branch: add --dry-run for --delete-merged
"git branch --dry-run --delete-merged ..." prints one line per ref that would be deleted without modifying refs or branch configuration. --dry-run is only meaningful together with --delete-merged and is rejected otherwise. 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
d1d403ccff514ec63650d3fac731668695f13876
3 files changed
+62
-5
Documentation/git-branch.adoc
+7
-1
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ git branch (-m|-M) [<old-branch>] <new-branch>
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git branch (-c|-C) [<old-branch>] <new-branch>
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git branch (-d|-D) [-r] <branch-name>...
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git branch --edit-description [<branch-name>]
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-git branch (--delete-merged <branch>)... [<pattern>...]
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+git branch [--dry-run] (--delete-merged <branch>)... [<pattern>...]
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DESCRIPTION
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-----------
@@ -232,6 +232,12 @@ A branch that a surviving branch depends on through a chain of local
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upstreams is kept, so a branch is never deleted out from under stacked
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work.
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+`--dry-run`::
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+ With `--delete-merged`, print which branches would be
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+ deleted and exit without touching any ref. Useful for
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+ sanity-checking a wide pattern like `'origin/*'` before
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+ committing to the deletion.
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+
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`-v`::
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`-vv`::
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`--verbose`::
builtin/branch.c
+18
-3
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ enum delete_branch_flags {
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DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET = (1 << 1),
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DELETE_BRANCH_SKIP_UNMERGED = (1 << 2),
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DELETE_BRANCH_NO_HEAD_FALLBACK = (1 << 3),
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+ DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN = (1 << 4),
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};
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static int check_branch_commit(const char *branchname, const char *refname,
@@ -340,13 +341,20 @@ static int delete_branches(int argc, const char **argv, int kinds,
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free(target);
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}
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- if (refs_delete_refs(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), NULL, &refs_to_delete, REF_NO_DEREF))
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+ if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN) &&
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+ refs_delete_refs(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), NULL, &refs_to_delete, REF_NO_DEREF))
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ret = 1;
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for_each_string_list_item(item, &refs_to_delete) {
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char *describe_ref = item->util;
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char *name = item->string;
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- if (!refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), name)) {
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+ if (flags & DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN) {
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+ if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET))
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+ printf(remote_branch
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+ ? _("Would delete remote-tracking branch %s (was %s).\n")
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+ : _("Would delete branch %s (was %s).\n"),
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+ name + branch_name_pos, describe_ref);
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+ } else if (!refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), name)) {
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char *refname = name + branch_name_pos;
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if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET))
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printf(remote_branch
@@ -899,6 +907,7 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc,
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int delete = 0, rename = 0, copy = 0, list = 0,
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unset_upstream = 0, show_current = 0, edit_description = 0;
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struct strvec delete_merged = STRVEC_INIT;
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+ int dry_run = 0;
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const char *new_upstream = NULL;
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int noncreate_actions = 0;
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/* possible options */
@@ -955,6 +964,8 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc,
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OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "delete-merged", &delete_merged, N_("branch"),
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N_("delete merged branches whose upstream matches <branch> (repeatable)"),
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PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_strvec),
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+ OPT_BOOL(0, "dry-run", &dry_run,
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+ N_("with --delete-merged, only print which branches would be deleted")),
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OPT__FORCE(&force, N_("force creation, move/rename, deletion"), PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
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OPT_MERGED(&filter, N_("print only branches that are merged")),
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OPT_NO_MERGED(&filter, N_("print only branches that are not merged")),
@@ -1017,6 +1028,9 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc,
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if (noncreate_actions > 1)
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usage_with_options(builtin_branch_usage, options);
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+ if (dry_run && !delete_merged.nr)
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+ die(_("--dry-run requires --delete-merged"));
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+
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if (recurse_submodules_explicit) {
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if (!submodule_propagate_branches)
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die(_("branch with --recurse-submodules can only be used if submodule.propagateBranches is enabled"));
@@ -1057,7 +1071,8 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc,
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goto out;
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} else if (delete_merged.nr) {
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ret = delete_merged_branches(&delete_merged, argv,
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- quiet ? DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET : 0);
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+ (quiet ? DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET : 0) |
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+ (dry_run ? DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN : 0));
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goto out;
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} else if (show_current) {
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print_current_branch_name();
t/t3200-branch.sh
+37
-1
@@ -1900,6 +1900,19 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged deletes only selected merged branches' '
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git checkout -b tracks-other other/main --track &&
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sha=$(git rev-parse --short merged) &&
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+ git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next merged >actual 2>&1 &&
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+ echo "Would delete branch merged (was $sha)." >expect &&
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+ test_cmp expect actual &&
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+ git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/merged &&
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+
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+ check_branches <<-\EOF &&
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+ also-merged
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+ main
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+ merged
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+ tracks-other
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+ unmerged
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+ EOF
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+
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git branch --delete-merged origin/next merged >actual 2>&1 &&
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echo "Deleted branch merged (was $sha)." >expect &&
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test_cmp expect actual &&
@@ -1948,9 +1961,12 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged keeps the upstream of a surviving branch' '
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git checkout -b topic feature --track &&
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git commit --allow-empty -m "topic work" &&
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- git branch --delete-merged origin/next 2>err &&
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+ git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next >out &&
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+ test_grep ! "feature" out &&
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+ git branch --delete-merged origin/next 2>err &&
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test_must_be_empty err &&
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+
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check_branches <<-\EOF &&
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feature
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main
@@ -1978,6 +1994,21 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged keeps the upstream chain of a surviving bra
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git checkout -b tip mid --track &&
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git commit --allow-empty -m "tip work" &&
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+ git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next \
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+ --delete-merged lower >actual 2>&1 &&
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+ test_must_be_empty actual &&
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+
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+ git config --local --get-regexp "branch\\.(lower|mid|tip)\\.(merge|remote)" >actual &&
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+ cat >expect <<-\EOF &&
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+ branch.lower.remote origin
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+ branch.lower.merge refs/heads/next
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+ branch.mid.remote .
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+ branch.mid.merge refs/heads/lower
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+ branch.tip.remote .
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+ branch.tip.merge refs/heads/mid
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+ EOF
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+ test_cmp expect actual &&
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+
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git branch --delete-merged origin/next \
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--delete-merged lower >actual 2>&1 &&
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test_must_be_empty actual &&
@@ -2074,4 +2105,9 @@ test_expect_success "branch -d still deletes a deleteMerged=false branch" '
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)
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'
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+test_expect_success '--dry-run without --delete-merged is rejected' '
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+ test_must_fail git -C forked branch --dry-run 2>err &&
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+ test_grep "requires --delete-merged" err
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+'
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+
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test_done