Dev Dust 🧹

Clean build artifacts from development projects to reclaim disk space.

Dev Dust is a fast, cross-platform command-line tool written in Rust that recursively scans directories to find development projects and cleans their build artifacts (like target/, node_modules/, __pycache__/, etc.).

[!WARNING] Dev Dust permanently deletes files and directories. Always review what will be deleted before confirming, or use --dry-run to preview changes safely.

Features

Fast - Written in Rust for maximum performance
Smart Detection - Automatically detects 18+ project types
Space Saver - Reclaim gigabytes of disk space
Beautiful CLI - Colored output with clear information
Safe - Confirmation prompts before deletion
Flexible - Many options for customization

Supported Project Types

Currently Supported

Rust - Cargo projects (target/, .xwin-cache/)
Node.js/JavaScript - npm, yarn, pnpm (node_modules/, .next/, dist/, build/)
Python - pip, venv, pytest (__pycache__/, .venv/, .pytest_cache/)
.NET - C#, F# projects (bin/, obj/)
Unity - Game Engine projects (Library/, Temp/, Obj/)
Unreal Engine - Game projects (Binaries/, Intermediate/, Saved/)
Java Maven - Maven projects (target/)
Java/Kotlin Gradle - Gradle projects (build/, .gradle/)
CMake - C/C++ projects (build/, cmake-build-*/)
Haskell Stack - Stack projects (.stack-work/)
Scala SBT - SBT projects (target/, project/target/)
PHP Composer - Composer projects (vendor/)
Dart/Flutter - Flutter projects (build/, .dart_tool/)
Elixir - Mix projects (_build/, .elixir-tools/)
Swift - Swift Package Manager (.build/, .swiftpm/)
Zig - Zig projects (zig-cache/, zig-out/)
Godot - Godot 4.x projects (.godot/)
Jupyter - Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb_checkpoints/)
Go - Go modules (vendor/, bin/)
Ruby - Bundler projects (vendor/bundle/)
Terraform - Infrastructure projects (.terraform/)
Docker - Build cache and volumes
Bazel - Build system (bazel-*/)

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

[!TIP] Use the provided installation script for the easiest setup experience. It handles building and installing devdust automatically.

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/extrise/devdust.git

cd devdust


# Run the installation script

chmod +x install.sh

./install.sh

The install script supports several options:

# Install to a custom directory

./install.sh --install-dir ~/.local


# Automatically install Rust if not found

./install.sh --auto-install-rust


# Run tests before installing

./install.sh --test


# Skip building (use existing binary)

./install.sh --skip-build


# Uninstall devdust

./install.sh --uninstall


# Show help

./install.sh --help

Available Flags:

Flag	Description
`--install-dir DIR`	Specify custom installation directory (default: `~/.local/bin`)
`--auto-install-rust`	Automatically install Rust if not detected
`--test`	Run test suite before installing
`--skip-build`	Skip building, use existing binary
`--uninstall`	Remove devdust from system
`--help`	Display help information

Interactive Menu Mode

Running ./install.sh without arguments launches an interactive menu with colorful options:

Install devdust - Automatically detects OS, checks/installs Rust, builds, and installs
Uninstall devdust - Removes the installed binary
Exit - Quit the installer

The installer includes:

✅ Automatic OS detection (Linux, macOS, Windows/WSL)
✅ Rust installation check and auto-install option
✅ Cross-platform support with proper PATH configuration
✅ Colorful, user-friendly interface

Manual Installation

From Source

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/extrise/devdust.git

cd devdust


# Build and install

cargo build --release

cargo install --path devdust-cli

Using Cargo

cargo install devdust

[!NOTE] Make sure ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH to use the devdust command globally.

Platform-Specific Binaries

Pre-built binaries are available for multiple platforms via GitHub Releases:

Platform	Architecture	Download
Linux	x86_64	devdust-linux-x86_64
Linux	ARM64	devdust-linux-aarch64
macOS	Intel	devdust-macos-x86_64
macOS	Apple Silicon	devdust-macos-aarch64
Windows	x86_64	devdust-windows-x86_64.exe

Usage

Basic Usage

# Scan current directory

devdust


# Scan specific directories

devdust ~/projects ~/work


# Clean all projects without confirmation

devdust --all


# Dry run (show what would be deleted)

devdust --dry-run

[!IMPORTANT] Always use --dry-run first when scanning important directories to preview what will be deleted before actually cleaning.

Advanced Options

# Only show projects older than 30 days

devdust --older 30d


# Follow symbolic links

devdust --follow-symlinks


# Stay on same filesystem (don't cross mount points)

devdust --same-filesystem


# Quiet mode (minimal output)

devdust --quiet


# Combine options for powerful workflows

devdust ~/projects --older 7d --all --quiet

Command-Line Options Reference

Option	Short	Description
`--all`	`-a`	Clean all found projects without confirmation
`--follow-symlinks`	`-L`	Follow symbolic links during scanning
`--same-filesystem`	`-s`	Stay on the same filesystem (don't cross mount points)
`--older <TIME>`	`-o`	Only show projects older than specified time
`--quiet`	`-q`	Quiet mode with minimal output
`--dry-run`	`-n`	Show what would be deleted without actually deleting
`--format <FORMAT>`	`-f`	Output format: `pretty`, `plain`, or `json`
`--help`	`-h`	Display help information
`--version`	`-V`	Display version information

Age Filter Examples

devdust supports flexible time specifications for the --older flag:

Format	Meaning	Example
`30m`	30 minutes	`devdust --older 30m`
`2h`	2 hours	`devdust --older 2h`
`7d`	7 days	`devdust --older 7d`
`2w`	2 weeks	`devdust --older 2w`
`6M`	6 months	`devdust --older 6M`
`1y`	1 year	`devdust --older 1y`

[!TIP] Use the --older flag to target stale projects that haven't been modified recently, keeping your active projects untouched.

Examples

Interactive Cleaning

$ devdust ~/projects


╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗

║        Dev Dust v1.0.0                ║

║  Clean Development Project Artifacts  ║

╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝


Scanning: /home/user/projects


Found: 5 projects with 2.3 GB of artifacts


● my-rust-app (Rust)
  Path: /home/user/projects/my-rust-app

  Artifacts: 1.2 GB

  Modified: 2 days ago

  → Artifact directories:

    • target

  ? Clean my-rust-app project? [y/N/a/q]: y

  ✓ Cleaned 1.2 GB


● old-website (Node.js)
  Path: /home/user/projects/old-website

  Artifacts: 450.5 MB

  Modified: 3 months ago

  → Artifact directories:

    • node_modules

  ? Clean old-website project? [y/N/a/q]: y

  ✓ Cleaned 450.5 MB


...


═══════════════════════════════════════════════════

Summary: 3 projects cleaned, 1.8 GB freed!

Automated Cleaning

# Clean all projects older than 30 days

devdust ~/projects --older 30d --all --quiet


# Result: 12 projects cleaned, 5.4 GB freed

Safe Preview Mode

# Preview what would be deleted without actually deleting

devdust ~/projects --dry-run


# Output shows potential space savings without making changes

JSON Output for Scripting

# Get machine-readable output for automation

devdust ~/projects --format json --dry-run > projects.json

Safety Guidelines

[!CAUTION] devdust deletes files permanently. Follow these safety guidelines to avoid data loss:

Best Practices

Always test first: Use --dry-run to preview changes before cleaning
Start small: Test on a single project directory before scanning large areas
Check your backups: Ensure important projects are backed up
Review carefully: Read the list of artifact directories before confirming deletion
Use age filters: Target old projects with --older to avoid cleaning active work

What Gets Deleted

devdust only deletes recognized build artifact directories. It never deletes:

Source code files (.rs, .js, .py, etc.)
Configuration files (Cargo.toml, package.json, etc.)
Documentation and README files
Git repositories (.git/ directories)
Any files outside artifact directories

What Gets Cleaned

devdust will delete these artifact directories:

❌ Build outputs (target/, build/, dist/)
❌ Dependencies (node_modules/, vendor/)
❌ Cache directories (__pycache__/, .cache/)
❌ Temporary files (Temp/, .tmp/)

[!NOTE] All deleted artifacts can be regenerated by rebuilding your projects. devdust never touches source code or configuration files.

Building from Source

# Debug build (faster compilation, slower runtime)

cargo build


# Release build (optimized for performance)

cargo build --release


# Run tests

cargo test


# Run with logging enabled

RUST_LOG=debug cargo run


# Run clippy for linting

cargo clippy


# Format code

cargo fmt

Running Tests

# Run all tests

cargo test


# Run tests with output

cargo test -- --nocapture


# Run specific test

cargo test test_format_size


# Run tests in release mode

cargo test --release

Code Style

This project follows Rust best practices and conventions:

Comprehensive inline documentation
Clear error handling with custom error types
Modular design with separation of concerns
Extensive unit tests for core functionality
Type safety and zero-cost abstractions
Idiomatic Rust patterns

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Ways to Contribute

🐛 Report bugs: Open an issue with details about the problem
💡 Suggest features: Share ideas for new functionality
📝 Improve documentation: Fix typos or add examples
🔧 Submit pull requests: Fix bugs or implement features
⭐ Star the project: Show your support on GitHub

Development Workflow

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Make your changes and add tests
Run tests and linting (cargo test && cargo clippy)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to your branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

[!TIP] Before submitting a PR, make sure all tests pass and the code is properly formatted with cargo fmt.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: devdust: command not found

Solution: Make sure ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

Issue: Permission denied when cleaning

Solution: Some artifact directories may require elevated permissions. Run with appropriate permissions or skip those projects.

Issue: Symbolic links not followed

Solution: Use the --follow-symlinks flag to traverse symbolic links during scanning.

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.

Author

Ext Rise

Acknowledgments

devdust was built from scratch with modern Rust practices, inspired by similar tools in the ecosystem. Special thanks to the Rust community for excellent libraries like clap, walkdir, and colored.

Made with ❤️ and Rust | Report Issues | View Releases

devdust-core 1.0.1