<!--IssueSummary start--> <details> <summary> Everyone can contribute. [Help move this issue forward](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/developer-relations/contributor-success/community-contributors-workflows/#contributor-links) while earning points, leveling up and collecting rewards. </summary> - [Close this issue](https://contributors.gitlab.com/manage-issue?action=close&projectId=278964&issueIid=34031) </details> <!--IssueSummary end--> ### Problem to solve We have 4389 branches in the handbook repository. 1890 (43%) are from 2018 or prior. We also have an exponential increase in branch count occurring. Data & Chart: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VkncjKmbwtYHt1VbG2SJ4Vc1YVOMeEwiyMHbFVGccHw/edit#gid=0 If we aren't responsible in cleaning up our branches after ourself, we run the risk of many long lived, abandoned branches that are likely to never merge, which will consume resources in perpetuity. ### Proposal TBD, but we could have a setting that lets GitLab admins automatically delete branches after a certain amount of time for a MVC. Further iterations could send notifications to the branch creator requiring an action if the branch is to be kept alive, etc. ### Links / references