| name | storage-cleanup |
| description | One-command disk cleanup for macOS and Linux — trash, caches, temp files, old kernels, snap revisions, Homebrew, Docker, and Xcode artifacts. Use when user asks to free storage, clean up disk, reclaim space, reduce disk usage, or encounters low disk / "disk full" warnings. Safe by default with dry-run mode. No dependencies beyond bash and awk. |
Storage Cleanup
Reclaim tens of gigabytes in one command. No config files, no dependencies, no damage.
Why This Skill
Systems accumulate junk silently — IDE caches, old snap revisions, stale pip builds, forgotten trash, outdated kernels. Manually hunting them down wastes time and risks deleting the wrong thing.
This skill:
- Scans 12+ cleanup targets across both macOS and Linux in a single pass
- Safe by default —
--dry-run shows exactly what would be cleaned before touching anything
- Zero dependencies — pure bash + awk, works on any stock macOS or Linux install
- Cross-platform — auto-detects OS and runs only what applies (no errors on missing tools)
- Selective — skip any category with
--skip-kernels, --skip-docker, --skip-brew, --skip-snap
- Reports savings — shows before/after disk usage and exact bytes freed
Quick Start
bash scripts/cleanup.sh --dry-run
bash scripts/cleanup.sh --yes
bash scripts/cleanup.sh --yes --skip-docker --skip-kernels
What Gets Cleaned
Both Platforms
| Target | Typical Size | Notes |
|---|
| Trash | 1–50 GB | macOS ~/.Trash, Linux ~/.local/share/Trash |
Stale /tmp | 1–10 GB | pip/npm/rust build dirs older than 60 min |
| pip cache | 50–500 MB | pip cache purge |
| Go build cache | 100 MB–2 GB | go clean -cache |
| pnpm / yarn / node caches | 50–500 MB | Safe to regenerate |
| JetBrains IDE cache | 1–10 GB | IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc. |
| Whisper model cache | 1–5 GB | Redownloads on demand |
| Chrome / Firefox cache | 200 MB–2 GB | Browsing cache only |
| Playwright browsers | 200 MB–1 GB | Redownloads on demand |
| Docker dangling images | 0–10 GB | Only unreferenced images + build cache |
Linux Only
| Target | Typical Size | Notes |
|---|
| Apt cache | 200 MB–2 GB | apt clean |
| Journal logs | 500 MB–4 GB | Vacuumed to 200 MB |
| Disabled snap revisions | 500 MB–5 GB | Old versions kept by snapd |
| Old kernels | 200–800 MB | Keeps current running kernel |
macOS Only
| Target | Typical Size | Notes |
|---|
| Homebrew old versions | 500 MB–5 GB | brew cleanup --prune=7 |
| Xcode DerivedData | 2–30 GB | Build artifacts, safe to clear |
| Xcode Archives | 1–20 GB | Old build archives |
| iOS DeviceSupport | 2–15 GB | Old device symbols |
| CoreSimulator caches | 500 MB–5 GB | Simulator disk images |
| Old user logs | 100 MB–1 GB | Logs older than 30 days |
Options
| Flag | Effect |
|---|
--dry-run | Preview cleanup without deleting anything |
--yes / -y | Run without confirmation prompts |
--skip-kernels | Don't remove old kernels (Linux) |
--skip-snap | Don't remove disabled snap revisions (Linux) |
--skip-docker | Don't prune Docker |
--skip-brew | Don't clean Homebrew |
Manual Extras
Targets the script doesn't touch (check manually if needed):
- Ollama models:
ollama list → ollama rm <unused>
- npm global cache:
npm cache clean --force
- Conda envs:
conda env list → conda remove -n <env> --all
- Compressed logs:
sudo find /var/log -name "*.gz" -delete
- Flatpak (Linux):
flatpak uninstall --unused
- Time Machine snapshots (macOS):
tmutil listlocalsnapshots / → tmutil deletelocalsnapshots <date>
