Git is a powerful source control management tool widely used in software development by developers globally. Git is an excellent tool for keeping track of changes in code and ensuring that multiple developers work together seamlessly. One common issue with Git, however, is that Git stores all branches, including those that are no longer needed, cluttering the repository and slowing down its performance.
The Git prune command is a tool that helps solve this problem by removing all local branches in a Git repository that have been merged with the master branch. Pruning helps keep your repository clean and removes any clutter that slows performance, freeing up disk space and making it easier to navigate the repository.
In this article, we delve deeper into Git prune local branches with practical code examples that you can quickly execute in your terminal, highlighting how to prune local branches, viewing the list of branches that will be pruned, and deleting local branches.
Before we start pruning, it's essential to run the Git branch command to see all local branches in your repository. To do this, run the following command in your terminal.
git branch
This command shows all local branches, including the ones that have been merged with the master or main branch. We can run the command below to view only the branches in the repository that have been merged with the master or main branch.
git branch --merged
This command lists all locally merged branches in the repository. Once we identify the merged branches that we no longer need, we can prune them using the following command.
git branch --prune
Running the Git branch –prune command deletes all merged branches that are no longer in use, cleaning up the repository. The terminal output shows all pruned branches, which we can confirm are no longer available on the repository.
Let's assume we have a merge commit with the SHA-1 hash value e22f378, which merged with the master branch on September 13th, 2021. We can execute the command below to show all branches merged with the commit with hash value e22f378.
git branch --merged e22f378
We may also want to view all merged branches in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent branch that we merged with the master branch. To do this, we can run the following command in our terminal.
git for-each-ref --sort='-authordate:iso8601' --format=' %(authordate:relative)%09%(authorname)%09%(refname:short)' refs/heads/ --merged | grep -v 'master$'
This command prints a list of all branches merged with the master branch with the following details:
- The date of the merge commit, relative to date and time of the command execution.
- The name of the person who made the merge.
- The name of the merged branch.
Once we have identified the merged branches that we want to prune, we can execute the following command to delete them from our repository.
git branch -d <branch_name>
This command deletes the branch_name from our local Git repository. If the local branch has not been merged with the master branch, Git warns us with an error message, and we must add the -D option to force the delete. The force option deletes the unmerged branch from the local repository.
git branch -D <branch_name>
This command forcefully deletes the branch_name even if it has not been merged with the master branch.
In summary, Git prune is an essential command that helps keep our Git repositories clutter-free by removing merged local branches that we no longer need. Git prune supports deleting several branches at once and keeps our local repositories light and fast. With the code examples we have provided, you can try out Git prune on your Git repositories, de-clutter them and enjoy excellent performance.
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Popular questions
Sure, here are some questions and answers related to Git prune local branches with code examples:
- What is Git prune, and how does it help maintain a clean Git repository?
Git prune is a Git command that removes all local branches in a Git repository that have been merged with the master branch. Pruning helps keep the repository clean by removing clutter, freeing up disk space and making it easier to navigate the repository.
- How do you identify the branches in a Git repository that have been merged with the master branch?
To identify branches in a Git repository that have been merged with the master branch, you can run the Git branch –merged command. This command lists all locally merged branches in the repository.
- How do you view the list of all merged branches in a Git repository?
To view the list of all merged branches in a Git repository, you can run the following command in your terminal:
git branch --merged
This command lists all locally merged branches in the repository.
- How do you delete a specific local branch using Git prune?
To delete a specific local branch using Git prune, you can use the following command:
git branch -d <branch_name>
This command deletes the branch_name from our local Git repository. If the local branch has not been merged with the master branch, Git warns us with an error message, and we must add the -D option to force the delete. The force option deletes the unmerged branch from the local repository.
- How can you view all merged branches in a reverse chronological order?
To view all merged branches in a reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent branch merged with the master branch, you can use the following command:
git for-each-ref --sort='-authordate:iso8601' --format=' %(authordate:relative)%09%(authorname)%09%(refname:short)' refs/heads/ --merged | grep -v 'master$'
This command prints a list of all branches merged with the master branch with the following details:
- The date of the merge commit, relative to date and time of the command execution.
- The name of the person who made the merge.
- The name of the merged branch.
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