Disk Hygiene

Audit disk usage, clean developer caches, find forgotten large files, and triage Downloads on macOS.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• User asks about disk space, storage, or cleanup
• System is running low on free space
• User wants to find old/forgotten large files
• User wants to clean developer caches (brew, uv, pip, npm, cargo)
• User wants to triage their Downloads folder
• User asks about disk analysis tools (dust, dua, gdu, ncdu)

TodoWrite Task Templates

Template A - Full Disk Audit

1. Run disk overview (df -h / and major directories)
2. Audit developer caches (uv, brew, pip, npm, cargo, rustup, Docker)
3. Scan for forgotten large files (>50MB, not accessed in 180+ days)
4. Present findings with AskUserQuestion for cleanup choices
5. Execute selected cleanups
6. Report space reclaimed

Template B - Cache Cleanup Only

1. Measure current cache sizes
2. Run safe cache cleanups (brew, uv, pip, npm)
3. Report space reclaimed

Template C - Downloads Triage

1. List Downloads contents with dates and sizes
2. Categorize into groups (media, dev artifacts, personal docs, misc)
3. Present AskUserQuestion multi-select for deletion/move
4. Execute selected actions

Template D - Forgotten File Hunt

1. Scan home directory for large files not accessed in 180+ days
2. Group by location and type (media, ISOs, dev artifacts, documents)
3. Present findings sorted by size
4. Offer cleanup options via AskUserQuestion

---

Phase 1 - Disk Overview

Get the lay of the land before diving into specifics.

/usr/bin/env bash << 'OVERVIEW_EOF'
echo "=== Disk Overview ==="
df -h /

echo ""
echo "=== Major Directories ==="
du -sh ~/Library/Caches ~/Library/Logs ~/Library/Application\ Support \
  ~/.Trash ~/Downloads ~/Documents ~/Desktop ~/Movies ~/Music ~/Pictures \
  2>/dev/null | sort -rh

echo ""
echo "=== Developer Tool Caches ==="
du -sh ~/.docker ~/.npm ~/.cargo ~/.rustup ~/.local ~/.cache \
  ~/.conda ~/.pyenv ~/.local/share/mise 2>/dev/null | sort -rh
OVERVIEW_EOF

Phase 2 - Cache Audit & Cleanup

Cache Size Reference

Cache	Location	Typical Size	Clean Command
uv	~/Library/Caches/uv/	5-15 GB	uv cache clean
Homebrew	~/Library/Caches/Homebrew/	3-10 GB	brew cleanup --prune=all
pip	~/Library/Caches/pip/	0.5-2 GB	pip cache purge
npm	~/.npm/_cacache/	0.5-2 GB	npm cache clean --force
cargo	~/.cargo/registry/cache/	1-5 GB	cargo cache -a (needs cargo-cache)
rustup	~/.rustup/toolchains/	2-8 GB	rustup toolchain remove <old>
Docker	Docker.app	5-30 GB	docker system prune -a
Playwright	~/Library/Caches/ms-playwright/	0.5-2 GB	npx playwright uninstall
sccache	~/Library/Caches/Mozilla.sccache/	1-3 GB	rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/Mozilla.sccache
huggingface	~/.cache/huggingface/	1-10 GB	rm -rf ~/.cache/huggingface/hub/<model>

Safe Cleanup Commands (Always Re-downloadable)

/usr/bin/env bash << 'CACHE_CLEAN_EOF'
set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Measuring current cache sizes ==="
echo "uv:       $(du -sh ~/Library/Caches/uv/ 2>/dev/null | cut -f1 || echo 'N/A')"
echo "Homebrew: $(du -sh ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew/ 2>/dev/null | cut -f1 || echo 'N/A')"
echo "pip:      $(du -sh ~/Library/Caches/pip/ 2>/dev/null | cut -f1 || echo 'N/A')"
echo "npm:      $(du -sh ~/.npm/_cacache/ 2>/dev/null | cut -f1 || echo 'N/A')"

echo ""
echo "=== Cleaning ==="
brew cleanup --prune=all 2>&1 | tail -3
uv cache clean --force 2>&1
pip cache purge 2>&1
npm cache clean --force 2>&1
CACHE_CLEAN_EOF

Troubleshooting Cache Cleanup

Issue	Cause	Solution
uv cache lock held	Another uv process running	Use uv cache clean --force
brew cleanup skips formulae	Linked but not latest	Safe to ignore, or brew reinstall <pkg>
pip cache purge permission denied	System pip vs user pip	Use python -m pip cache purge
Docker not running	Docker Desktop not started	Start Docker.app first, or skip

Phase 3 - Forgotten File Detection

Find large files that have not been accessed in 180+ days.

/usr/bin/env bash << 'STALE_EOF'
echo "=== Large forgotten files (>50MB, untouched 180+ days) ==="
echo ""

# Scan home directory (excluding Library, node_modules, .git, hidden dirs)
find "$HOME" -maxdepth 4 \
  -not -path '*/\.*' \
  -not -path '*/Library/*' \
  -not -path '*/node_modules/*' \
  -not -path '*/.git/*' \
  -type f -atime +180 -size +50M 2>/dev/null | \
while read -r f; do
  mod_date=$(stat -f '%Sm' -t '%Y-%m-%d' "$f" 2>/dev/null)
  size=$(du -sh "$f" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1)
  echo "${mod_date} ${size} ${f}"
done | sort

echo ""
echo "=== Documents & Desktop (>10MB, untouched 180+ days) ==="
find "$HOME/Documents" "$HOME/Desktop" \
  -type f -atime +180 -size +10M 2>/dev/null | \
while read -r f; do
  mod_date=$(stat -f '%Sm' -t '%Y-%m-%d' "$f" 2>/dev/null)
  size=$(du -sh "$f" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1)
  echo "${mod_date} ${size} ${f}"
done | sort
STALE_EOF

Common Forgotten File Types

Type	Typical Location	Example
Windows/Linux ISOs	Documents, Downloads	.iso files from VM setup
CapCut/iMovie exports	Movies/	Large .mp4 renders
Phone video transfers	Pictures/, DCIM/	.MOV files from iPhone
Old Zoom recordings	Documents/	.aac, .mp4 from meetings
Orphaned downloads	Documents/	CFNetworkDownload_*.mp4
Screen recordings	Documents/, Desktop/	Capto/QuickTime .mov

Phase 4 - Downloads Triage

Use AskUserQuestion with multi-select to let the user choose what to clean.

Workflow

1. List all files in ~/Downloads with dates and sizes
2. Categorize into logical groups
3. Present AskUserQuestion with categories as multi-select options
4. Offer personal/sensitive PDFs separately (keep, move to Documents, or delete)
5. Execute selected actions

Categorization Pattern

/usr/bin/env bash << 'DL_LIST_EOF'
echo "=== Downloads by date and size ==="
find "$HOME/Downloads" -maxdepth 1 \( -type f -o -type d \) ! -path "$HOME/Downloads" | \
while read -r f; do
  mod_date=$(stat -f '%Sm' -t '%Y-%m-%d' "$f" 2>/dev/null)
  size=$(du -sh "$f" 2>/dev/null | cut -f1)
  echo "${mod_date} ${size} $(basename "$f")"
done | sort
DL_LIST_EOF

AskUserQuestion Template

When presenting Downloads cleanup options, use this pattern:

• Question 1 (multiSelect: true) - "Which items in ~/Downloads do you want to delete?"
  • Group by type: movie files (with total size), old PDFs/docs, dev artifacts, app exports
• Question 2 (multiSelect: false) - "What about personal/sensitive PDFs?"
  • Options: Keep all, Move to Documents, Delete (already have copies)
• Question 3 (multiSelect: false) - "Ongoing cleanup tool preference?"
  • Options: dust + dua-cli, Hazel automation, custom launchd script

Disk Analysis Tools Reference

Comparison (Benchmarked on ~632GB home directory, Apple Silicon)

Tool	Wall Time	CPU Usage	Interactive Delete	Install
dust	20.4s	637% (parallel)	No (view only)	brew install dust
gdu-go	28.8s	845% (very parallel)	Yes (TUI)	brew install gdu
dua-cli	37.1s	237% (moderate)	Yes (staged safe delete)	brew install dua-cli
ncdu	96.6s	43% (single-thread)	Yes (TUI)	brew install ncdu

Recommended Combo

• dust for quick "where is my space going?" - fastest scanner, tree output
• dua i or gdu-go for interactive exploration with deletion

Quick Usage

# dust - instant tree overview
dust -d 2 ~              # depth 2
dust -r ~/Library         # reverse sort (smallest first)

# dua - interactive TUI with safe deletion
dua i ~                   # navigate, mark, delete with confirmation

# gdu-go - ncdu-like TUI, fast on SSDs
gdu-go ~                  # full TUI with delete support
gdu-go -n ~              # non-interactive (for scripting/benchmarks)

Install All Tools

brew install dust dua-cli gdu

Note: gdu installs as gdu-go to avoid conflict with coreutils.

Quick Wins Summary

Ordered by typical space reclaimed (highest first):

Action	Typical Savings	Risk	Command
uv cache clean	5-15 GB	None (re-downloads)	uv cache clean --force
brew cleanup --prune=all	3-10 GB	None (re-downloads)	brew cleanup --prune=all
Delete movie files in Downloads	2-10 GB	Check first	Manual after AskUserQuestion
npm cache clean --force	0.5-2 GB	None (re-downloads)	npm cache clean --force
pip cache purge	0.5-2 GB	None (re-downloads)	pip cache purge
Prune old rustup toolchains	2-5 GB	Keep current	rustup toolchain list then remove
Docker system prune	5-30 GB	Removes stopped containers	docker system prune -a
Empty Trash	Variable	Irreversible	rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

Post-Change Checklist

After modifying this skill:

1. Cache commands tested on macOS (Apple Silicon)
2. Benchmark data still current (re-run if tools updated)
3. AskUserQuestion patterns match current tool API
4. All bash blocks use /usr/bin/env bash << 'EOF' wrapper
5. No hardcoded user paths (use $HOME)
6. Append changes to evolution-log.md

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Solution
uv cache clean hangs	Lock held by running uv	Use --force flag
brew cleanup frees 0 bytes	Already clean or formulae linked	Run brew cleanup --prune=all
find reports permission denied	System Integrity Protection	Add 2>/dev/null to suppress
gdu command not found	Installed as gdu-go	Use gdu-go (coreutils conflict)
dust shows different size than df	Counting method differs	Normal - df includes filesystem overhead
Stale file scan is slow	Deep directory tree	Limit -maxdepth or exclude more paths
Docker not accessible	Desktop app not running	Start Docker.app or skip Docker cleanup