fix(finishing-a-development-branch): order branch deletion after worktree removal#1072
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fix(finishing-a-development-branch): order branch deletion after worktree removal#1072
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…tree removal Three real-world bugs caused stale `worktree-agent-*` branches to linger after agents finished work: 1. **Wrong order in Options 1 and 4.** `git branch -d/-D` ran *before* `git worktree remove`, so deletion failed with "branch is checked out at <worktree>" — silently in some shells, leaving the branch behind. Branch deletion is now consolidated into Step 5, after worktree removal. 2. **No self-heal for stale registrations.** When a worktree directory has been deleted out-of-band (cleanup script, OS reclaim), `git worktree remove` errors and the registration in `.git/worktrees/` lingers forever, blocking future branch deletion. Added `git worktree prune -v` as a fallback and a defensive final prune. 3. **Buggy current-branch grep.** `git worktree list | grep $(git branch --show-current)` matched the *base* branch (which is current after Step 4's `git checkout <base>`), not the feature branch — and was substring-fragile besides. Replaced with an awk match on column 3 of `git worktree list`, anchored to `[<feature-branch>]`. Also adds a Windows note: this skill must be invoked from the parent context (the main repo), not from inside the worktree being cleaned up, because Windows holds a filesystem lock on a process's own cwd. Validated against a real cleanup of 12 stale worktree-agent branches on a Windows host.
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Apr 10, 2026
- Step 1a is the load-bearing assumption, not just a risk — if it fails, the entire design needs rework. TDD validation must be first impl task. - #1009 resolution depends on Step 1a working, stated explicitly - #574 honestly deferred, not "partially addressed" - Add hooks symlink to Step 1b (PR #965 idea, prevents silent hook loss) - Add stale worktree pruning to Step 5 (PR #1072 idea, one-line self-heal) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Summary
Fixes three real-world bugs in
finishing-a-development-branchthat caused staleworktree-agent-*branches to linger after agents finished work:git branch -d/-Dran beforegit worktree remove, so deletion silently failed with "branch is checked out at ". Branch deletion is now consolidated into Step 5, after worktree removal.git worktree removeerrors and the.git/worktrees/registration lingers forever. Addedgit worktree prune -vas a fallback plus a defensive final prune.git worktree list | grep \$(git branch --show-current)matched the base branch (current after Step 4's checkout), not the feature branch. Replaced with an awk match on column 3, anchored to[<feature-branch>].Also added a Windows note: this skill must be invoked from the parent context (main repo), not from inside the worktree being cleaned up — Windows holds a filesystem lock on a process's own cwd.
Test Plan
worktree-agent-*branches on a Windows hostgit checkout <base>git worktree prune -vheals registrations whose gitdirs point to missing locations