Clean up stale Codex Lab worktrees and planning artifacts after sync classification #233

Finish Line

Codex Lab local state is clean enough for the upstream sync: stale detached auto-review diagnostics, obsolete worktrees/branches, scratch artifacts, and local handoff reliance are inventoried and either removed safely or explicitly preserved with a durable GitHub issue reference.

Current Status

July 1, 2026 cleanup pass after PRs #234, #235, and #236.

Captured state before cleanup:

• Open PRs: none.
• Main shared checkout: clean but behind origin/main by 7 commits; not fast-forwarded here because another write-capable Every Code session owns that checkout.
• Worktrees before cleanup included main, three older .code/working worktrees, and three task worktrees from this sync/review workstream.

Cleaned safely in this pass:

• Removed merged task worktrees:
  • /Users/cbusillo/.code/worktrees/codex-lab/review-primitives
  • /Users/cbusillo/.code/worktrees/codex-lab/review-scope-preflight
  • /Users/cbusillo/.code/worktrees/codex-lab/upstream-substrate-sync
• Pruned deleted remote branches and deleted matching local branches:
  • rework/upstream-review-primitives
  • rework/review-scope-preflight
  • chore/upstream-substrate-sync

Preserved intentionally; do not delete without follow-up classification/user confidence:

• /Users/cbusillo/.code/working/codex-lab/branches/auto-review on fix/login-auth-plumbing at af6f400905
• /Users/cbusillo/.code/working/codex-lab/branches/auto-review-126bc649 detached at 126bc649f0
• /Users/cbusillo/.code/working/codex-lab/branches/fix-pr96-agent-session-contract on fix/pr96-agent-session-contract at 00a136517c

Current worktrees after cleanup:

• /Users/cbusillo/Developer/codex-lab on main at a21dfb3a3d (clean, behind origin/main)
• three preserved older worktrees listed above.

Related durable state:

• Rework durable Background Review around upstream review primitives #231 updated with merged PRs Consolidate durable auto-review projections #235 and Skip oversized background review scopes #236.
• Classify Codex Lab feature ownership after upstream sync #232 updated with the feature ownership matrix.
• Codex Lab multi-auth MVP #115 and Plugin lifecycle hooks for workspace preparation and quality providers #149 now have comments pointing to Classify Codex Lab feature ownership after upstream sync #232 as the current classification source for auth/account and plugin/skill/hook work.

Next #233 action:

• Classify the three preserved older worktrees/branches against their linked PRs/issues, then remove only those proven stale or already merged. Fast-forward the shared main checkout only from a session that owns that checkout or after confirming the other write-capable session is done.

Acceptance Criteria

• git status --short --branch and git worktree list are captured before cleanup.
• Each extra worktree/branch is classified as active, stale but preserved, safe to remove, or needs user decision.
• Detached auto-review worktrees are removed only after confirming their relevant findings are stale or migrated into GitHub plan state.
• Any local handoff content needed for recovery is captured in Upstream sync and Codex Lab feature reclassification #229/Sync Codex Lab with current openai/codex substrate #230/Rework durable Background Review around upstream review primitives #231/Classify Codex Lab feature ownership after upstream sync #232/Clean up stale Codex Lab worktrees and planning artifacts after sync classification #233 or related issues before removing or ignoring local handoff files.
• Scratch artifacts and generated diagnostics are removed only when clearly produced by this workstream or explicitly obsolete.
• No user-owned local edits, hidden caches, or unrelated worktrees are deleted without explicit approval.
• Final cleanup leaves the next upstream sync session with one durable recovery surface and no stale local artifact required to resume.

Cleanup Policy

• Inventory first.
• Prefer preserving with an issue reference over deleting when ownership is unclear.
• Do not merge or cherry-pick from stale worktrees during cleanup.
• Do not remove active task branches until their PR/issue state is known.
• Treat repo cleanup as a reviewable step, not as background tidying.

Relationships

• Child of Upstream sync and Codex Lab feature reclassification #229.
• Should usually wait until Classify Codex Lab feature ownership after upstream sync #232 has enough classification to know what is stale.
• Related to Define Every Code-owned convergence contracts #126 handoff cleanup and old auto-review diagnostics.