Nodewipe

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A Rust dev-environment cleanup tool. Started as a reimagining of npkill (see the issue-to-fix mapping below), but goes further: node_modules isn't the only thing that quietly eats disk space — Python virtualenvs, __pycache__, Rust target/, Java/Gradle build output, and JS bundler caches all have the exact same problem. nodewipe scans for all of them by default, through one shared engine.

Supported artifact types

Type	Slug	Detected by
`node_modules`	`node_modules`	directory name
Python venv	`venv`	`venv`/`.venv` name + `pyvenv.cfg` inside
Python bytecode cache	`pycache`	`__pycache__`
pytest cache	`pytest_cache`	`.pytest_cache`
mypy cache	`mypy_cache`	`.mypy_cache`
ruff cache	`ruff_cache`	`.ruff_cache`
Rust build output	`rust_target`	`target/` + sibling `Cargo.toml`
Maven build output	`maven_target`	`target/` + sibling `pom.xml`
Gradle build output	`gradle_build`	`build/` + sibling `build.gradle(.kts)`
Next.js cache	`next_cache`	`.next`
Turborepo cache	`turbo_cache`	`.turbo`
JS bundler output	`dist`	`dist/` + sibling `package.json`

Everything is scanned by default (nodewipe scan); opt individual types out with nodewipe --exclude-types venv,dist, or list them all with nodewipe types. Ambiguous names like target/build/dist are only matched when a marker file confirms the ecosystem (e.g. target/ next to Cargo.toml), so an unrelated folder that happens to share the name is never touched.

Installing

# 1. npm — downloads the right native binary via postinstall,
#    no Rust/Node build step for the end user
npx @joker53/nodewipe
# or: npm install -g @joker53/nodewipe

# 2. Arch Linux (AUR)
yay -S nodewipe
# or: paru -S nodewipe

# 3. Docker — scan any folder without installing anything
docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/scan ghcr.io/kadhiravaneg/nodewipe
# Scan a specific directory:
docker run --rm -v ~/Projects:/scan ghcr.io/kadhiravaneg/nodewipe scan --json
# Interactive TUI inside Docker (needs a TTY):
docker run --rm -it -v ~/Projects:/scan ghcr.io/kadhiravaneg/nodewipe scan

# 4. Shell installer — asks CLI-only vs CLI+GUI
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KADHIRAVANEG/nodewipe/main/install.sh | bash

# 5. Manual — grab the binary for your platform from GitHub Releases
#    https://github.com/KADHIRAVANEG/nodewipe/releases

None of these compile anything locally — .github/workflows/release.yml builds native binaries for Linux/macOS/Windows on every version tag and attaches them to a GitHub Release; the npm package and install.sh just fetch the matching one.

Publishing a new release

git tag vX.Y.Z
git push origin vX.Y.Z

This triggers the GitHub Actions workflow to build and attach binaries. The npm shim only needs re-publishing when its own code changes:

cd npm-package
npm version patch   # or minor/major
npm publish --access=public

Building from source

cargo build --release
./target/release/nodewipe scan

Building the GUI

Requires Node.js/npm in addition to Rust, plus Tauri's native dependencies:

Linux: webkit2gtk-4.1, libappindicator-gtk3, librsvg, and build tools
macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
Windows: Microsoft C++ Build Tools + WebView2

cd gui
npm install
npm run dev      # dev mode with hot reload
npm run build    # distributable bundle

Usage (CLI)

# Interactive TUI (default when run in a terminal)
nodewipe

# Scan current directory
nodewipe scan

# Scan a specific directory
nodewipe scan ~
nodewipe scan ~/Projects

# Only show artifacts >= 50 MB
nodewipe scan ~ --min-mb 50

# Group results by monorepo/workspace root
nodewipe scan ~ --grouped

# Sort by age — oldest (most abandoned) artifacts float to the top
nodewipe scan ~ --sort age

# Flag projects whose source files haven't been touched in 60+ days
nodewipe scan ~ --stale-days 60

# Only show artifacts untouched in 30+ days
nodewipe scan ~ --older-than 30d
# Also accepts w(eeks), m(onths ~30d), y(ears ~365d): --older-than 6m

# Skip specific artifact types
nodewipe scan --exclude-types venv,dist,rust_target

# List every supported type and its slug
nodewipe types

# Scriptable / CI mode
nodewipe scan --json > report.json

# Delete: safe by default (moves to OS trash), requires --yes
nodewipe delete ./apps/foo/node_modules --yes

# Archive before deleting (creates a .tar.gz backup)
nodewipe delete ./apps/foo/node_modules --mode archive --yes

# Preview only — no changes made
nodewipe delete ./apps/foo/node_modules --dry-run

# Restore a backup created by --mode archive
nodewipe restore ./apps/foo/foo-node_modules-backup.tar.gz

# Generate shell completions (e.g. bash, zsh, fish, powershell)
nodewipe completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/nodewipe

# Launch the desktop GUI
nodewipe gui

Analysis commands

`nodewipe doctor`

Scans your system and gives a full breakdown of disk usage by ecosystem — how many Rust target/ folders, Python venvs, etc., how much space each ecosystem takes in total, and which artifact is the oldest (most abandoned).

nodewipe doctor ~

Example output:

🩺  nodewipe doctor — scanning /home/user …

 Total reclaimable: 16.0 GB across 90 artifact directories

 Ecosystem               Count        Total   Oldest      Oldest path
 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Cargo target                2      13.7 GB   51 days     ~/npkill-rs/target
 Python venv                 4       1.7 GB   82 days     ~/Downloads/.../venv
 node_modules                6     491.7 MB   69 days     ~/fortisim/.../node_modules
 Go build cache              1      70.0 MB   32 days     ~/.cache/go-build
 __pycache__                75       4.1 MB   121 days    ~/Downloads/.../__pycache__

 Top space consumers:
   12.3 GB  (51d ago)  ~/npkill-rs/target
   1.6 GB   (1d ago)   ~/CRISPR/.venv
   1.4 GB   (35d ago)  ~/linuxpet/target

 💡 Next steps:
    nodewipe scan --older-than 90d
    nodewipe delete <path> --mode trash

`nodewipe stats`

Shows a dashboard of how much disk space you have freed over time, broken down by ecosystem, with a bar chart of the last 30 days. History is stored in ~/.local/share/nodewipe/history.json.

nodewipe stats

Example output:

📊  nodewipe stats — lifetime savings

 Total freed:  23.7 GB   across 63 deletions

 By ecosystem:
 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  node_modules          31     340.2 MB   last: today
  rust_target           12      14.2 GB   last: 3 days ago
  python_venv            9       2.1 GB   last: 14 days ago

 Last 30 days:
  2026-08-20  ████████████████  2.1 GB (4 deletions)
  2026-08-23  ████              512 MB (1 deletion)
  2026-08-27  ████████████████████████  340.2 MB (1 deletion)

 All-time total: 16.5 GB

Persistent config

`.nodewipeignore`

Drop a .nodewipeignore file in a scan root (or ~/.nodewipeignore for a global rule set) to permanently skip specific paths. This file supports standard .gitignore glob syntax (powered by the standard ignore crate):

# .nodewipeignore
legacy-project/
apps/**/node_modules
!apps/keep-this-one/node_modules

Disable for a single run with --no-ignore-file.

Config file

~/.config/nodewipe/config.toml sets defaults that CLI flags always override:

default_delete_mode = "archive"          # trash | archive | permanent
default_exclude_types = ["venv", "rust_target"]

GUI

The Tauri desktop app (nodewipe gui) wraps the same nodewipe-core engine as the CLI. It has three tabs:

🔍 Scan — search/filter, per-type filter chips, flat and collapsible grouped (monorepo) views, sortable columns, select-all, colored type badges, confirmation modal for permanent delete, toast notifications.
🩺 Doctor — ecosystem breakdown table and top space consumers for the scanned folder.
📊 Stats — per-ecosystem deletion history and 30-day bar chart.

All deletions made through the GUI are recorded to the same history file as the CLI, so nodewipe stats reflects GUI deletions too.

Issue-to-fix mapping (voidcosmos/npkill)

npkill issue	What this project does differently
#188 no headless/scriptable mode	`--json` output + `--yes`/`--dry-run` flags + proper exit codes
#199 / #191 nested directory bugs	Scanner prunes recursion only at matched artifact; sibling branches are never affected
#104 no grouped/collapsed view	`workspace::group_by_workspace` groups by detected monorepo root
#172 / #121 slow scan/delete	`rayon`-parallel directory walk and parallel size computation
#60 no trash/undo	`DeleteMode::Trash` moves to OS trash instead of unlinking
#46 no archive option	`DeleteMode::Archive` tars+gzips before removing
#75 pnpm/Windows issues	Package manager detected from lockfile; `.pnpm` treated as part of one deletable unit
#186 no desktop app	`gui/` — Tauri app wrapping the same `nodewipe-core` engine

Roadmap

✅ Core scanning + deletion engine, scriptable CLI
✅ Interactive terminal UI with ratatui, multi-select, trash/archive/permanent
✅ Tauri GUI wrapping nodewipe-core (no engine code duplicated)
✅ Multi-ecosystem support (Python, Rust, Java, JS build caches), risk warnings
✅ Prebuilt binaries/installers via GitHub Actions for macOS/Linux/Windows, npm shim, install.sh
✅ .nodewipeignore, ~/.config/nodewipe/config.toml, restore, --older-than age filtering
✅ AUR package (nodewipe), npm package (@joker53/nodewipe)
✅ nodewipe doctor — ecosystem analysis and disk-hog report
✅ nodewipe stats — lifetime deletion dashboard with history tracking
✅ Last-used sorting (--sort age) and stale project detection (--stale-days)
✅ GUI Doctor and Stats tabs
✅ Shell completions (bash/zsh/fish/powershell)
✅ Self-update check and automatic download for prebuilt binaries
Homebrew tap + Scoop/winget packages
Benchmark suite vs. npkill on a large monorepo fixture

Project layout

nodewipe/
├── core/          # nodewipe-core: engine — scanner, deleter, history, doctor, stale detection
├── cli/           # nodewipe-cli: argument parsing, output formatting, TUI
├── gui/           # nodewipe-gui: Tauri desktop app
│   ├── src-tauri/ # Rust backend (Tauri commands)
│   └── web/       # Vanilla JS + CSS frontend
├── npm-package/   # npm shim — downloads the right native binary on install
├── packaging/
│   └── aur/       # Arch Linux AUR PKGBUILD
└── docker/        # Docker image

Architecture

flowchart TD
    classDef engine fill:#2c3e50,stroke:#34495e,color:#fff
    classDef cli fill:#2980b9,stroke:#fff,color:#fff
    classDef gui fill:#8e44ad,stroke:#fff,color:#fff
    classDef output fill:#27ae60,stroke:#fff,color:#fff
    classDef config fill:#f1c40f,stroke:#f39c12,color:#000

    Core["nodewipe-core
    ─────────────
    scanner · deleter
    history · doctor
    stale detection
    workspace grouping"]:::engine

    CLI["nodewipe-cli
    ─────────────
    scan · delete · restore
    doctor · stats · types
    TUI · --json mode"]:::cli

    GUI["nodewipe-gui
    ─────────────
    Scan tab
    Doctor tab
    Stats tab"]:::gui

    Config["config.toml
    .nodewipeignore"]:::config

    HistFile["~/.local/share/nodewipe/
    history.json"]:::output

    Disk["Filesystem"]:::output

    Config -.-> CLI
    Config -.-> Core
    CLI --> Core
    GUI --> Core
    Core --> Disk
    Core --> HistFile
    CLI --> HistFile
    GUI --> HistFile

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github		.github
cli		cli
core		core
docker		docker
gui		gui
npm-package		npm-package
packaging/aur		packaging/aur
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
.nodewipeignore		.nodewipeignore
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
index.html		index.html
install.sh		install.sh
logo.svg		logo.svg
script.js		script.js
styles.css		styles.css

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Nodewipe

Supported artifact types

Installing

Publishing a new release

Building from source

Building the GUI

Usage (CLI)

Analysis commands

`nodewipe doctor`

`nodewipe stats`

Persistent config

`.nodewipeignore`

Config file

GUI

Issue-to-fix mapping (voidcosmos/npkill)

Roadmap

Project layout

Architecture

About

Releases

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Repository files navigation

Nodewipe

Supported artifact types

Installing

Publishing a new release

Building from source

Building the GUI

Usage (CLI)

Analysis commands

nodewipe doctor

nodewipe stats

Persistent config

.nodewipeignore

Config file

GUI

Issue-to-fix mapping (voidcosmos/npkill)

Roadmap

Project layout

Architecture

About

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