branch-manager

oh-my-zsh plugin for managing branches

Updating branches can be a pain, especially if you have unsaved changes in your workspace. branch-manager makes it easier to perform updates by auto-stashing your changes before doing routine maintenance, and then returning you to your workspace.

Usage

branch-manager adds the following commands to your shell:

• update_branch [branch=current_branch]
  Pull branch and return to your workspace
  You can also use this to update other branches while staying in your own

• merge_branch [branch=default_branch]
  Merge branch into your own

• rebase_branch [branch=default_branch]
  Rebase branch into your own

• pull_and_prune [branch=default_branch]
  Pull branch and delete all dead/merged branches.
  Useful for staying up-to-date with an active remote, while keeping your local repo tidy

Determining Default Branch

For commands that default to the “default branch” (e.g. master/main), the default branch is determined by checking the following in order:

1. git config init.defaultBranch
2. BRANCH_MANAGER_DEFAULT_BRANCH environment variable
3. …otherwise defaults to master

If it’s guessing wrong, the easiest way to fix it is to set the default branch per repo:

git config init.defaultBranch [your_branch_name_here]

or globally:

git config --global init.defaultBranch [your_branch_name_here]

Installation

branch-manager is built to work with oh-my-zsh, so you’ll need that installed first.

1. $ cd ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins (you may have to create the folder)
2. $ git clone git@github.com:elstgav/branch-manager.git
3. In your .zshrc, add branch-manager to your oh-my-zsh plugins:

plugins(rails git branch-manager)

Changelog

1.7 April 12, 2024

• Update pull_and_prune to detect and delete squash-merged branches

1.6 October 12, 2022

• Fix global namespace pollution by using local variables

1.5 September 30, 2022

• Auto-detect default branch name (see Determining Default Branch above)

1.4 September 2, 2021

• Add autocompletion of branch names

1.3.1 April 17, 2020

• Change pull_and_prune branch deletion message color
  Changed from red (danger) to yellow (warning), since branch deletion is expected behavior.

1.3 April 16, 2020

• Add pull_and_prune command

1.2.1 April 14, 2020

• Colorize status messages
• Print message when restoring stashed changes

1.2 April 14, 2020

• Include untracked files when auto-stashing changes
• Remove “no stash” feedback to reduce noise

1.1.1 October 16, 2017

• Fix warning message if post-checkout hook doesn’t exist (#2)

1.1 October 16, 2017

• Add rebase_branch command (Thanks @blimmer!)

1.0 February 2, 2016