Setup & Installation

clawhub install diskclean

Or with OpenClaw CLI:

openclaw skills install diskclean

What This Skill Does

diskclean is a Software Development skill that "AI-assisted disk space scanner and cleaner. Finds reclaimable space (node_modules, build caches, package caches, downloads, Docker, Xcode, logs) and intelligently cleans safe items with strict guardrails.".

Disk Cleaner - AI-Assisted Disk Space Management

You have access to diskclean.sh, a disk scanning and cleaning tool. Install it by copying diskclean.sh to a location on your PATH, or run it directly from this skill's directory.

Setup

# Make executable (if not already)
chmod +x diskclean.sh

# Optional: symlink to PATH
ln -sf "$(pwd)/diskclean.sh" /usr/local/bin/diskclean

Commands

# Full scan:returns JSON with all reclaimable items
./diskclean.sh scan

# Preview safe-tier auto-deletions (dry run, default)
./diskclean.sh clean --dry

# Execute safe-tier deletions
./diskclean.sh clean --confirm

# Show last scan results
./diskclean.sh report

# Show scan history over time
./diskclean.sh history

How to Use This Skill

When the user asks to scan or clean disk space:

  1. Run a scan first: Always start with diskclean.sh scan
  2. Summarize findings conversationally: Group items by category, show top offenders by size, report total reclaimable space
  3. Explain the tiers clearly:
    • Safe tier (auto-deletable): Items matching a strict whitelist AND older than the age gate (7-14 days). These are regenerable artifacts like node_modules, __pycache__, build caches, package manager caches.
    • Suggest tier (needs approval): Everything else:Docker, downloads, venvs, trash. Present these as recommendations and ask the user what they want to do.
  4. For safe-tier cleanup: Run diskclean.sh clean --dry first to show what would be deleted, then diskclean.sh clean --confirm only after user approves
  5. For suggest-tier items: Present them individually or grouped by category. If the user approves specific items, delete them manually with rm -rf (after confirming the path is under $HOME)

Presentation Format

When presenting scan results, use this structure:

## Disk Scan Results

**Total reclaimable: X.X GB**
- Safe tier (auto-cleanable): X.X GB
- Needs your review: X.X GB

### Safe to Auto-Clean
| Category | Size | Age | Path |
|----------|------|-----|------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Needs Your Review
| Category | Size | Age | Path |
|----------|------|-----|------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

Safety Rules

  • Never delete anything outside $HOME
  • Never delete .git directories
  • Never delete source code, documents, photos, or config files
  • Never run clean --confirm without showing the user clean --dry output first
  • Never delete suggest-tier items without explicit user approval per item or category
  • Always verify a path exists before attempting deletion

How It Works

Tiered Safety Model

Safe tier = whitelisted category + age gate met. Auto-deletable with --confirm.

Suggest tier = everything else. Requires explicit user approval.

Categories Scanned

Category What Safe Tier Age Gate
node_modules Node.js dependencies (with package.json sibling) Yes 7 days
python_cache __pycache__, .pytest_cache Yes 7 days
python_venv .venv/, venv/ No :
build_output build/, dist/, .next/, target/ Yes 7 days
go_cache Go module + build cache Yes 14 days
homebrew_cache Homebrew download cache Yes 14 days
npm_yarn_pnpm_cache npm/yarn/pnpm caches Yes 14 days
pip_cache pip download cache Yes 14 days
xcode_derived Xcode DerivedData Yes 7 days
docker Docker images, volumes, build cache No :
large_download Files >100MB in Downloads No :
installer_archive .dmg/.pkg/.zip/.iso in Downloads No :
logs macOS logs (>50MB) Yes 30 days
crash_reports Diagnostic reports (>10MB) Yes 30 days
ds_store .DS_Store files Yes 0 days
trash ~/.Trash contents No :

Guardrails

  • Only scans under $HOME (plus /tmp user files)
  • node_modules only deleted if a package.json exists alongside (proof it's regenerable)
  • Dry-run is the default:must pass --confirm to actually delete
  • Every deletion is logged to ~/.openclaw/diskclean/deletion-log.jsonl
  • All scan reports stored in ~/.openclaw/diskclean/scans/

Data Storage

  • Scan reports: ~/.openclaw/diskclean/scans/scan-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.json
  • Latest scan: ~/.openclaw/diskclean/latest-scan.json
  • Deletion log: ~/.openclaw/diskclean/deletion-log.jsonl

Version History

Latest version: 1.0.0

First published: Mar 28, 2026. Last updated: Mar 28, 2026.

1 version released.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is diskclean free to use?
Yes. diskclean is a free, open-source skill available on the OpenClaw Skills Registry.
What platforms does diskclean support?
It runs on any platform that supports OpenClaw, including macOS, Linux, and Windows.