World 3: Parallel Universes

Clean up branches

You will learn: which branches are safe to delete, and how.

The problem

~/diary $ git branch  about  dark-mode* main  old-idea

Your list of branches keeps growing. Old notes everywhere! Which ones can you throw away safely?

Watch

git branch -d about peels off the note. The commits stay safe, because main already has them.

Try it

git branch --merged lists notes whose work is already in your branch. Tap the ones you can delete.

Tap each merged note you can delete. Not the one you are on!

~/diary $ git branch --merged

0 of 2 found

Try it

Delete the merged notes about and dark-mode. Keep old-idea.

Hint

One note at a time: git branch -d about.

Predict

old-idea was never merged. You run git branch -d old-idea. What happens?

Watch

~/diary $ git branch -D old-ideaDeleted branch old-idea (was 636058c).~/diary $ git branch  about  dark-mode* main

Sure you don’t need it? git branch -D (capital D) deletes it anyway. Careful: its commit loses its last note.

Check

What does git branch -d say?

Drag a card into a box. Or tap the card, then tap the box.

You did it!

You can now tidy your branches without losing work.

Go deeper (optional)

git branch --no-merged lists notes with work still waiting. Deleted a note by mistake? git reflog still knows the commit. Then git branch old-idea <hash> sticks the note back on.

~/diary $ git branch --no-merged  old-idea