Use Trash Instead of rm

Files deleted with rm are gone permanently — no undo, no recovery. trash moves them to the macOS Trash instead, where they sit safely until you choose to empty it. This skill sets up that safer default for the session.

Step 1: Check if trash is installed

which trash 2>/dev/null

• Found — confirm it's available and move on.

• Not found — let the user know and offer to install:

  "trash isn't installed. It's a small macOS utility that moves files to the Trash instead of permanently deleting them. Want me to install it with Homebrew?"

  Wait for confirmation, then run:

  brew install trash
  

  Verify with which trash afterward.

  If the user declines installation — do not delete anything. Instead, tell the user the exact rm command they can run themselves, and stop. Never run rm on the user's behalf as a fallback.

Step 2: Use trash for all file deletions

For the rest of this session, substitute trash anywhere you'd reach for rm:

Instead of	Use
rm file.txt	trash file.txt
rm -rf build/	trash build/
rm -f config.bak	trash config.bak
rm *.log	trash *.log

trash handles files and directories alike — no -r flag needed. Everything moves to the macOS Trash and can be restored from there if needed.

Caveats

Linux: Use trash-cli instead. Check with which trash-put. If not installed, offer to install it:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install trash-cli

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install trash-cli

# Arch
sudo pacman -S trash-cli

# Fallback
pip install trash-cli

Once installed, substitute trash-put for rm:

• rm file.txt → trash-put file.txt
• rm -rf build/ → trash-put build/

Apply the same rule as macOS: if the user declines installation, provide the rm command for them to run themselves rather than running it on their behalf.

Headless/containers: trash-cli and trash both require a writable home directory and filesystem. In environments where neither is available (e.g., CI runners, scratch containers), tell the user and let them decide how to proceed.