prune Command

What It’s For

Clean up stale Git worktree metadata when a worktree directory was deleted manually or Git’s worktree records otherwise get out of sync.

Use prune for stale metadata. Use remove when you want to delete real worktree directories and optionally delete branches.

What It Does

Finds worktree records that Git marks as prunable across the main repository and configured child repositories.
Reports stale entries without changing anything when run with --dry-run.
Runs Git worktree pruning for affected repositories in mutating mode.
Supports JSON output for automation and agent workflows.

Usage

arashi prune [options]

Key Options

--dry-run report stale worktree metadata without pruning it.
--expire <time> pass a Git worktree prune expiry time. Defaults to now so stale entries discovered by Arashi are cleaned immediately.
--json output machine-readable results.

Examples

# Preview stale worktree metadata
arashi prune --dry-run

# Clean stale worktree metadata now
arashi prune

# Automation-safe cleanup report
arashi prune --json

Notes

prune removes Git metadata for stale worktree records; it does not delete existing worktree directories.
remove excludes prunable entries from its selection list and points stale targets here.
Branches are not deleted by prune; use remove for real worktrees and branch cleanup.
JSON mode emits one JSON envelope on stdout with per-repository stale entries, reasons, totals, and failure details when needed.

Agent Notes

Prefer arashi prune --dry-run --json before mutating cleanup when diagnosing out-of-sync worktree records.
Use arashi prune --json for non-interactive cleanup after confirming entries are stale metadata, not active worktrees.
Do not use arashi remove to clean prunable entries; remove is for real coordinated worktrees and branches.