This section is outdated: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/package-maintainers/Package_Retirement_Process/#_git

It has not been necessary to run the fedpkg retire command in all branches that are to be retired for quite some time.

If a "branched" Fedora exists (i.e. between branching and start of the final freeze), then the steps to retire a package in both Rawhide and "branched" (let's say f40) are:

fedpkg retire "retirement reason"
fedpkg switch-branch f40
git merge rawhide
git push

It is not necessary to run fedpkg retire in both branches - this only creates diverging branches, which also makes it more difficult to maintain the package if it is ever un-retired.

So I think that whole paragraph needs to be rewritten to be accurate for today (or ... like at least two years ago), maybe something like this:

Run fedpkg retire "DESCRIPTION" in the Fedora rawhide branch. The DESCRIPTION should explain why the package is being retired. Examples of good messages are "Obsoleted by " or "Renamed to ".

The fedpkg retire command removes all files from the branch, adds a file named dead.package which contains the DESCRIPTION, and pushes the changes.

If there is currently a "branched" release of Fedora (i.e. a release that is currently between "mass branching" and "final freeze"), the retirement commit can be merged into that branch and pushed to retire the package for this release as well (i.e. it is not necessary to run fedpkg retire multiple times for different branches).

Do not run fedpkg retire or merge/push a retirement commit for any supported or end-of-life branch of Fedora. Packages MUST NOT be retired from stable releases - except for EPEL branches.