finishing-a-development-branch

To safely merge a completed git feature branch, you must first run the project test suite to block progress on failures, then execute a local git merge into the base branch with post-merge test verification and optional worktree cleanup.

When finishing a development branch, you can remove associated stale git worktrees during the cleanup phase by providing typed confirmation for destructive actions, ensuring no orphaned working directories remain after the merge or discard workflow.

Yes, after test verification succeeds, you can select the option to create a pull request instead of merging locally, which pushes the feature branch to the remote repository for code review while keeping your local environment intact.

Test verification is enforced upfront before presenting finalization options, but you can still proceed to discard changes by providing explicit typed confirmation for the destructive action, bypassing the test requirement.

The best way to clean up feature branches without losing work is to use a structured workflow that presents four explicit options—local merge, pull request, keep branch, or discard—requiring typed confirmation before executing any destructive git delete operations.