git-merged

🔍 Find Git branches that have been merged into your main/production branch.

A simple, fast CLI tool to identify branches that are safe to delete because they've already been merged into your target branch.

Installation

Install globally via npm:

npm install -g git-merged

Usage

Basic Usage

# Find remote branches merged into origin/main
git-merged

# Find branches merged into production
git-merged production

# Find branches merged into develop
git-merged develop

Options

git-merged [branch-name] [options]

Arguments:

• branch-name - Target branch to check merges into (default: main)

Options:

• -l, --local - Search local branches instead of remote
• -r, --remote - Search remote branches (default)
• -n, --no-file - Don't save to file, only display in console
• -o, --output PATH - Custom output file path
• --delete-remote - Delete found remote branches from origin
• --delete-local - Delete found local branches
• --skip-confirm - Delete without interactive confirmation
• --author NAME - Only include branches whose last commit author contains NAME
• -h, --help - Show help message

Examples

Find remote branches merged into origin/main

git-merged

Find local branches merged into develop

git-merged develop --local

Display results without saving to file

git-merged main --no-file

Save to custom location

git-merged main --output ~/reports/merged-branches.txt

Combined options

git-merged production --local --output ./report.txt

Delete merged remote branches

git-merged main --delete-remote

Delete merged local branches

git-merged main --delete-local

Delete both local and remote branches for one author

git-merged main --delete-remote --delete-local --author radimbig

Delete without confirmation

git-merged main --delete-remote --delete-local --skip-confirm

When deleting without --skip-confirm, the tool prints the branches and the exact commands that will be executed, then asks for confirmation:

confirm deleting:
branch1 merged 21.01.2025 into origin/main
branch2 merged 22.05.2026 into main

commands that will be executed
git push origin --delete branch1
git branch -d branch2

Output

The tool displays results grouped by author, showing:

• Merge Date - When the branch was merged
• Branch Name - Name of the merged branch
• Commit ID - Short hash of the merge commit
• Author - Who created the branch

Example output:

--- Branches Merged into 'origin/main' (Mode: remote) ---

=== Author: John Doe ===
Merge Date    Branch Name                      Commit ID
----------    -----------                      ---------
2024-02-10    feature/user-authentication      a1b2c3d
2024-02-08    bugfix/login-error              e4f5g6h

=== Author: Jane Smith ===
Merge Date    Branch Name                      Commit ID
----------    -----------                      ---------
2024-02-12    feature/dashboard-redesign       i7j8k9l

Requirements

• Git must be installed and available in PATH
• Must be run from within a Git repository
• For remote mode, requires access to origin remote

How It Works

The tool:

1. Fetches the latest data from remote (if in remote mode)
2. Lists all branches merged into the target branch
3. Identifies actual merge commits (excludes fast-forwards and squashes)
4. Extracts merge date, author, and commit information
5. Groups results by author and sorts by date

Notes

• The tool only identifies branches merged via explicit merge commits
• Fast-forwarded or squashed branches are excluded (their "merge date" cannot be reliably determined)
• By default, results are saved to deletable_branches_report.txt in the current directory

Development

PowerShell Version

The original PowerShell version is still available as find-deletable-branches.ps1 for Windows users who prefer PowerShell.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Issues

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.