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null-e

Disk cleanup for developers — clean node_modules, target, .venv, Docker, Xcode caches and 50+ cache types

CI License

Download • Quick Start • Docs • Changelog

/dev/null + Wall-E = null-e — like the adorable trash-compacting robot, null-e tirelessly cleans up developer junk and sends it where it belongs.

Reclaim 100+ GB — most developer machines accumulate tens of gigabytes of stale node_modules, target/, .venv, Docker images, and IDE caches.

Download

Desktop App (GUI)

Platform Download
macOS (Apple Silicon) Download .dmg — M1/M2/M3/M4
macOS (Intel) Download .dmg
Windows Download .exe — 64-bit
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian) Download .deb
Linux (Universal) Download .AppImage

macOS Installation Note

The app is not yet signed with an Apple Developer certificate. After downloading:

# Drag null-e.app to /Applications, then run:
xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/null-e.app
open /Applications/null-e.app

CLI (command-line)

cargo install null-e
null-e sweep

What's New

v0.4.0

⚠ BREAKING CHANGES

  • project restructured as Cargo workspace with Tauri GUI crate

Features

  • add Tauri GUI with full UX, auto-update, system tray, and cross-platform releases (1e0b5f9)

Bug Fixes

  • ci: exclude Tauri GUI crate from test and clippy jobs (af19683)
  • ci: switch release-please to simple mode for Cargo workspace compatibility (e0643b5)

See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.

Why null-e?

Category Examples Typical Size
Project Artifacts — node_modules, target, .venv, build Node.js, Rust, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Swift 10-100 GB
Global Caches — npm, pip, cargo, go, maven, gradle All major package managers 5-50 GB
Xcode — DerivedData, Simulators, Archives iOS/macOS development 20-100 GB
Docker — Images, Containers, Volumes, Build Cache Container workflows 10-100 GB
Android — AVD, Gradle, SDK Components Android development 5-30 GB
ML/AI — HuggingFace, Ollama, PyTorch cache Machine learning 10-100 GB
IDE Caches — JetBrains, VS Code, Cursor All major IDEs 2-20 GB
More — Homebrew, Electron, Game Dev, Cloud CLI, macOS System Everything else 1-100 GB

Features

  • Multi-language Support — Node.js, Rust, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Swift, Ruby, PHP and more
  • Git Protection — 4 levels (none/warn/block/paranoid) to prevent deleting uncommitted work
  • Safe Deletion — Moves to trash by default with recovery option, dry-run mode
  • Parallel Scanning — Fast multi-threaded directory traversal with rayon + walkdir
  • Interactive TUI — 18 scan modes, keyboard navigation, live progress with ratatui
  • Analysis Tools — Find stale projects, duplicate dependencies, optimize git repos
  • System Cleaners — Xcode, Docker, Android, ML/AI, IDE, Homebrew, Electron, Cloud CLI, and more
  • Configurable — TOML config file, CLI flags override, JSON output support
  • Cross-Platform — macOS, Linux, Windows

Installation

Using Cargo

cargo install null-e

Pre-built Binaries

Download from GitHub Releases:

Platform File
macOS ARM null-e-darwin-aarch64.tar.gz
macOS Intel null-e-darwin-x86_64.tar.gz
Linux x86_64 null-e-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
Linux x86_64 (musl) null-e-linux-x86_64-musl.tar.gz
Linux ARM null-e-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
Windows null-e-windows-x86_64.zip

Package Managers

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install null-e

# AUR (Arch Linux)
yay -S null-e

# Scoop (Windows)
scoop bucket add us https://github.com/us/scoop-bucket
scoop install null-e

Docker

docker run -v $(pwd):/workspace ghcr.io/us/null-e

From Source

git clone https://github.com/us/null-e.git
cd null-e
cargo install --path .

Quick Start

# Scan current directory for cleanable artifacts
null-e

# Deep sweep — find ALL cleanable items across your system
null-e sweep

# Clean global developer caches (npm, pip, cargo, etc.)
null-e caches

# Interactive TUI mode
null-e tui

# Find stale projects not touched in 6 months
null-e stale ~/projects

# Dry run — see what would be deleted
null-e clean ~/projects --dry-run

Commands

Core

Command Description
null-e Scan current directory for project artifacts
null-e scan Scan with detailed output
null-e clean Clean found artifacts (interactive)
null-e sweep Deep scan for ALL cleanable items
null-e caches Manage global developer caches
null-e tui Launch interactive terminal UI

System Cleaners

Command Description
null-e xcode Xcode artifacts (DerivedData, Simulators, Archives)
null-e android Android development artifacts
null-e docker Docker resources (images, volumes, build cache)
null-e ml ML/AI model caches (HuggingFace, Ollama, PyTorch)
null-e ide IDE caches (JetBrains, VS Code, Cursor)
null-e homebrew Homebrew caches
null-e ios-deps iOS dependency caches (CocoaPods, Carthage, SPM)
null-e electron Electron app caches (Slack, Discord, Teams)
null-e gamedev Game development caches (Unity, Unreal, Godot)
null-e cloud Cloud CLI caches (AWS, GCP, Azure, kubectl, Terraform)
null-e macos macOS system caches

Analysis

Command Description
null-e git-analyze Find large .git repos, suggest git gc
null-e stale Find projects not touched in months
null-e duplicates Find duplicate dependencies

Architecture

     .---.
    |o   o|
    |  ^  |    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    | === |    │                       CLI                         │
    `-----'    ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
     /| |\     │                    Core Engine                    │
               │  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐        │
               │  │ Scanner  │  │ Cleaner  │  │ Analysis │        │
               │  │          │  │          │  │  Tools   │        │
               │  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘        │
               ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
               │                    Modules                        │
               │  ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐     │
               │  │Plugins │ │Cleaners│ │ Caches │ │ Docker │     │
               │  │(langs) │ │(system)│ │(global)│ │        │     │
               │  └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘     │
               └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Configuration

Create ~/.config/null-e/config.toml:

[general]
default_paths = ["~/projects", "~/work"]

[scan]
max_depth = 10
min_size = 1000000  # 1 MB

[clean]
delete_method = "trash"
protection_level = "warn"

[ui]
sort_by = "size"
use_icons = true

Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feat/amazing-feature)
  3. Commit your changes using conventional commits
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feat/amazing-feature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

License

WTFPL — Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License.

Disclaimer

null-e is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind. The authors are not responsible for any data loss resulting from the use of this software.

  • Always keep backups of important work before running cleanup operations
  • Use --dry-run to preview what will be deleted before committing
  • Trash mode (default) allows recovery, but is not guaranteed on all filesystems
  • Permanent delete is irreversible — use with extreme caution
  • This tool is designed for developers who understand the artifacts being cleaned

About

Disk cleanup CLI for developers. Clean node_modules, target, .venv, Docker, Xcode caches. Reclaim 100+ GB. Fast Rust tool for macOS/Linux/Windows.

crates.io/crates/null-e

Topics

macos linux docker rust cli npm brew xcode devtools disk-space pip cargo developer-tools node-modules cleanup cli-interface disk-cleanup build-cache rust-cli cache-cleaner

Resources

Readme

License

WTFPL license
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Releases 3

v0.4.0 Latest
Mar 28, 2026
+ 2 releases

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