Free Up Space
Your disk is nearly full and you need a set amount of space back.
- Pick how much space you need
- Sweepkey plans the safest items first
- Review the plan, then clean
Sweep the rebuildable.Keep the keys.
Sweepkey clears node_modules, DerivedData, build folders and developer caches from
your Mac, and keeps your .env files and signing keys safe in a vault before anything is deleted.
Download for Mac
Preview build: this DMG is not notarized yet, so macOS will warn when you open it.
brew install --cask thisisprabhat/tap/sweepkey Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Finds rebuildable folders across 20+ ecosystems
JavaScript and TypeScript, Python, Swift and Xcode, Flutter, Android and Gradle, Rust, Go, .NET, C/C++, Elixir, Haskell, Ruby, PHP, Zig, Scala, Bazel, Terraform, Unity, Unreal, and the caches of the tools around them.
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JavaScript -
Node.js -
Python -
Swift -
Xcode -
Flutter -
Android -
Kotlin -
Gradle -
Rust -
Go -
.NET -
C++ -
Elixir -
Haskell -
Ruby -
PHP -
Zig -
Scala -
Bazel -
Terraform -
Unity -
Unreal Engine -
Docker -
npm -
pnpm -
Yarn -
CocoaPods -
Homebrew -
JetBrains -
Hugging Face -
Ollama
Try it: tick, sweep, keep the keys.
This demo disk works like the app. Click a folder to keep it, then sweep the rest. The secret files go to the vault first.
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Point it at your projects
Add the folders where your code lives. Sweepkey only offers a folder when a marker file proves what it is: target/ next to Cargo.toml, build/ next to pubspec.yaml or build.gradle.
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Review the dry run
Every folder is listed with its size, its risk level and the command that rebuilds it. Folders that git tracks are skipped, and nothing is deleted until you confirm.
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Sweep, keys first
Your .env files, keystores and other files git does not have are copied into a vault, then the rebuildable folders are removed or moved to the Trash.
~/Projects
A demo disk. Click a folder to keep it, then sweep.
to sweep
ledger-rs storefront-web FieldNotes tide_app ml-notebooks Freed
Vault
- Nothing yet
One window for every project, cache and secret.
Every project, sized up
Add your project folders once. Sweepkey finds each project's rebuildable folders, shows how big they are, when you last worked on it, and the command that brings them back.
- Results stream in live with a running total, and rescans only redo changed folders.
- Git details at a glance: branch, uncommitted changes, unpushed commits, stashes.
- Projects untouched for 30 days are flagged as stale, so they are safe first picks.
Developer caches, grouped
The caches your tools leave outside projects, grouped by tool. Where a tool has its own cleanup command, Sweepkey runs that instead of deleting files by hand.
- Xcode: DerivedData, Archives, device support, unavailable simulators.
- Package and version managers: npm, pnpm, Yarn, pip, uv, Cargo, Go, Maven, CocoaPods, nvm, pyenv, rustup and more.
- Docker, OrbStack and Colima, IDE caches, and opt-in AI model caches.
Keep the keys
Before you clean, collect the files git doesn't have and can't rebuild: .env files, keystores, certificates, cloud credentials. Export them as a folder, a zip or an encrypted disk image.
- Git-aware: finds ignored and untracked files that match secret patterns.
- Keeps each project's folder layout, plus a manifest with checksums.
- Restore to the original paths, or by git remote after a fresh clone on a new Mac.
Every clean, on record
Each clean is journaled: what was removed, where, how big, and how. See your lifetime space reclaimed and the trend over time.
- Runs that moved items to the Trash can be undone with Put Back.
- After a clean, affected projects are rescanned and you see free space before and after.
- A menu bar extra shows free and reclaimable space at a glance.
Rules are just JSON
What counts as rebuildable is data, not code. Turn rules on or off, or add your own with a marker file, a target and a risk level.
- A rule only matches when its marker file exists, so build/ is never touched in the wrong project.
- Ambiguous folders like dist, vendor and env are off by default.
- Exclude paths, add a .sweepkeyignore, or pin a project so it is never offered.
Guided jobs
Recipes combine cleaning and the vault into step-by-step jobs. Each one plans everything first and shows you the result before anything is deleted.
- Free Up Space: ask for a number of GB and review the safest plan.
- Archive a Project: save secrets, clean, optionally zip.
- Move to a New Mac: a bundle with your vault, your repo list and a restore script.
Conservative by design.
Sweepkey deletes files, so it treats every folder as important until it's sure it can be rebuilt.
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Dry run first
Nothing is deleted until you've seen the full list and total size and confirmed. The CLI has --dry-run and won't run unattended without --yes.
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Git-tracked guard
A folder that contains any git-tracked file is skipped, so a build/ or dist/ you committed on purpose stays put. If git can't answer, the folder is skipped.
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Never follows symlinks
Symlinks are never followed, and hard links are counted once.
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Move to Trash or delete
Delete permanently or move to the Trash, per run or as your default. Trash runs can be undone with Put Back.
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Path guards
Nothing outside your scan roots is removed. Your scan roots, your home folder, / and system folders never are.
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Pinned and active projects
Pin a project or exclude a path and it's never offered. You're warned when a project looks open in an editor or terminal.
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Risk levels
Every item is Safe, Caution or Danger. Danger needs an extra confirmation.
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Vault before clean
Optionally require a vault export before cleaning. If the export fails, nothing is deleted.
Sizes are shown as "up to" because APFS clones may share blocks. Unattended cleans (menu bar, schedule, Shortcuts) only touch Safe folders in stale projects, never global caches.
The same engine, scriptable.
The sweepkey command ships inside the app (Homebrew puts it on your PATH) and as a standalone
zip in every release. Plan with --dry-run, read --json, and use it in scripts.
Exit codes: 0 ok, 1 error, 2 nothing to do. clean asks
before deleting unless you pass --yes.
sweepkey scan ~/ProjectsProject Ecosystems Reclaimable Last activity -------------- --------------------- ----------- ------------- web-dashboard JavaScript/TypeScript 70.0 MB today rust-cli Rust 64.0 MB today flutter_shop Flutter/Dart 36.0 MB today ml-experiments Python 30.0 MB today 4 project(s), 200.0 MB reclaimable.
sweepkey clean ~/Projects --dry-runPlan (dry run, permanent): Item Risk Size Path Warning ------------ ---- ------- ------------------------------------- ------- node_modules safe 48.0 MB ~/Projects/web-dashboard/node_modules .next safe 22.0 MB ~/Projects/web-dashboard/.next target safe 64.0 MB ~/Projects/rust-cli/target build safe 36.0 MB ~/Projects/flutter_shop/build .venv safe 30.0 MB ~/Projects/ml-experiments/.venv 5 item(s), 200.0 MB. Item Status Freed Message ------------ ------ ------- ------- node_modules dryRun 48.0 MB .next dryRun 22.0 MB target dryRun 64.0 MB build dryRun 36.0 MB .venv dryRun 30.0 MB Dry run: nothing was deleted. Would free 200.0 MB.
sweepkey vault collect ~/Projects --to ~/VaultFile Why Size -------------------------------------------- ------------- ------ Projects/flutter_shop/android/key.properties ignoredMatch 19 B Projects/flutter_shop/android/upload.jks ignoredMatch 1.0 MB Projects/flutter_shop/pubspec.yaml alwaysCollect 19 B Projects/web-dashboard/.env.local ignoredMatch 13 B Vault written to ~/Vault: 4 copied, 0 unchanged.
All commands
sweepkey scan [paths...] [--json] [--stale-only] [--min-size 100MB]
sweepkey clean [paths...] [--dry-run] [--trash] [--stale-only] [--rule <id>]... [--yes] [--skip-vault]
sweepkey caches [--json]
sweepkey caches clean <group-id>... [--dry-run] [--yes]
sweepkey vault collect <paths...> --to <dest> [--format folder|zip|dmg] [--uncommitted] [--scan-contents]
sweepkey vault restore <vault> [--by-remote <searchRoot>...] [--overwrite] [--dry-run]
sweepkey history [--json]Guided jobs for common situations.
Each recipe combines cleaning and the vault, plans everything first, and shows you the result before anything is deleted.
Archive a Project
You're done with a project but want to keep it.
- Save the project's secrets to a vault
- Delete its rebuildable folders
- Optionally zip it and trash the original
Move to a New Mac
You're setting up another Mac and want your projects and secrets there.
- Collect secrets from all projects
- List every git repo and where it lives
- Run restore.sh on the new Mac
Questions, answered.
Is it safe?
Sweepkey is conservative by design. Every clean starts as a dry run: you see each folder, its size and its risk level before you confirm. Folders containing git-tracked files are skipped, symlinks are never followed, nothing outside your scan roots is touched, and Danger items need an extra confirmation. You can also send everything to the Trash instead of deleting it.
Why does it need Full Disk Access?
Developer projects often live in places macOS protects, like Desktop, Documents, Downloads and external drives, and some tool caches do too. Without Full Disk Access, scans silently miss those folders and deletions can fail. Sweepkey still works without it, on the folders it can read. Onboarding links straight to the right page in System Settings.
Where does my data go?
Nowhere. Sweepkey has no telemetry, no analytics and no accounts. Scans, history and the vault stay on your Mac, and vault contents leave it only if you export them somewhere yourself. The only network request is the Sparkle update check, which fetches the update feed from GitHub Releases.
Why isn't the app sandboxed?
A sandboxed app can't clean arbitrary project folders, so the App Sandbox is off for the app. The bundled widget is sandboxed. The app is signed with a Developer ID, uses the Hardened Runtime and is notarized by Apple, and the source is public so you can check exactly what it does.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit Sweepkey (turn off "Launch at login" in Settings first if you enabled it), then drag it from Applications to the Trash. To remove its data too, delete ~/Library/Application Support/Sweepkey and ~/Library/Preferences/com.prabhatkumar.Sweepkey.plist. With Homebrew: brew uninstall --zap --cask sweepkey. Vaults you exported stay where you saved them.
Is it open source?
Yes. Sweepkey is free and open source under the MIT licence, and the code is on GitHub. Cleaning rules are plain JSON, so adding support for a new tool is usually a small pull request. Releases are built by a public GitHub Actions workflow.
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac running macOS 26 or later. Building from source needs Xcode 27. The download is a single DMG; the sweepkey command-line tool is included in the app and is also available as a separate zip.
Will macOS warn me when I open it?
No. Every release is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and the notarization ticket is stapled to both the app and the DMG, so Gatekeeper opens it without a warning, even offline. You can check with spctl -a -vv /Applications/Sweepkey.app, which should report "Notarized Developer ID".
How does it update?
Through Sparkle 2, with EdDSA-signed updates published on GitHub Releases. Choose "Check for Updates…" in the app menu, or let it check automatically. If you installed with Homebrew, the cask is marked auto-updating, so Sparkle handles updates there too.
Get Sweepkey
Download for Mac
Preview build: this DMG is not notarized yet, so macOS will warn when you open it.
Open the DMG and drag Sweepkey to Applications. On first launch, Sweepkey walks you through choosing project folders and Full Disk Access.
- Homebrew
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brew install --cask thisisprabhat/tap/sweepkeyInstalls the app and puts
sweepkeyon your PATH. - SHA-256
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387feb9618608ec6a755a5178a4f459dd757a77e1eafc83eb18eef4f109d943eVerify with
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Sweepkey-0.1.0.dmg