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Branch Cleanup Troubleshooting

Branch Cleanup Troubleshooting

Support Guide

Resolve common issues encountered while cleaning Git branches.

Commandcusty cleanup branches

Category

Maintenance

Quick Command

custy cleanup branches
cleanupbranchtroubleshooting

Overview​

Most Branch Cleanup issues are related to project configuration rather than the command itself.

In many cases, Custy intentionally skips branch removal because the configured cleanup rules do not allow any branches to become eligible.

No Branches Were Removed​

What you see

Branch Cleanup completed successfully, but no branches were deleted.

Why it happens

  • No branches matched the configured prefixes.
  • No branches satisfied the configured merge status.
  • Age filters excluded every branch.
  • Only protected branches matched the configured filters.

How to resolve it

Review your cleanup configuration and verify that at least one branch is eligible for cleanup.

Branch Cleanup Was Skipped​

What you see

Custy reports that no branch prefixes were configured.

Why it happens

Your project currently uses:

include_prefixes = []

Without configured prefixes, Custy intentionally skips Branch Cleanup to prevent accidental deletion.

How to resolve it

Configure one or more branch prefixes.

For example:

include_prefixes = [
    "release/",
]

Safe Default Behavior

Branch Cleanup skipped because no branch prefixes were configured
Custy intentionally skips Branch Cleanup when no branch prefixes are configured. This protects repositories from accidental branch deletion.

Expected Branch Was Not Deleted​

What you see

A branch you expected to be removed still exists.

Why it happens

  • The branch does not match the configured prefixes.
  • The branch is newer than the configured age filter.
  • The branch is not merged.
  • The branch is protected.

How to resolve it

Review every configured cleanup filter.

A branch must satisfy every applicable rule before Custy considers it eligible for removal.

Protected Branch Was Not Removed​

What you see

Protected branches such as:

  • main
  • master
  • develop

remain after cleanup.

Why it happens

Custy permanently protects these branches.

How to resolve it

No action is required.

If you intentionally want to remove one of these branches, use Git directly rather than Custy.

Dry Run Didn't Delete Anything​

What you see

No branches were removed.

Why it happens

The command was executed using:

custy --dry-run cleanup branches

How to resolve it

Run the command again without the global --dry-run option when you're ready to perform the cleanup.

Next Diagnostic Step​

If Branch Cleanup continues to behave unexpectedly:

  • review your config.toml,
  • inspect the command output,
  • verify the selected cleanup rules,
  • confirm that at least one branch satisfies every configured filter.

Most Branch Cleanup issues are resolved by adjusting the project configuration rather than modifying the command itself.