[PATCH v23 7/7] branch: add --dry-run for --delete-merged
From: Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget <hidden>
Date: 2026-07-25 11:32:40
Subsystem:
documentation, the rest · Maintainers:
Jonathan Corbet, Linus Torvalds
From: Harald Nordgren <redacted> "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 <redacted> --- Documentation/git-branch.adoc | 8 +++++++- builtin/branch.c | 21 ++++++++++++++++--- t/t3200-branch.sh | 38 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 3 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-branch.adoc b/Documentation/git-branch.adoc
index 2b206e8689..51dda15114 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-branch.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-branch.adoc@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ git branch (-m|-M) [<old-branch>] <new-branch> git branch (-c|-C) [<old-branch>] <new-branch> git branch (-d|-D) [-r] <branch-name>... git branch --edit-description [<branch-name>] -git branch (--delete-merged <branch>)... [<pattern>...] +git branch [--dry-run] (--delete-merged <branch>)... [<pattern>...] DESCRIPTION -----------
@@ -232,6 +232,12 @@ A branch that a surviving branch depends on through a chain of local upstreams is kept, so a branch is never deleted out from under stacked work. +`--dry-run`:: + With `--delete-merged`, print which branches would be + deleted and exit without touching any ref. Useful for + sanity-checking a wide pattern like `'origin/*'` before + committing to the deletion. + `-v`:: `-vv`:: `--verbose`::
diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index dc1d74077b..e0e91743ca 100644
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ enum delete_branch_flags { DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET = (1 << 1), DELETE_BRANCH_SKIP_UNMERGED = (1 << 2), DELETE_BRANCH_NO_HEAD_FALLBACK = (1 << 3), + DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN = (1 << 4), }; 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, free(target); } - if (refs_delete_refs(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), NULL, &refs_to_delete, REF_NO_DEREF)) + if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN) && + refs_delete_refs(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), NULL, &refs_to_delete, REF_NO_DEREF)) ret = 1; for_each_string_list_item(item, &refs_to_delete) { char *describe_ref = item->util; char *name = item->string; - if (!refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), name)) { + if (flags & DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN) { + if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET)) + printf(remote_branch + ? _("Would delete remote-tracking branch %s (was %s).\n") + : _("Would delete branch %s (was %s).\n"), + name + branch_name_pos, describe_ref); + } else if (!refs_ref_exists(get_main_ref_store(the_repository), name)) { char *refname = name + branch_name_pos; if (!(flags & DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET)) printf(remote_branch
@@ -922,6 +930,7 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc, int delete = 0, rename = 0, copy = 0, list = 0, unset_upstream = 0, show_current = 0, edit_description = 0; struct strvec delete_merged = STRVEC_INIT; + int dry_run = 0; const char *new_upstream = NULL; int noncreate_actions = 0; /* possible options */
@@ -978,6 +987,8 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc, OPT_CALLBACK_F(0, "delete-merged", &delete_merged, N_("branch"), N_("delete merged branches whose upstream matches <branch> (repeatable)"), PARSE_OPT_NONEG, parse_opt_strvec), + OPT_BOOL(0, "dry-run", &dry_run, + N_("with --delete-merged, only print which branches would be deleted")), OPT__FORCE(&force, N_("force creation, move/rename, deletion"), PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE), OPT_MERGED(&filter, N_("print only branches that are merged")), OPT_NO_MERGED(&filter, N_("print only branches that are not merged")),
@@ -1040,6 +1051,9 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc, if (noncreate_actions > 1) usage_with_options(builtin_branch_usage, options); + if (dry_run && !delete_merged.nr) + die(_("--dry-run requires --delete-merged")); + if (recurse_submodules_explicit) { if (!submodule_propagate_branches) die(_("branch with --recurse-submodules can only be used if submodule.propagateBranches is enabled"));
@@ -1080,7 +1094,8 @@ int cmd_branch(int argc, goto out; } else if (delete_merged.nr) { ret = delete_merged_branches(&delete_merged, argv, - quiet ? DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET : 0); + (quiet ? DELETE_BRANCH_QUIET : 0) | + (dry_run ? DELETE_BRANCH_DRY_RUN : 0)); goto out; } else if (show_current) { print_current_branch_name();
diff --git a/t/t3200-branch.sh b/t/t3200-branch.sh
index 7111306150..eb1c57a5ca 100755
--- a/t/t3200-branch.sh
+++ b/t/t3200-branch.sh@@ -1938,6 +1938,19 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged deletes only selected merged branches' ' git checkout -b tracks-other other/main --track && sha=$(git rev-parse --short merged) && + git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next merged >actual 2>&1 && + echo "Would delete branch merged (was $sha)." >expect && + test_cmp expect actual && + git rev-parse --verify refs/heads/merged && + + check_branches <<-\EOF && + also-merged + main + merged + tracks-other + unmerged + EOF + git branch --delete-merged origin/next merged >actual 2>&1 && echo "Deleted branch merged (was $sha)." >expect && test_cmp expect actual &&
@@ -1986,9 +1999,12 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged keeps the upstream of a surviving branch' ' git checkout -b topic feature --track && git commit --allow-empty -m "topic work" && - git branch --delete-merged origin/next 2>err && + git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next >out && + test_grep ! "feature" out && + git branch --delete-merged origin/next 2>err && test_must_be_empty err && + check_branches <<-\EOF && feature main
@@ -2016,6 +2032,21 @@ test_expect_success '--delete-merged keeps the upstream chain of a surviving bra git checkout -b tip mid --track && git commit --allow-empty -m "tip work" && + git branch --dry-run --delete-merged origin/next \ + --delete-merged lower >actual 2>&1 && + test_must_be_empty actual && + + git config --local --get-regexp "branch\\.(lower|mid|tip)\\.(merge|remote)" >actual && + cat >expect <<-\EOF && + branch.lower.remote origin + branch.lower.merge refs/heads/next + branch.mid.remote . + branch.mid.merge refs/heads/lower + branch.tip.remote . + branch.tip.merge refs/heads/mid + EOF + test_cmp expect actual && + git branch --delete-merged origin/next \ --delete-merged lower >actual 2>&1 && test_must_be_empty actual &&
@@ -2112,4 +2143,9 @@ test_expect_success "branch -d still deletes a deleteMerged=false branch" ' ) ' +test_expect_success '--dry-run without --delete-merged is rejected' ' + test_must_fail git -C forked branch --dry-run 2>err && + test_grep "requires --delete-merged" err +' + test_done
--
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