Crate cruftkill 

cruftkill — polyglot dev-cache reaper

Find and delete node_modules, .venv, target, DerivedData, __pycache__, obj, .gradle, .next, .turbo, and the rest of your build cruft from a fast terminal UI.

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Inspired by voidcosmos/npkill — rewritten in Rust with a parallel async scanner and extended to 17 ecosystems. Single binary, no runtime dependencies.

⚠️ cft deletes recursively without a recycle bin. Always review the list before pressing d. Run with --dry-run first if you want a preview.

Quick start

cargo install cruftkill

cft                            # scan current dir with `node` profile
cft ~/Projects                 # scan a specific directory
cft -p rust ~/code             # use the `rust` profile (matches `target/`)
cft -p node -p python ~/code   # combine profiles
cft -p all ~/                  # every ecosystem at once
cft --dry-run ~/Projects       # preview without deleting
cft --no-tui ~/Projects | jq   # scriptable NDJSON output

What gets deleted (17 ecosystems)

Profile	Matches
node (default)	node_modules, .npm, .pnpm-store, .next, .nuxt, .angular, .svelte-kit, .vite, .nx, .turbo, .parcel-cache, .cache, coverage, .jest, …
python	__pycache__, .pytest_cache, .mypy_cache, .ruff_cache, .tox, .venv, venv, …
rust	target
java	target, .gradle, out
swift	DerivedData, .swiftpm
dotnet	obj, TestResults, .vs
cpp	CMakeFiles, cmake-build-debug, cmake-build-release
android	.cxx, externalNativeBuild
ruby	.bundle
elixir	_build, deps, cover
haskell	dist-newstyle, .stack-work
scala	.bloop, .metals, target
unity	Library, Temp, Obj
unreal	Intermediate, DerivedDataCache, Binaries
godot	.import, .godot
data-science	.ipynb_checkpoints, .dvc, .mlruns, outputs, …
infra	.serverless, .vercel, .netlify, .terraform, .sass-cache, …
all	union of every profile above

Interactive TUI

Key	Action
↑ / k · ↓ / j	move cursor
d / Space / Enter	open delete confirm
y / n / Esc	confirm / cancel modal
s	toggle sort by size (desc default)
n	toggle sort by name (asc default)
m	toggle sort by last-used (desc default)
r / F5	rescan
q / Ctrl-C	quit

The header surfaces live progress (dirs scanned, releasable space, reclaimed space) and the modal shows risk reasons for paths that shouldn’t normally be deleted (~/.config, AppData, .app bundles, …).

Safety

Two layered guards run before any filesystem mutation:

1. Basename guard — the path’s basename must appear in the resolved target list. Catches “I typed the wrong path” mistakes.
2. Containment guard — both the scan root and the target path are canonicalised (symlinks resolved). The canonical target must starts_with the canonical root. Catches symlink-escape attacks even if the link is named like a legitimate target.

Underneath, std::fs::remove_dir_all is hardened against symlink traversal (CVE-2022-21658).

Library usage

cruftkill is also a library — the cft binary is just a TUI on top. Import the core module to embed scanning, sizing, risk analysis, and safe deletion in your own tool.

use cruftkill::core::{scanner, types::ScanOptions};
use cruftkill::core::profiles::resolve_targets;

let targets = resolve_targets(&["node", "rust"]);
let opts = ScanOptions {
    targets,
    exclude: vec![],
    sort_by: None,
    perform_risk_analysis: true,
};
let mut handle = scanner::start_scan("/home/me/Projects".into(), opts);

while let Some(found) = handle.results.recv().await {
    println!("found: {} (sensitive: {:?})",
        found.path.display(),
        found.risk_analysis.as_ref().map(|r| r.is_sensitive));
}

Architecture

cft binary (src/main.rs)
   │
   ├── TUI mode  ──►  src/tui/   (ratatui + crossterm + tokio::select!)
   │                     │
   └── --no-tui  ──►  run_no_tui → NDJSON
                         │
                         ▼
                  src/core/
                     ├── scanner       parallel tokio worker pool
                     ├── size          refcounted async sum, 60s timeout
                     ├── risk          pure path classifier
                     ├── safe_delete   basename guard
                     ├── delete        canonicalize + remove_dir_all
                     ├── profiles      17 ecosystem profiles
                     ├── sort          path / size / age comparators
                     ├── filter        case-insensitive substring
                     ├── ignore        GLOBAL_IGNORE set (skip-on-walk)
                     ├── types         ScanOptions, FolderResult, …
                     └── error         CruftError (thiserror)

Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/xuanphamdev/cruftkill
• crates.io: https://crates.io/crates/cruftkill
• Upstream inspiration: https://github.com/voidcosmos/npkill

License

MIT.

Re-exports

pub use crate::core::error::CruftError;

pub use crate::core::types::DeleteResult;

pub use crate::core::types::FolderResult;

pub use crate::core::types::RiskAnalysis;

pub use crate::core::types::ScanFoundFolder;

pub use crate::core::types::ScanOptions;

pub use crate::core::types::SortBy;

pub use crate::core::types::SortDirection;

Modules

cli

CLI argument parsing for the cft binary.

core

Core library — public, framework-agnostic API.

tui

Interactive ratatui-based UI for the cft binary.