Dev Clean Mac

Frees disk on a Mac dev machine by deleting caches and build artifacts that regenerate on demand. Tuned for this layout — $HOME/repos (with myoss/zfb), a shared Cargo target dir, pnpm/npm caches — but every step is existence-guarded, so it runs safely on any Mac with a similar structure (e.g. a second machine).

Why a script and not ad-hoc rm: on APFS, deleting files frees nothing while local Time Machine snapshots still reference the data — df keeps showing the old number. The script ends by thinning those snapshots (tmutil thinlocalsnapshots), which is what makes the reclaimed space materialize. Skipping that step is the #1 reason a cleanup "does nothing."

Workflow

The script lives at scripts/clean-mac.sh in this skill directory.

1. Dry run first — show the user what will be freed, delete nothing:

   bash "$HOME/.claude/skills/dev-clean-mac/scripts/clean-mac.sh" --dry-run
   

   Relay the per-path sizes and the measured total to the user.

2. Confirm node_modules. By default the script deletes all node_modules

   under $HOME/repos (reinstallable via pnpm/npm install). If the user is mid-work on a project, pass --keep-node-modules to preserve them.

3. Run for real:

   bash "$HOME/.claude/skills/dev-clean-mac/scripts/clean-mac.sh" --run
   # or, to keep node_modules:
   bash "$HOME/.claude/skills/dev-clean-mac/scripts/clean-mac.sh" --run --keep-node-modules
   

   The deletions can take a few minutes (millions of small files); it may auto-background. Report the BEFORE/AFTER df lines it prints.

What it cleans

• Cargo: the shared target-dir from $HOME/.cargo/config.toml (defaults to

  $HOME/.cargo-target, dominated by zfb), $HOME/.cargo/registry, and every per-project target/ under $HOME/repos (detected by cargo's CACHEDIR.TAG).

• zfb: checked-in release tarballs (zfb-*.tar.gz) and all .zfb-build/ dirs.

• node_modules: every one under $HOME/repos (unless --keep-node-modules).

• JS caches: pnpm store prune, npm cache clean, $HOME/Library/Caches/pnpm.

• OS/app caches: ms-playwright, electron, copilot, $HOME/.cache/codex-runtimes,

  Homebrew cache, Adobe/CreativeCloud logs, unavailable iOS simulators.

• Downloads: *.dmg / *.pkg installers (re-downloadable).

• APFS local snapshots: thinned at the end to release everything above.

What it never touches

Source trees, image/data stashes (e.g. zmod-image-stash), browser profiles, and app data (Claude/Chrome/Slack containers) — only regenerable caches and artifacts. Every path is verified to be under $HOME before removal; missing paths are skipped silently, which is what makes it portable across machines.

Notes

• First builds/installs after running are slower (caches re-download, projects

  rebuild) — that's the expected trade for the space.

• Safe to re-run anytime; all steps are idempotent.

• Local Time Machine snapshots are convenience restore points, not your real

  backup — thinning them does not affect Time Machine backups on disk/network.