Back to Commands

Cleanup Cache

Commands utilities 264
Install Command
npx claude-code-templates@latest --command utilities/cleanup-cache
View on GitHub

Content

System Cache Cleanup

Clean temporary files and caches to free disk space: $ARGUMENTS

Current Disk Usage

  • Disk space: !df -h / | tail -1
  • npm cache: !du -sh ~/.npm 2>/dev/null || echo "Not found"
  • Yarn cache: !du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Yarn 2>/dev/null || echo "Not found"
  • Homebrew cache: !brew cleanup -n 2>/dev/null | head -5 || echo "Homebrew not installed"

Cleanup Options

Based on the arguments provided, execute the appropriate cleanup level:

Option 1: Conservative Cleanup (default)

Safe cleanup of package manager caches that can be easily rebuilt:

bash
# Record starting disk space
echo "Starting cleanup..."
df -h / | tail -1 | awk '{print "Before: " $4 " free"}'

# Clean npm cache
echo "Cleaning npm cache..."
npm cache clean --force

# Clean Homebrew
echo "Cleaning Homebrew..."
brew cleanup

# Clean Yarn cache
echo "Cleaning Yarn cache..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Yarn

# Show results
df -h / | tail -1 | awk '{print "After: " $4 " free"}'

Option 2: Aggressive Cleanup (--aggressive flag)

Includes all conservative cleanup plus browser and development tool caches:

bash
# Run conservative cleanup first (from Option 1)
npm cache clean --force
brew cleanup
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Yarn

# Clean browser caches
echo "Cleaning browser caches..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Google
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.operasoftware.Opera
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Firefox
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Mozilla
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/zen
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Arc

# Clean development tool caches
echo "Cleaning development caches..."
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/pnpm
rm -rf ~/.cache/puppeteer
rm -rf ~/.cache/selenium

# Clean Python/ML caches
echo "Cleaning Python/ML caches..."
rm -rf ~/.cache/uv
rm -rf ~/.cache/huggingface
rm -rf ~/.cache/torch
rm -rf ~/.cache/whisper

# Show results
df -h / | tail -1 | awk '{print "After aggressive cleanup: " $4 " free"}'

Option 3: Maximum Cleanup (--maximum flag)

Includes all aggressive cleanup plus Docker and old node_modules:

bash
# Run aggressive cleanup first (from Option 2)
npm cache clean --force
brew cleanup
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Yarn
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/{Google,com.operasoftware.Opera,Firefox,Mozilla,zen,Arc,JetBrains,pnpm}
rm -rf ~/.cache/{puppeteer,selenium,uv,huggingface,torch,whisper}

# Clean Docker (if installed)
echo "Cleaning Docker..."
docker system prune -af --volumes 2>/dev/null || echo "Docker not running or not installed"

# List node_modules directories for manual review
echo "Finding node_modules directories..."
echo "Note: Not auto-deleting. Review and delete manually if needed."
find ~ -name "node_modules" -type d -prune 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Show results
df -h / | tail -1 | awk '{print "After maximum cleanup: " $4 " free"}'

Execution Steps

  1. Determine Cleanup Level

    • No arguments or empty: Run Conservative Cleanup (Option 1)
    • --aggressive: Run Aggressive Cleanup (Option 2)
    • --maximum: Run Maximum Cleanup (Option 3)
  2. Safety Checks

    • Verify sufficient permissions
    • Ensure critical applications are closed (browsers for Option 2+)
    • Warn about Docker containers being removed (Option 3)
  3. Execute Cleanup

    • Run appropriate commands based on the selected option
    • Show progress for each cleanup step
    • Handle errors gracefully (missing directories, permissions)
  4. Report Results

    • Display disk space before and after
    • Show amount of space recovered
    • List what was cleaned
    • Provide recommendations if more space is needed

Important Notes

Conservative Cleanup (default):

  • ✅ Always safe to run
  • ✅ Caches rebuild automatically when needed
  • ✅ No application impact

Aggressive Cleanup (--aggressive):

  • ⚠️ Close browsers before running
  • ⚠️ Browser caches will rebuild on next use
  • ⚠️ ML models will re-download if needed

Maximum Cleanup (--maximum):

  • ⚠️ Stops and removes all Docker containers/images
  • ⚠️ Only deletes node_modules after manual review
  • ⚠️ Most impactful but recovers the most space

Recovery

All cleaned caches are temporary and will rebuild automatically:

  • npm/Yarn: Rebuilds on next npm install
  • Homebrew: Downloaded on next brew install
  • Browsers: Rebuilds on next browsing session
  • Python/ML: Re-downloads models on next use
  • Docker: Pull images again with docker pull

Example Usage

bash
# Conservative cleanup (default)
/cleanup-cache

# Aggressive cleanup
/cleanup-cache --aggressive

# Maximum cleanup
/cleanup-cache --maximum

After cleanup, verify the results and inform the user of:

  1. Space freed
  2. Current free space
  3. What was cleaned
  4. Whether additional cleanup is recommended

Stack Builder

0 components

Your stack is empty

Browse components and click the + button to add them to your stack for easy installation.