docs: branch-cleanup triage + deletion script (87 stale branches)

[THOClabs]

Summary

Explains and resolves the 87-branch pileup. Adds docs/BRANCH_CLEANUP.md (full classification + rationale) and scripts/delete_stale_branches.sh (turnkey remote deletion, run locally since the automation sandbox can't push branch deletes).

Findings

• 59 SWARM — a March 2026 swarm of near-duplicate AI-generated branches all attempting one feature (NEO/hourly-scan event tracking). The coherent core (NASA CNEOS close-approach + NEO feed clients) is now on main via Recover NASA NEO close-approach + feed clients (salvage from March swarm) #108/fix(neo_feed): missing-distance false ALERT + UTC feed window #109.
• 15 MERGED — squash-merged to main this session (mechanical-design packages + Stage 0–5 fixes); look "unmerged" only because squash doesn't preserve branch SHAs.
• 12 REVIEW — old cursor/claude review/experiment branches.
• 1 OLD-DEFAULT — legacy master (commented out in the script; confirm before deleting).

All are safe to delete. The doc flags three distinct un-salvaged features in the swarm — hourly scanner, event journal, space-weather client — as salvage candidates to recover before deletion if wanted (otherwise they're discarded with the swarm).

Testing

• Docs + shell script only; no code paths touched.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Generated by Claude Code

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Note

Low Risk
Documentation and an opt-in maintenance script only; no runtime or application code paths change. Operational risk is limited to mistaken remote branch deletion if the script is run without review.

Overview
Adds docs/BRANCH_CLEANUP.md to document 87 stale origin branches against main: why the count is high (squash-merged branches still look unmerged, plus a March 2026 NEO/hourly-scan branch swarm), and how they are grouped (MERGED, SWARM, REVIEW, OLD-DEFAULT). The doc includes a full branch table and calls out three optional salvage features on swarm branches (hourly scanner, event journal, space-weather client) to recover before deletion.

Adds scripts/delete_stale_branches.sh, a local-only script that runs git push origin --delete for each listed branch (automation cannot delete remotes). master is left commented out for manual verification.

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[cursor]

Cursor Bugbot has reviewed your changes using default effort and found 1 potential issue.

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[cursor]

Script aborts on delete failure

Medium Severity

With set -e, any failed git push origin --delete ends the script immediately, so later branches are never removed. A missing remote ref, permission error, or network blip on one line leaves cleanup incomplete and makes a full re-run fail again at the same step unless lines are edited manually.

 

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