macOS · CLI · v0.2.0

Reclaim the
gigabytes your
Mac forgot about.

handbyte is a single-binary CLI that scans the places your dev machine quietly hoards — Xcode caches, language toolchains, project build artifacts, container VMs — and lets you reclaim them from a multi-select TUI. Move-to-Trash by default. Nothing leaves your machine.

Installs to /usr/local/bin · verified via SHA-256 · other versions →

Single Go binary, no runtime
Move-to-Trash by default
safe / review / hold tags
Zero network, zero telemetry

~ — handbyte

$ handbyte

  handbyte  scan complete · free 89.4 GiB · selected 52.8 GiB

  ▾ Xcode                                  42.1 GiB
    [x] Library/…/DerivedData            28.3 GiB safe
    [x] Library/…/iOS DeviceSupport      11.4 GiB safe
    [ ] Library/…/Archives                2.4 GiB hold

  ▾ Language caches                        17.6 GiB
    [x] Library/Caches/go-build           6.8 GiB safe
    [x] .cargo/registry                   5.1 GiB safe
    [ ] .npm                              3.2 GiB review

  ▾ Project artifacts                      22.0 GiB
    ▸ [x] dev/web/node_modules              4.6 GiB safe
    [x] dev/api/target                    3.9 GiB safe

  j/k navigate · space toggle · d delete · ? help▍

0GiB

typical haul on a dev Mac that's been around for 6+ months

0MB

single static binary · no daemon, no runtime, no homebrew tap

0deps

no network calls, no telemetry, no surprise & delight

Features

Built for devs who actually use their disk.

Interactive TUI

Bubble Tea–powered terminal UI. Multi-select with space, expand with enter, delete with d. No mouse required.

Trash by default

Deletions go to macOS Trash and stay recoverable. Pass --rm only when you really mean it.

Safety levels

Every path is graded safe review hold so risky deletes never sneak past you.

Dry run mode

handbyte --dry-run prints exactly what would happen — no side effects, ever. Diff-friendly output.

Project-aware

Walks ~/dev, ~/Projects, ~/Code, ~/workspace for node_modules, target, .next, .venv, and 14 more.

Concurrent & lean

Parallel du workers. ~3.4 MB static Go binary. No daemon. Zero network. Zero telemetry.

What it scans

The usual suspects, automatically.

Xcode

DerivedData
iOS / watchOS / tvOS DeviceSupport
Archives, dSYMs
CoreSimulator caches

Language toolchains

go-build, Cargo, SwiftPM
npm, pnpm, yarn
Gradle, Maven
pip, pyenv, venvs

App & tool caches

Playwright, Cypress
JetBrains IDE caches
Homebrew, Codex
Per-app ~/Library/Caches/*

VMs & containers

OrbStack, Docker
Apple Container
Claude vm_bundles
Trash, Downloads

Project artifacts

node_modules, dist, .next, .turbo
target, build, .gradle
__pycache__, .venv, .mypy_cache
DerivedData, Pods, .dart_tool

System hygiene

~/Library/Logs/*
~/Library/Containers/*
~/.cache/*
Trash

Safety

Three signals,
one decision.

Every scanned path is graded so you can power through obvious wins and pause on the rest.

safe

Regenerable cache.

Deleting costs only rebuild time. Auto-toggle with A.

review

Project artifacts & large stores.

Restorable, but worth a glance — confirm you don't want to ship from this build.

hold

User data or live state.

Downloads, container data, signed archives — not regenerable. Confirm carefully.

Usage

Boring flags. Predictable behavior.

# Interactive scan + multi-select TUI (default).
handbyte

# Preview only — never touches disk.
handbyte --dry-run

# Delete directly with rm -rf (skip Trash, unrecoverable).
handbyte --rm

# Hide items below 200 MiB.
handbyte --min=200M

# Custom project roots.
handbyte --roots=~/work,~/oss

# Skip the project artifact scan entirely.
handbyte --no-projects

Key bindings

j k / ↓ ↑: navigate
g G: top / bottom
space: toggle selection
a: toggle group
A: toggle all auto-safe
c: clear selection
enter: collapse / expand
d: delete (with confirm)
?: help
q · Ctrl-C: quit

Get started

Find the 80 GiB you forgot about.

or read the source on GitHub →

Reclaim the gigabytes your Mac forgot about.