delete-branches

✅ What does delete-branches do?

delete-branches deletes idle branches in GitHub repository.

exemptions: default branch, protected branches, head branches in PR, and user-specified exclude branches

⭐ Why switch to delete-branches?

• we reduce your supply chain risks with openssf best practices in our SDLC and operations.
• we share evidence of code coverage results in action (click Code Coverage » cron-tasks » badge-coverage).
• we can run using command line or GitHub Action Delete GitHub Branches.

🏃 Running delete-branches in GitHub action

Use the workflow examples below to create your own workflow inside .github/workflows/.

Example 1 - Summary (MOCK delete)

Input	Workflow Spec	Notes
scheduled run	- cron: '30 17 * * *'	Run daily at 5:30 pm UTC
github token permissions	contents: read pull-requests: read	MOCK delete requires read permission
dry-run	true	MOCK delete
exclude-branches	badges	Branch badges is found and excluded
max-idle-days	10	Without new commits longer than 10 days

Example 1 - Workflow (MOCK delete)

name: delete-github-branches

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 17 * * *'

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: read

jobs:
  delete-branches:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      contents: read
      pull-requests: read

    - name: Run delete-branches
      id: delete-branches
      uses: tagdots/delete-branches@1067f6cf756a462d2da56cffae2df37ea15b600e # 1.2.15
      env:
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      with:
        repo-url: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}
        max-idle-days: 10
        exclude-branches: 'badges'
        dry-run: true

Example 2 - Summary (Permanent delete)

Input	Workflow Spec	Notes
scheduled run	- cron: '30 17 * * *'	Run daily at 5:30 pm UTC
github token permissions	contents: write pull-requests: read	Delete requires write permission in contents
dry-run	false	Permanent delete
exclude-branches	badges	Branch badges is found and excluded
max-idle-days	10	Without new commits longer than 10 days

Example 2 - Workflow (Permanent delete)

name: delete-github-branches

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 17 * * *'

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: read

jobs:
  delete-branches:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: read

    - name: Run delete-branches
      id: delete-branches
      uses: tagdots/delete-branches@1067f6cf756a462d2da56cffae2df37ea15b600e # 1.2.15
      env:
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      with:
        repo-url: ${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}
        max-idle-days: 10
        exclude-branches: 'badges'
        dry-run: false

🖥 Running delete-branches from command line

Prerequisites

* Python (3.12+)
* GitHub fine-grained token (contents: write)

Setup delete-branches

~/work/test $ workon test
(test) ~/work/test $ export GH_TOKEN=github_pat_xxxxxxxxxxxxx
(test) ~/work/test $ pip install -U delete-branches

Example 1 - Run for help

(test) ~/work/test $ delete-branches --help
Usage: delete-branches [OPTIONS]

Options:
  --dry-run BOOLEAN        default: true
  --repo-url TEXT          e.g. https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}  [required]
  --exclude-branches TEXT  e.g. 'exclude-branch-1, exclude-branch-2'
  --max-idle-days INTEGER  Max. no. of idle days (without commits)  [required]
  --version                Show the version and exit.
  --help                   Show this message and exit.

Example 2 - MOCK delete branches without new commits longer than 10 days

Input	Input Detail	Result
repo-url	https://github.com/tagdots/test	process repository tagdots/test
max-idle-days	10	Without new commits longer than 10 days
exclude-branches	test-1, test-2, badges	Only branch badges is found and excluded
dry-run	true	a. 3 branches exempted from delete: main, badges, pr-branch-01 b. 6 branches NOT exempt from delete c. MOCK delete 2 of 6 NOT-exempt-from-delete branches

(test) ~/work/test $ delete-branches --dry-run true --max-idle-days 10 --exclude-branches "test-1, test-2, badges" --repo-url https://github.com/tagdots/test

🚀 Starting Delete GitHub Branches (dry-run: True, exclude-branches: {'test-1', 'test-2', 'badges'}, max-idle-days: 10)

Current Time (UTC): 2025-08-20 17:08:32

Refined User Exclude Branch(es): {'badges'}
Default Branch                 : main
Protected Branch               : main
Pull Request Head Branch       : pr-branch-01

Total Number of Branches                         : 9
Total Number of Branches (Exempt-From-Delete)    : 3
Total Number of Branches (Not-Exempt-From-Delete): 6

From 6 Not-Exempt-From-Delete Branch(es),  2 branch is idle more than 10 day(s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(MOCK) Delete branch - last update UTC 2025-08-09 13:49:34: branch-test-001
(MOCK) Delete branch - last update UTC 2025-08-08 03:29:34: branch-test-005

Example 3 - Delete branches permanently without new commits longer than 10 days

Input	Input Detail	Result
repo-url	https://github.com/tagdots/test	process repository tagdots/test
max-idle-days	10	Without new commits longer than 10 days
exclude-branches	badges	Branch badges is found and excluded
dry-run	false	a. 3 branches exempted from delete: main, badges, pr-branch-01 b. 6 branches NOT exempt from delete c. Delete 2 of 6 NOT-exempt-from-delete branches permanently

(test) ~/work/test $ delete-branches --dry-run false --max-days 10 --exclude-branches "badges" --repo-url https://github.com/tagdots/test

🚀 Starting Delete GitHub Branches (dry-run: False, exclude-branches: {'badges'}, max-idle-days: 10)

Current Time (UTC): 2025-08-20 17:26:55

Refined User Exclude Branch(es): {'badges'}
Default Branch                 : main
Protected Branch               : main
Pull Request Head Branch       : pr-branch-01

Total Number of Branches                         : 9
Total Number of Branches (Exempt-From-Delete)    : 3
Total Number of Branches (Not-Exempt-From-Delete): 6

From 6 Not-Exempt-From-Delete Branch(es),  2 branch is idle more than 10 day(s)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
✅ Delete branch - last update UTC 2025-08-09 13:49:34: branch-test-001
✅ Delete branch - last update UTC 2025-08-08 03:29:34: branch-test-005

🔧 delete-branches command line options

Input	Description	Default	Required	Notes
repo-url	Repository URL	None	Yes	e.g. https://github.com/{owner}/{repo}
dry-run	Dry-Run	True	No	-
max-idle-days	Maximum number of days without new commits	None	Yes	enter number of days
exclude-branches	Branches excluded from deletion	None	No	comma seperated branches e.g. "branch1, branch2"

😕 Troubleshooting

Open an issue

🙏 Contributing

For pull requests to be accepted on this project, you should follow PEP8 when creating/updating Python codes.

See Contributing

🙌 Appreciation

If you find this project helpful, please ⭐ star it. Thank you.

📚 References

How to fork a repo