deadbranch is a command-line utility that helps keep Git repositories tidy by identifying stale branches and cleaning them up with a safety-first workflow.
It can scan local and remote branches, show details such as age, merge status, last commit date, and author, and then remove branches after confirmation.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Provides commands to list stale branches, clean branches, show branch statistics, and manage configuration.
- Uses safe defaults by deleting only merged branches unless the user explicitly enables forced removal of unmerged branches.
- Includes an interactive full-screen TUI with Vim-style navigation, fuzzy search, visual range selection, and sortable branch views.
- Supports dry-run previews and creates backup files containing deleted branch SHAs for restoration.
- Lets users configure default age thresholds, protected branches, exclude patterns, and the default branch used for merge detection.
- Works with both local and remote branches and can generate shell completions for Bash, Zsh, and Fish.
Website: github.com/armgabrielyan/deadbranch
Support:
Developer: Armen Gabrielyan
License: MIT License

deadbranch is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Git Tools | |
|---|---|
| git-extras | Superb collection of tools for Git |
| git-lfs | Git extension for versioning large files |
| git-filter-repo | Quickly rewrite git repository history |
| git-stats | Local git statistics including GitHub-like contributions calendars |
| git-bug | Distributed offline-first bug tracker |
| git-delta | Viewer for git and diff output |
| git-branchless | Branchless workflow for git |
| git-repair | Repair various forms of damage to git repositories |
| git-toolbelt | Suite of useful Git commands |
| git-quick-stats | Access various statistics in a git repository |
| git-secret | Bash tool which stores private data inside a git repo |
| git-annex | Manage files with git without checking the file contents into git |
| git-absorb | Super-charging git rebase |
| git-standup | Recall what you did on the last working day |
| git-town | Automate the creation, synchronization, shipping, and cleanup |
| git-of-theseus | Analyze how a Git repo grows over time |
| git-crypt | Transparent file encryption in git |
| gita | Manage multiple git repos |
| git-machete | Robust tool that simplifies your git workflows |
| git-imerge | Incremental merge and rebase for Git |
| git-chglog | CHANGELOG generator implemented in Go |
| git-fuzzy | Interactive git with the help of fzf |
| git-big-picture | Visualization tool that removes uninteresting commits |
| hercules | Gain advanced insights from Git repository history |
| git-sizer | Compute various size metrics for a git repository |
| git-crecord | Interactively select changes to commit or stage |
| git-xargs | Update across multiple GitHub repositories |
| git-fame | Git repository collaborators sorted by contributions |
| git-prompt.zsh | Lightweight git prompt for zsh |
| git-flow | High-level repository operations |
| mamediff | Manages unstaged and staged Git diffs |
| Git Interactive Rebase Tool | Terminal-based sequence editor for interactive rebase |
| Forge Sparks | Get Git forges notifications |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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