diskdiet

See where your developer disk space went, and get it back safely.
npm, Yarn, pnpm, Bun, pip, uv, Cargo, Go, Gradle, Maven, Playwright, Cypress, Xcode, Docker,
and forgotten node_modules and target folders. One binary for macOS, Linux and Windows.

Why

Package managers never forget. After a year of npm install, the npm cache alone can pass 40 GB, and Docker images, the pnpm store and old projects' node_modules add more. Most cleaners either wipe everything, so your next installs crawl, or only handle one tool.

diskdiet shows the whole picture first, then removes only what you haven't used lately: by default, anything unchanged for 30 days.

Desktop app

Prefer clicking? The diskdiet app shows the same breakdown in a window: how much can be freed, a bar for every cache, and the node_modules of each project you haven't touched, which you can untick to keep. Pick an age (7, 30 or 90 days, or everything), review the list, and free it in one click.

It also stays in your menu bar (or system tray) after you close the window, checks every few hours, and notifies you when more than 10 GB could be freed. If you want, it can clean old package-cache entries automatically every day or week, but never node_modules or Docker (details).

Download it from the latest release:

OS	File
macOS (Apple silicon and Intel)	diskdiet-app_<version>_macos_universal.dmg
Windows	diskdiet-app_<version>_windows_amd64_setup.exe (installs for your user, no admin needed)
Linux	diskdiet-app_<version>_linux_x86_64.AppImage

The app isn't signed by Apple or Microsoft yet, so the first launch needs one extra step (details):

• macOS: open the app once, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
• Windows: on the SmartScreen warning, click More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: chmod +x diskdiet-app_*.AppImage and run it.

VS Code

The diskdiet extension adds a Disk space view, a status bar item that appears when a lot can be freed, and a Free Disk Space… command. When a command in the terminal fails with "no space left on device", it offers to free space right there (details). Search diskdiet in the Extensions view, or install the .vsix from the latest release.

AI assistants (MCP)

Let Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code Copilot and other assistants see what is using disk space and free it when you ask:

claude mcp add diskdiet -- diskdiet mcp

scan_disk_usage changes nothing; free_disk_space removes only what the scan showed, for the sources you choose, and asks you to confirm (details).

Claude Code plugin

The plugin adds the MCP tools and a skill that tells Claude when to use them, so "my disk is full" or "no space left on device" gets diagnosed and fixed in the conversation, asking before anything is removed:

/plugin install diskdiet --marketplace roystondwork-dev/diskdiet

Usage

diskdiet                                  # scan: what's using space, what can go (changes nothing)
diskdiet clean                            # free what's older than 30 days, after showing the list
diskdiet clean --older-than 7d            # be more aggressive
diskdiet clean --only npm,docker          # just these
diskdiet clean --skip node_modules
diskdiet clean --all --dry-run            # what removing everything would free
diskdiet scan --projects ~/code           # look for node_modules only under ~/code
diskdiet scan --json                      # for scripts

Flag
--older-than 30d	What counts as old: 12h, 7d, 2w…
--all	Everything, whatever its age
--only, --skip	npm, yarn, pnpm, bun, pip, uv, cargo, go, gradle, maven, playwright, cypress, xcode, docker, node_modules, target
--projects DIR	Where to look for node_modules (repeatable; default: your home folder)
-n, --dry-run	Show what clean would remove, remove nothing
-y, --yes	Don't ask (for scripts and CI)
--volumes	Also remove unused Docker volumes
--force	Clean even while a package manager is installing
--keep DIR	Leave this node_modules or target folder alone (repeatable)
--json	Machine-readable output

What it cleans, and how

	Where	What clean removes
npm	~/.npm (or npm config get cache)	Cached packages and metadata older than the cutoff; old npx installs and logs. Content another, newer entry still uses is kept.
Yarn	Yarn 1 cache, Yarn 2+ global cache	Package folders and zips older than the cutoff
pnpm	pnpm store path	Packages no project uses, via pnpm store prune; old metadata
Bun	~/.bun/install/cache	Package folders older than the cutoff
pip	pip cache (PIP_CACHE_DIR)	Cached downloads and built wheels older than the cutoff
uv	uv cache dir	The whole cache via uv cache clean, only with --all (uv's entries depend on each other)
Cargo	~/.cargo (CARGO_HOME)	Downloaded .crate files, unpacked sources and git checkouts older than the cutoff
Go	GOCACHE, GOMODCACHE	Build cache entries not used for the cutoff (Go records their last use); module versions downloaded before it
Gradle	~/.gradle (GRADLE_USER_HOME)	Downloaded Gradle distributions and per-version caches and logs older than the cutoff; Gradle manages its shared dependency cache itself
Maven	~/.m2/repository	Artifact versions downloaded before the cutoff
Playwright	ms-playwright cache	Older browser revisions; the newest of each browser always stays
Cypress	Cypress cache	Older Cypress versions; the newest always stays
Xcode (macOS)	~/Library/Developer/Xcode	DerivedData and iOS/watchOS/tvOS DeviceSupport older than the cutoff; never Archives
Docker	your current docker context	Unused images, stopped containers and build cache older than the cutoff; volumes only with --volumes (details)
node_modules	projects under your home folder	node_modules of projects where nothing has changed for the cutoff
target	Rust (Cargo.toml) and Maven (pom.xml) projects under your home folder	Their target build folders, for projects where nothing has changed for the cutoff

Anything removed from a cache is downloaded again the next time a project needs it. A removed node_modules comes back with npm install (or yarn, pnpm i, bun i).

Safety

• Scan first, always. clean shows exactly what it will remove and asks before removing anything. What it removes is what it showed you.
• Never outside a cache. Every removal is checked to be inside the cache folder it belongs to; symlinks are never followed.
• The tool's own command where there is one. pnpm and Docker decide what is unused, so nothing a project or a running container needs goes away.
• Not under a running install or build. If npm install, pnpm add, yarn, cargo build, go test, a Gradle or Maven build or similar is running, diskdiet skips that cache (--force overrides). A running npm run dev or an idle Gradle daemon doesn't count.
• Volumes stay unless you add --volumes.

Install

# npm (any OS): run it without installing
npx diskdiet

# PyPI (any OS)
pipx install diskdiet          # or: uv tool install diskdiet

# Go 1.26+
go install github.com/roystondwork-dev/diskdiet/cmd/diskdiet@latest

# Homebrew (macOS, Linux)
brew install roystondwork-dev/tap/diskdiet

# Scoop (Windows)
scoop bucket add roystondwork-dev https://github.com/roystondwork-dev/scoop-bucket
scoop install diskdiet

# winget (Windows)
winget install roystondwork-dev.diskdiet

Archives, .deb, .rpm and .apk packages for amd64 and arm64 are on the releases page. The checksum file is signed with cosign (keyless) and releases include SBOMs and build provenance.

Demo mode

DISKDIET_DEMO=1 diskdiet (or the app started with DISKDIET_DEMO=1) shows made-up caches and removes nothing: for trying diskdiet, screenshots and recordings.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success (including "nothing to free" and answering no)
1	Error
2	Wrong usage, such as an unknown flag or source
3	clean finished, but some items could not be removed

Roadmap

• v0.2: a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux
• v0.3: a menu bar / tray icon that warns when caches grow, with optional scheduled pruning
• v0.4: pip, uv, Cargo, Go, Gradle, Maven, Playwright, Cypress, Xcode, target folders
• v0.5: an MCP server for AI assistants
• v0.6: a VS Code extension, npm and PyPI packages, the MCP Registry, a Claude Code plugin, winget, demo mode

Ideas and bug reports are welcome in issues.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Please follow the Code of Conduct and report vulnerabilities privately as described in SECURITY.md.

License

MIT © 2026 Royston D and diskdiet contributors