Branch Lifecycle Policy

This repository enforces a branch lifecycle policy to keep the branch list clean and manageable. Stale branches are identified automatically and removed after a period of inactivity.

How It Works

A scheduled GitHub Action (cleanup-stale-branches.yml) runs every Monday at 08:00 UTC and scans all remote branches for inactivity.

Staleness Thresholds

Scheduled runs are always dry run (report only). Deletions require a manual trigger.

Protected Branches

The following branch patterns are always excluded from cleanup, regardless of age:

• main / master
• develop
• release/*
• hotfix/*
• archive/*
• *-stable (e.g., 0.72-stable, 0.80-stable)
• preview-* (e.g., preview-0.80-test)

Additional Safeguards

• Open PRs — Branches with any open pull request (including drafts) are automatically skipped.

How to Keep a Branch

If your branch must be retained beyond the staleness threshold, use any of these methods:

1. Use a protected prefix

Rename your branch under archive/:

git branch -m my-old-branch archive/my-old-branch
git push origin archive/my-old-branch
git push origin --delete my-old-branch

2. Keep an open PR

Create or keep a pull request (even a draft) from your branch. The workflow skips any branch with an open PR.

3. Add the pattern to the workflow

Add your branch prefix to the PROTECTED regex in the workflow file and submit a PR.

Manual Cleanup

Maintainers can trigger the workflow manually from the Actions tab:

1. Go to Actions → Cleanup Stale Branches
2. Click Run workflow
3. Set dry_run = false to actually delete stale branches

FAQ

Q: What happens if my branch is deleted by mistake? A: Git branch deletions on GitHub are reversible for a short period. You can also restore from a local clone.

Q: Will this delete branches with open pull requests? A: No. The workflow checks for open PRs (including drafts) and skips those branches.

Q: What about stable and preview branches? A: All *-stable and preview-* branches are protected by default and will never be deleted.