Quick start

1. Run it

You don’t have to install anything to try gitsweep — run it straight from npx inside any repository:

npx gitsweep

Requires Node.js ≥ 18 and git on your PATH. To keep it around, install globally instead:

npm i -g gitsweep
# or: pnpm add -g gitsweep

2. Preview with a dry run

Before deleting anything, see exactly what gitsweep would remove. A dry run changes nothing — it’s the recommended first run:

gitsweep --dry-run

  Default branch: main · current: feature-y

  Merged into default branch:
    ✓ feature-x (merged)
    ✓ hotfix-123 (merged)

  Upstream gone:
    ⚠ old-spike (upstream gone) — force delete

  Dry run: 3 branch(es) would be deleted.

Candidates are grouped by why they’re stale. A force delete label means the branch isn’t merged and would need git branch -D — see How it works for what that means.

Prune first for accurate “gone” detection

Gone-branch detection reflects what your local repo already knows. Run git fetch --prune first so branches deleted on the remote are actually marked gone:

git fetch --prune && gitsweep --dry-run

3. Confirm and delete

Happy with the list? Run gitsweep with no flags. It prints the same grouped list and then asks before removing anything:

gitsweep

  Delete 3 branch(es)? [y/N]

Type y (or yes) to proceed; anything else aborts without deleting. On success you’ll see each branch confirmed:

  deleted feature-x
  deleted hotfix-123
  deleted old-spike

  Swept 3 branch(es).

Going further

• Sweep only one kind of branch: gitsweep --merged or gitsweep --gone.
• Skip the prompt in scripts: gitsweep -y.
• Point at a non-standard default branch: gitsweep --main develop.

See the full CLI reference for every flag and exit code.