title: How to use git namespace to hide branches
body: <h1>Background</h1>
  
  <p>I'm working with a large team using <a href="/questions/tagged/git" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;git&#39;" rel="tag">git</a> for version control. The normal flow is:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>People selecting a ticket from the "backlog queue".</li>
  <li>Working on the issue via a local branch (i.e. <code>git checkout -b my_feature_branch</code>).</li>
  <li>Making several commits as they go (i.e. <code>git commit</code>).</li>
  <li>Pushing local changes to a remote branch in order to "backup" their work so it lives on more than one machine, in case the laptop is damaged or stolen (i.e. <code>git push -u origin my_feature_branch</code>).</li>
  <li>Eventually creating a code review on our private <a href="/questions/tagged/github" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;github&#39;" rel="tag"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/eoNf5.png" height="16" width="18" alt="" class="sponsor-tag-img">github</a> page, and doing a squashed merge from the feature branch to <code>master</code>.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>In addition to the remote feature branches created by employees on an as-needed basis, we have several dozen release branches that are used to create the "gold builds" we ship to customers, i.e. <code>1.00</code>, <code>1.01</code>, <code>2.00</code>, <code>2.01</code>, <code>2.02</code>, etc.</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h1>Problem</h1>
  
  <p>Some developers have begun to complain that there are too many branches, and I tend to agree. Some developers haven't been diligent about cleaning up old branches when they are no longer needed (even though <a href="/questions/tagged/github" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;github&#39;" rel="tag"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/eoNf5.png" height="16" width="18" alt="" class="sponsor-tag-img">github</a> provides a one-button delete feature for this once the code review is complete).</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h1>Question</h1>
  
  <p>Is there a way to configure our company <a href="/questions/tagged/github" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;github&#39;" rel="tag"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/eoNf5.png" height="16" width="18" alt="" class="sponsor-tag-img">github</a> deployment so that, when people use <code>git branch</code> via the CLI:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Only our "important/release/gold" branches appear.</li>
  <li>The one-off developer (temporary) branches only appear via <code>git branch -a</code>?</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>The main goal of this is to reduce clutter.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Edit:</strong> <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6792955/how-to-config-namespace-for-private-branches-in-git">I found a similar question</a>, but the only answer is not at all applicable (don't use remote branches), which violates my key constraint of allowing people to push to remote branches as a form of data backup. The concept of <strong>private namespaces</strong>, as hinted by @Mort, seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Now, how do I accomplish that?</p>