Safe RM

Overview

Wrapper around rm -rf with safety checks. Use this instead of direct rm -rf commands.

When to Use

• Deleting directories or files recursively
• Any rm -rf or rm -r operation
• Cleaning up temporary files/folders

Usage

# Dry-run (default) - shows what would be deleted
safe-rm /path/to/delete

# Actually delete (if path is not protected)
safe-rm --force /path/to/delete
safe-rm -f /path/to/delete

Protected Paths

The script blocks deletion of:

System: /, /bin, /boot, /dev, /etc, /lib, /opt, /proc, /root, /sbin, /sys, /usr, /var, /home, /Users

Home config: ~, ~/.ssh, ~/.gnupg, ~/.config, ~/.local, ~/.claude, ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc

Project: .git, git repository root

Exit Codes

• 0 — success (or dry-run completed)
• 1 — path is protected
• 2 — path does not exist

Instructions for Claude

1. NEVER use rm -rf directly — always use safe-rm script
2. Run without --force first to preview what will be deleted
3. If path is protected, inform user and do not proceed
4. Only use --force after confirming dry-run output is correct