branch: add branch.<name>.deleteMerged opt-out
Setting branch.<name>.deleteMerged=false exempts that branch from "git branch --delete-merged", which is useful for a topic you want to keep developing after an early round of it has been merged upstream. Unless --quiet is given, each skip is reported so the user knows why their topic was kept. Explicit deletion with "git branch -d" still uses the normal merge check and ignores this setting. Signed-off-by: Harald Nordgren <haraldnordgren@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Harald Nordgren committed
Jul 25, 2026 at 11:32 UTC
4ef02bc803796458fecaae7164e69af8518fc5a3
4 files changed
+60
-2
Documentation/config/branch.adoc
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@@ -102,3 +102,10 @@ for details).
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`git branch --edit-description`. Branch description is
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automatically added to the `format-patch` cover letter or
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`request-pull` summary.
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+
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+`branch.<name>.deleteMerged`::
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+ If set to `false`, branch _<name>_ is exempt from
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+ `git branch --delete-merged`. Useful for a topic branch you
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+ intend to develop further after an initial round has been
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+ merged upstream. Defaults to true. Explicit deletion via
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+ `git branch -d` is unaffected.
Documentation/git-branch.adoc
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-2
@@ -216,11 +216,12 @@ A branch is not deleted when:
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+
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--
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* its configured upstream ref no longer exists,
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-* it is checked out in any worktree, or
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+* it is checked out in any worktree,
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* pushing it by name to the remote configured by
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`branch.<name>.remote` would update its upstream, so it cannot be
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distinguished from a branch that just looks "fully merged" right
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- after a pull.
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+ after a pull, or
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+* `branch.<name>.deleteMerged` is set to `false`.
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--
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+
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A branch whose work has not yet been merged into its upstream is
builtin/branch.c
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@@ -786,6 +786,7 @@ static int delete_merged_branches(const struct strvec *upstreams,
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struct ref_array candidates = { 0 };
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struct strset deletable_branch_names = STRSET_INIT;
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struct strvec branches_to_delete = STRVEC_INIT;
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+ struct strbuf key = STRBUF_INIT;
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struct hashmap_iter iter;
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struct strmap_entry *entry;
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int ret = 0;
@@ -804,6 +805,7 @@ static int delete_merged_branches(const struct strvec *upstreams,
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const char *branch_name;
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struct branch *branch;
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const char *upstream_refname;
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+ int opt_out;
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if (!skip_prefix(branch_refname, "refs/heads/", &branch_name))
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BUG("filter returned non-branch ref '%s'", branch_refname);
@@ -821,6 +823,17 @@ static int delete_merged_branches(const struct strvec *upstreams,
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FILTER_REFS_BRANCHES, DELETE_BRANCH_SKIP_UNMERGED))
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continue;
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+ strbuf_reset(&key);
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+ strbuf_addf(&key, "branch.%s.deletemerged", branch_name);
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+ if (!repo_config_get_bool(the_repository, key.buf, &opt_out) &&
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+ !opt_out) {
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+ if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET))
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+ fprintf(stderr,
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+ _("Skipping '%s' (branch.%s.deleteMerged is false)\n"),
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+ branch_name, branch_name);
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+ continue;
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+ }
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+
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strset_add(&deletable_branch_names, branch_name);
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}
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@@ -836,6 +849,7 @@ static int delete_merged_branches(const struct strvec *upstreams,
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DELETE_BRANCH_NO_HEAD_FALLBACK |
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flags);
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+ strbuf_release(&key);
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strvec_clear(&branches_to_delete);
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strset_clear(&deletable_branch_names);
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ref_array_clear(&candidates);
t/t3200-branch.sh
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@@ -2038,4 +2038,40 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged requires a value' '
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test_must_fail git -C forked branch --delete-merged 2>err &&
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test_grep "requires a value" err
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'
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+
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+test_expect_success '--delete-merged honours branch.<name>.deleteMerged=false' '
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+ setup_repo_for_delete_merged &&
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+ create_merged_branch deleted &&
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+ create_merged_branch kept &&
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+ (
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+ cd repo &&
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+ git config branch.kept.deleteMerged false &&
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+ git checkout --detach &&
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+
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+ git branch --delete-merged origin/next 2>err &&
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+
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+ test_grep "Skipping .kept." err &&
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+ check_branches <<-\EOF
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+ kept
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+ main
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+ EOF
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+ )
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+'
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+
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+test_expect_success "branch -d still deletes a deleteMerged=false branch" '
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+ setup_repo_for_delete_merged &&
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+ create_merged_branch kept &&
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+ (
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+ cd repo &&
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+ git config branch.kept.deleteMerged false &&
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+ git checkout --detach &&
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+
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+ git branch -d kept &&
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+
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+ check_branches <<-\EOF
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+ main
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+ EOF
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+ )
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+'
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+
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test_done