null-e - Disk Cleanup Tool for Developers 🤖

     .---.
    |o   o|    null-e
    |  ^  |    ═══════════════════════════════════
    | === |    The friendly disk cleanup robot
    `-----'    Send your cruft to /dev/null!
     /| |\

Clean node_modules, target, .venv, Docker images, Xcode DerivedData, and 50+ cache types. Reclaim 100+ GB of disk space.

The Friendly Disk Cleanup Robot - Inspired by Wall-E, powered by Rust.

null-e is a fast, cross-platform disk cleanup CLI tool that helps developers reclaim disk space by finding and cleaning development artifacts, build caches, and unused files. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Why "null-e"?

/dev/null + Wall-E = null-e 🤖

Like the adorable trash-compacting robot from the movie, null-e tirelessly cleans up your developer junk and sends it where it belongs - to /dev/null!

What Can null-e Clean?

Category	Examples	Typical Size
Project Artifacts	`node_modules`, `target`, `.venv`, `build`	10-100 GB
Global Caches	npm, pip, cargo, go, maven, gradle	5-50 GB
Xcode	DerivedData, Simulators, Archives, Device Support	20-100 GB
Docker	Images, Containers, Volumes, Build Cache	10-100 GB
Android	AVD, Gradle, SDK Components	5-30 GB
ML/AI	Huggingface models, Ollama, PyTorch cache	10-100 GB
IDE Caches	JetBrains, VS Code, Cursor	2-20 GB
Homebrew	Downloads, Old versions	2-20 GB
iOS Dependencies	CocoaPods, Carthage, SPM	1-10 GB
Electron Apps	Slack, Discord, Spotify, Teams caches	1-5 GB
Game Dev	Unity, Unreal, Godot caches	10-100 GB
Cloud CLI	AWS, GCP, Azure, kubectl, Terraform	1-5 GB
macOS System	Orphaned containers, App remnants	1-20 GB

Features

Multi-language Support: Node.js, Rust, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Swift, Ruby, PHP, and more
Git Protection: Never accidentally delete uncommitted changes
Safe Deletion: Moves to trash by default with recovery option
Parallel Scanning: Fast directory traversal using multiple threads
Analysis Tools: Find stale projects, duplicate dependencies, optimize git repos
Beautiful CLI: Colored output with progress indicators
Cross-Platform: macOS, Linux, Windows support

Installation

Using Cargo (Recommended)

cargo install null-e

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

macOS: null-e-darwin-aarch64.tar.gz (Apple Silicon) / null-e-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz (Intel)
Linux: null-e-linux-x86_64.tar.gz / null-e-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
Windows: null-e-windows-x86_64.zip

Package Managers

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux) - requires 75+ stars for homebrew-core
brew install null-e          # coming soon

# Scoop (Windows)
scoop bucket add us https://github.com/us/scoop-bucket
scoop install null-e

# AUR (Arch Linux)
yay -S null-e

# Nix
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.null-e   # coming soon

Docker

docker run -v $(pwd):/workspace ghcr.io/us/null-e

From Source

git clone https://github.com/us/null-e.git
cd null-e
cargo install --path .

Quick Start

# Scan current directory for cleanable artifacts
null-e

# Deep sweep - find ALL cleanable items across your system
null-e sweep

# Clean global developer caches (npm, pip, cargo, etc.)
null-e caches

# Analyze git repositories for optimization
null-e git-analyze ~/projects

# Find stale projects not touched in 6 months
null-e stale ~/projects

# Find duplicate dependencies
null-e duplicates ~/projects

Commands Overview

Core Commands

Command	Description
`null-e`	Scan current directory for project artifacts
`null-e scan`	Scan with detailed output
`null-e clean`	Clean found artifacts (interactive)
`null-e sweep`	Deep scan for ALL cleanable items
`null-e caches`	Manage global developer caches

Specialized Cleaners

Command	Description
`null-e xcode`	Clean Xcode artifacts
`null-e android`	Clean Android development artifacts
`null-e docker`	Clean Docker resources
`null-e ml`	Clean ML/AI model caches
`null-e ide`	Clean IDE caches
`null-e homebrew`	Clean Homebrew caches
`null-e ios-deps`	Clean iOS dependency caches
`null-e electron`	Clean Electron app caches
`null-e gamedev`	Clean game development caches
`null-e cloud`	Clean cloud CLI caches
`null-e macos`	Clean macOS system caches

Analysis Tools

Command	Description
`null-e git-analyze`	Find large .git repos, suggest git gc
`null-e stale`	Find projects not touched in months
`null-e duplicates`	Find duplicate dependencies

Usage Examples

Basic Scanning

# Scan current directory
null-e

# Scan specific directories
null-e ~/projects ~/work

# Scan with depth limit
null-e -d 5 ~/projects

# Filter by minimum size
null-e -s 100MB ~/projects

# Show all results (no limit)
null-e -a ~/projects

# Verbose output
null-e -v ~/projects

Deep Sweep

# Find everything cleanable
null-e sweep

# Filter by category
null-e sweep --category xcode
null-e sweep --category docker

# Clean interactively
null-e sweep --clean

Global Caches

# Show all global caches
null-e caches

# Clean selected caches interactively
null-e caches --clean

# Clean all caches
null-e caches --clean-all

Xcode Cleanup

# Show Xcode artifacts
null-e xcode

# Clean DerivedData, old simulators, etc.
null-e xcode --clean

Docker Cleanup

# Show Docker resources
null-e docker

# Clean (excluding volumes)
null-e docker --clean

# Clean including volumes (careful!)
null-e docker --clean --volumes

Git Analysis

# Analyze git repos in a directory
null-e git-analyze ~/projects

# Run git gc on repos that need it
null-e git-analyze ~/projects --fix

# Dry run
null-e git-analyze ~/projects --fix --dry-run

Stale Project Detection

# Find projects not touched in 180 days (default)
null-e stale ~/projects

# Custom threshold (90 days)
null-e stale --days 90 ~/projects

# Clean build artifacts from stale projects
null-e stale --days 90 --clean ~/projects

Duplicate Detection

# Find duplicate dependencies
null-e duplicates ~/projects

# Verbose output with details
null-e duplicates -v ~/projects

Protection Levels

null-e protects your uncommitted work:

# Warn about uncommitted changes (default)
null-e clean -p warn

# Block cleaning repos with uncommitted changes
null-e clean -p block

# No protection (dangerous!)
null-e clean -p none

# Paranoid mode - require confirmation for everything
null-e clean -p paranoid

Deletion Methods

# Move to trash (default, safe)
null-e clean -m trash

# Permanent delete (careful!)
null-e clean -m permanent

# Dry run (no deletion)
null-e clean -m dry-run
# or
null-e clean -n

Configuration

Create ~/.config/null-e/config.toml:

[general]
default_paths = ["~/projects", "~/work"]
verbose = false

[scan]
max_depth = 10
skip_hidden = true
min_size = 1000000  # 1 MB

[clean]
delete_method = "trash"
protection_level = "warn"

[ui]
use_icons = true
sort_by = "size"

Config Commands

# Show current config
null-e config

# Initialize config file
null-e config --init

# Show config path
null-e config --path

Project Types Supported

Language/Framework	Marker Files	Cleanable Artifacts
Node.js	`package.json`	`node_modules`, `.next`, `.nuxt`, `dist`, `.cache`
Rust	`Cargo.toml`	`target/`
Python	`requirements.txt`, `pyproject.toml`	`.venv`, `__pycache__`, `.pytest_cache`
Go	`go.mod`	`vendor/`
Java/Kotlin	`pom.xml`, `build.gradle`	`target/`, `build/`, `.gradle/`
.NET	`*.csproj`	`bin/`, `obj/`
Swift	`Package.swift`	`.build/`, `.swiftpm/`
Ruby	`Gemfile`	`vendor/bundle`, `.bundle`
PHP	`composer.json`	`vendor/`

Safety Levels

Each cleanable item has a safety level:

Level	Symbol	Meaning
Safe	`✓`	Safe to delete, will be regenerated
SafeWithCost	`~`	Safe but may slow down next operation
Caution	`!`	May lose some data, verify before deleting
Dangerous	`⚠`	High risk, may break things

Architecture

     .---.
    |o   o|
    |  ^  |    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    | === |    │                       CLI                         │
    `-----'    ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
     /| |\     │                    Core Engine                    │
               │  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐        │
               │  │ Scanner  │  │ Cleaner  │  │ Analysis │        │
               │  │          │  │          │  │  Tools   │        │
               │  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘        │
               ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
               │                    Modules                        │
               │  ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐     │
               │  │Plugins │ │Cleaners│ │ Caches │ │ Docker │     │
               │  │(langs) │ │(system)│ │(global)│ │        │     │
               │  └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘     │
               └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Documentation

Detailed documentation for each module:

Cleaners Guide - System cleaners (Xcode, Docker, etc.)
Caches Guide - Global cache management
Analysis Guide - Analysis tools (git, stale, duplicates)

Development

Building

# Debug build
cargo build

# Release build
cargo build --release

# Run tests
cargo test

# Run with logging
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run

Project Structure

src/
├── main.rs           # CLI entry point
├── lib.rs            # Library exports
├── analysis/         # Analysis tools
│   ├── git.rs        # Git repository analysis
│   ├── stale.rs      # Stale project detection
│   └── duplicates.rs # Duplicate dependency detection
├── caches/           # Global cache management
├── cleaners/         # System cleaners
│   ├── xcode.rs      # Xcode cleaner
│   ├── android.rs    # Android cleaner
│   ├── docker.rs     # Docker cleaner
│   ├── ml.rs         # ML/AI cleaner
│   ├── ide.rs        # IDE cleaner
│   ├── homebrew.rs   # Homebrew cleaner
│   ├── ios_deps.rs   # iOS dependencies cleaner
│   ├── electron.rs   # Electron apps cleaner
│   ├── gamedev.rs    # Game development cleaner
│   ├── cloud.rs      # Cloud CLI cleaner
│   ├── macos.rs      # macOS system cleaner
│   └── logs.rs       # Log cleaner
├── plugins/          # Language plugins
├── core/             # Core scanning/cleaning logic
├── docker/           # Docker integration
├── git/              # Git integration
├── trash/            # Trash/delete operations
└── config/           # Configuration management

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Fork the repository
Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Adding a New Cleaner

Create a new file in src/cleaners/
Implement the cleaner with detect() method
Add to src/cleaners/mod.rs
Add CLI command in src/main.rs
Add tests

Adding a New Plugin

Create a new file in src/plugins/
Implement the Plugin trait
Register in src/plugins/mod.rs
Add tests

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Inspired by Wall-E (the adorable trash robot!)
Also inspired by npkill and kondo
Built with Rust

     .---.
    |o   o|   "Directive: Clean all the things!"
    |  ^  |
    | === |   Made with 💚 for developers who need their disk space back.
    `-----'
     /| |\

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 5 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
dist		dist
docs		docs
homebrew		homebrew
snap		snap
src		src
tests		tests
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

License

us/null-e

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null-e - Disk Cleanup Tool for Developers 🤖

Why "null-e"?

What Can null-e Clean?

Features

Installation

Using Cargo (Recommended)

Pre-built Binaries

Package Managers

Docker

From Source

Quick Start

Commands Overview

Core Commands

Specialized Cleaners

Analysis Tools

Usage Examples

Basic Scanning

Deep Sweep

Global Caches

Xcode Cleanup

Docker Cleanup

Git Analysis

Stale Project Detection

Duplicate Detection

Protection Levels

Deletion Methods

Configuration

Config Commands

Project Types Supported

Safety Levels

Architecture

Documentation

Development

Building

Project Structure

Contributing

Adding a New Cleaner

Adding a New Plugin

License

Acknowledgments

About

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