `exec zsh` to activate.
### Fish
```bash
mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
deadbranch completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/deadbranch.fish
```
Fish auto-loads completions from this directory — no extra configuration needed.
## 🚀 Quick Start
```bash
# List all stale branches (older than 30 days)
deadbranch list
# List branches older than 60 days
deadbranch list --days 60
# Preview what would be deleted
deadbranch clean --dry-run
# Delete merged stale branches (with confirmation)
deadbranch clean
# Delete only local branches
deadbranch clean --local
# Show branch health overview
deadbranch stats
```
## 🛠️ Usage
### 📋 List Stale Branches

```bash
deadbranch list [OPTIONS]
```
| `-d, --days <N>` | Only show branches older than N days (default: 30) |
| `--local` | Only show local branches |
| `--remote` | Only show remote branches |
| `--merged` | Only show merged branches |
**Example output:**
```
ℹ Using 'main' as the default branch for merge detection
Local Branches:
┌────┬──────────────────────┬─────────┬────────┬───────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ # │ Branch │ Age │ Status │ Type │ Last Commit │ Author │
├────┼──────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤
│ 1 │ feature/old-api │ 154d │ merged │ local │ 2024-09-01 │ Jane Doe │
│ 2 │ bugfix/header-issue │ 89d │ merged │ local │ 2024-11-03 │ John Smith │
└────┴──────────────────────┴─────────┴────────┴───────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘
Remote Branches:
┌────┬─────────────────────────────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ # │ Branch │ Age │ Status │ Type │ Last Commit │ Author │
├────┼─────────────────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤
│ 1 │ origin/feature/deprecated │ 203d │ merged │ remote │ 2024-07-15 │ Jane Doe │
└────┴─────────────────────────────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘
```
### 🗑️ Delete Stale Branches

```bash
deadbranch clean [OPTIONS]
```
| `-d, --days <N>` | Only delete branches older than N days (default: 30) |
| `--merged` | Only delete merged branches (this is the default) |
| `--force` | Force delete unmerged branches (dangerous!) |
| `--dry-run` | Show what would be deleted without doing it |
| `--local` | Only delete local branches |
| `--remote` | Only delete remote branches |
| `-y, --yes` | Skip confirmation prompts (useful for scripts) |
**Safety features:**
- Only deletes **merged** branches by default
- Requires `--force` to delete unmerged branches
- Shows confirmation prompt before deletion
- Extra confirmation for remote branches
- Creates backup file with branch SHAs
**Example:**
```bash
$ deadbranch clean
Local Branches to Delete:
┌────┬──────────────────────┬─────────┬────────┬───────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ # │ Branch │ Age │ Status │ Type │ Last Commit │ Author │
├────┼──────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤
│ 1 │ feature/old-api │ 154d │ merged │ local │ 2024-09-01 │ Jane Doe │
│ 2 │ bugfix/header-issue │ 89d │ merged │ local │ 2024-11-03 │ John Smith │
└────┴──────────────────────┴─────────┴────────┴───────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘
Delete 2 local branches? [y/N] y
Deleting local branches...
✓ feature/old-api
✓ bugfix/header-issue
✓ Deleted 2 local branches
↪ Backup: ~/.deadbranch/backups/my-repo/backup-20250201-143022.txt
```
### 🖥️ Interactive Mode

Open a full-screen TUI for browsing, filtering, and selecting branches to delete:
```bash
deadbranch clean -i [OPTIONS]
```
| `-i, --interactive` | Open interactive TUI for branch selection |
| `-d, --days <N>` | Pre-filter to branches older than N days |
| `--merged` | Start with merged-only filter active |
| `--force` | Unlock unmerged branches for selection |
| `--local` | Start with local-only filter active |
| `--remote` | Start with remote-only filter active |
**Key bindings:**
| `j`/`↓`, `k`/`↑` | Navigate down/up |
| `gg`, `G` | Jump to top/bottom |
| `Ctrl+d`/`Ctrl+u` | Half-page down/up |
| `Ctrl+f`/`Ctrl+b` | Full-page down/up |
| Mouse scroll | Scroll up/down |
| `Space` | Toggle selection |
| `V` | Visual range select (Vim-style) |
| `a` | Select all merged |
| `A` | Select all (requires `--force`) |
| `n` | Deselect all |
| `i` | Invert selection |
| `d` | Delete selected |
| `/` | Fuzzy search by branch name |
| `s` | Cycle sort (age → branch → status → type → date → author) |
| `S` | Reverse sort direction |
| `m` | Toggle merged-only filter |
| `l` | Toggle local-only filter |
| `R` | Toggle remote-only filter |
| `?` | Help |
| `q`/`Esc` | Quit |
**TUI features:**
- **Vim-style navigation** — `gg`/`G` jump, `Ctrl+d`/`Ctrl+u` page scrolling, relative line numbers
- **Visual range selection** — Press `V` to anchor, move cursor to extend range, `Space` to toggle
- **Fuzzy search** — `/` opens search with matched characters highlighted
- **Age coloring** — Green (<30d), yellow (31–90d), red (>90d)
- **Sections** — Merged and unmerged branches are visually grouped with section headers
- **Snap dissolution** — Thanos-style particle animation on deletion with a live progress gauge; branches are deleted in the background while the animation plays
- **Smart confirmation** — Simple confirm for safe deletions, typed `yes` for risky ones (unmerged/remote)
**Note:** `-i` cannot be combined with `-y` (skip confirmation) or `--dry-run`.
### 🔍 Dry Run Mode
Preview deletions without making any changes:
```bash
$ deadbranch clean --dry-run
Local Branches to Delete:
┌────┬──────────────────────┬─────────┬────────┬───────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐
│ # │ Branch │ Age │ Status │ Type │ Last Commit │ Author │
├────┼──────────────────────┼─────────┼────────┼───────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤
│ 1 │ feature/old-api │ 154d │ merged │ local │ 2024-09-01 │ Jane Doe │
└────┴──────────────────────┴─────────┴────────┴───────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘
[DRY RUN] Commands that would be executed:
git branch -d feature/old-api
No branches were actually deleted.
```
### ⚙️ Configuration

`deadbranch` stores its configuration in `~/.deadbranch/config.toml`.
```bash
# Show current configuration
deadbranch config show
# Set default age threshold
deadbranch config set days 45
# Set default branch for merge detection
deadbranch config set default-branch main
# Set protected branches
deadbranch config set protected-branches main master develop
# Set exclude patterns
deadbranch config set exclude-patterns "wip/*" "draft/*" "temp/*"
# Open config in your editor
deadbranch config edit
# Reset to defaults
deadbranch config reset
```
**Default configuration:**
```toml
[general]
default_days = 30
[branches]
protected = ["main", "master", "develop", "staging", "production"]
exclude_patterns = ["wip/*", "draft/*", "*/wip", "*/draft"]
```
#### Config keys
| `days` | `default-days`, `general.default-days` | Default age threshold in days |
| `default-branch` | `branches.default-branch` | Branch used for merge detection (auto-detected if unset) |
| `protected-branches` | `branches.protected` | Branches that are never deleted |
| `exclude-patterns` | `branches.exclude-patterns` | Glob patterns for branches to skip |
### 💾 Backup Management

Every `deadbranch clean` run automatically creates a backup. Use `deadbranch backup` to manage those backups.
#### List backups
```bash
# Show a summary of all repositories with backups
deadbranch backup list
# Show backups for the current repository
deadbranch backup list --current
# Show backups for a specific repository
deadbranch backup list --repo my-repo
```
#### Restore a deleted branch
```bash
# Restore from the most recent backup
deadbranch backup restore feature/old-api
# Restore from a specific backup file
deadbranch backup restore feature/old-api --from backup-20250201-143022.txt
# Restore with a different name
deadbranch backup restore feature/old-api --as feature/recovered
# Overwrite an existing branch
deadbranch backup restore feature/old-api --force
```
#### Backup statistics
```bash
# Show storage usage per repository and overall
deadbranch backup stats
```
#### Clean up old backups
```bash
# Keep the 10 most recent backups for the current repo (default)
deadbranch backup clean --current
# Keep only the 3 most recent backups
deadbranch backup clean --current --keep 3
# Preview what would be removed
deadbranch backup clean --current --dry-run
# Skip confirmation prompt
deadbranch backup clean --current --yes
# Clean backups for a specific repository by name
deadbranch backup clean --repo my-repo
```
### 📊 Branch Statistics

Get a health overview of all branches in your repository:
```bash
deadbranch stats [OPTIONS]
```
| `-d, --days <N>` | Age threshold for "stale" classification (default: from config or 30) |
**Example output:**
```
ℹ Using 'main' as the default branch for merge detection
Repository Statistics:
┌────────────────┬───────┬───────┬────────┐
│ Category │ Total │ Local │ Remote │
├────────────────┼───────┼───────┼────────┤
│ All branches │ 12 │ 7 │ 5 │
│ Merged │ 8 │ 5 │ 3 │
│ Unmerged │ 4 │ 2 │ 2 │
│ Stale (>30d) │ 6 │ 4 │ 2 │
│ Safe to delete │ 5 │ 3 │ 2 │
└────────────────┴───────┴───────┴────────┘
Age Distribution:
┌─────────────┬───────┬────────┐
│ Age Range │ Count │ Status │
├─────────────┼───────┼────────┤
│ < 7 days │ 2 │ fresh │
│ 7–30 days │ 4 │ fresh │
│ 30–90 days │ 3 │ stale │
│ > 90 days │ 3 │ stale │
└─────────────┴───────┴────────┘
💡 Run 'deadbranch clean' to remove 5 safe-to-delete branches
```
Stats cover all visible branches (respecting protected and exclude patterns) regardless of age, so `--days` only shifts the stale/safe-to-delete threshold — it doesn't hide branches.
## 🛡️ Safety Features
`deadbranch` is designed to prevent accidental data loss:
| **Merged-only default** | Only deletes branches already merged to main/master |
| **Protected branches** | Never deletes main, master, develop, staging, production |
| **Current branch** | Never deletes the branch you're currently on |
| **WIP detection** | Excludes branches matching `wip/*`, `draft/*`, etc. |
| **Confirmation prompts** | Always asks before deleting |
| **Remote warning** | Extra confirmation for remote deletions |
| **Backup files** | Saves SHA of every deleted branch for restoration |
| **Dry-run mode** | Preview changes without risk |
## ♻️ Restoring Deleted Branches
Every deletion creates a backup file at `~/.deadbranch/backups/<repo>/backup-<timestamp>.txt`.
The backup contains git commands to restore each branch:
```bash
# From the backup file:
git branch feature/old-api abc1234def5678
git branch bugfix/header-issue 987654fedcba
```
You can restore branches manually by running those commands, or use the `deadbranch backup restore` command.
## 🔤 Pattern Matching
Exclude patterns support glob-style wildcards:
| `wip/*` | `wip/experiment`, `wip/test` |
| `*/draft` | `feature/draft`, `bugfix/draft` |
| `feature/*/temp` | `feature/foo/temp`, `feature/bar/temp` |
| `*test*` | `test`, `testing`, `my-test-branch` |
## 📋 Requirements
- Git (installed and accessible in PATH)
- A git repository (run from within a repo)
## 🗺️ Roadmap
- [x] 🖥️ Interactive TUI mode
- [ ] 👤 `--only-mine` flag for personal branches
- [ ] 🔗 GitHub/GitLab PR detection
- [ ] 📊 Multiple output formats (JSON, CSV)
- [ ] 📁 Per-repo configuration
## ⭐ Star History
[](https://star-history.com/#armgabrielyan/deadbranch&Date)
## 📄 License
MIT License — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.
## 🤝 Contributing
Contributions are welcome! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for development setup, commit message conventions, testing requirements, and how to submit a pull request.