A CLI tool to reclaim disk space by finding and removing regeneratable development folders.
It behaves like npx npkill, but goes further by detecting multiple categories of heavy folders/files, providing a navigable grouped CLI, and focusing on modern tech stacks like Shopify and React Router—all without a single runtime dependency.
Here are some common ways to use reclaimspace:
To interactively select and delete items (default):
This is the default behavior. It lists all the folders, and you can select which ones to delete.
npx reclaimspaceTo directly delete everything (auto-delete):
This will find all reclaimable items and delete them automatically without confirmation.
npx reclaimspace --yesTo see what would be deleted (dry run):
This will list all the items that can be deleted but won't actually delete anything.
npx reclaimspace --dryTo run in a specific folder:
You can specify one or more directories to scan.
npx reclaimspace <foldername>To display the version number:
npx reclaimspace --version
# or
npx reclaimspace -vTo display the help message:
npx reclaimspace --helpTo combine flags and folders:
You can combine any of the flags with a specific folder. For example, to auto-delete all items in the my-project directory:
npx reclaimspace --yes my-projectTo enable build analysis:
This will enable build analysis logs.
npx reclaimspace --build-analysisTo ignore certain folders:
You can exclude folders from the scan by providing a comma-separated list of patterns.
npx reclaimspace --ignore "node_modules,dist"To include only specific folders:
You can specify a comma-separated list of patterns to include in the scan. When this flag is used, only folders matching these patterns will be considered, overriding the default detected items.
npx reclaimspace --include "my-custom-build,temp-files"You can create a .reclaimspacerc file in the root of your project to specify folders and patterns to ignore. This is useful for excluding project-specific build folders or other directories that you don't want to be scanned.
Example .reclaimspacerc file:
# Ignore all node_modules folders
node_modules
# Ignore a specific build folder
my-project/dist
- Interactive Deletion: Navigate through a list of found items using arrow keys, space to select, and Enter to proceed.
- Zero Runtime Dependencies: Built from the ground up with native Node.js APIs for maximum speed and security. No
node_modulesat runtime! - Categorized & Grouped: Results are grouped by type (Node Modules, Build Folders, etc.) for clarity.
- Size Information: See the size of each item and the total reclaimable space.
- Concurrent Scanning: ReclaimSpace uses a concurrent scanner to quickly find and process files.
- Build Artifact Detection: It intelligently detects build folders by looking for common build artifacts.
- Auto-Delete Mode: Use the
--yesflag to delete all found items without confirmation. - Dry Run Mode: Use the
--dryflag to see what would be deleted without actually deleting anything. - Ignore Patterns: Exclude specific folders or patterns using a
.reclaimspacercfile or the--ignoreflag. - Interactive UI: Supports 'a' to select all and 'i' to invert selection.
- Cool Logo: Displays a cool logo when you run the tool.
reclaimspace detects the following categories:
- Node Modules
node_modules
- Build/Cache Folders
.next,dist,build,storybook-static,.nuxt,.output,.svelte-kit,.angular,out,.expo,.turbo,.cache,.shopify,.react-router,.tanstack,.rollup.cache,.parcel-cache,.vite,.astro,.solid,.remix,.docusaurus,.eleventy-cache,.gatsby-cache,public/build
- Testing/Reporting Folders
coverage,.nyc_output,.pytest_cache,.tox,htmlcov
- Miscellaneous Dev Junk
.venv,venv,env(Python Virtual Environments)__pycache__,.mypy_cache,.ruff_cache(Python caches)vendor(Go/PHP dependencies).vagrant,.terraform(Infrastructure tools)
Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines to get started.
This project is licensed under the ISC License. See the LICENSE file for details.