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Overview

The sweep command recursively scans for heavy dependency folders and deletes them. By default, it shows an interactive multi-select interface so you can choose exactly which folders to remove. This is the primary cleanup command for freeing up disk space across multiple projects.

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Usage

pumu sweep [flags]

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Flags

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-p, --path
string
default:"."
Root path to scan. Defaults to the current directory. Scans recursively through all subdirectories.
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--reinstall
boolean
default:"false"
Reinstall packages after removing their folders. After deletion, shows another interactive selection to choose which projects to reinstall.
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--no-select
boolean
default:"false"
Skip interactive selection and delete/reinstall all found folders immediately. Use with caution.
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-h, --help
boolean
default:"false"
Display help information for the sweep command.

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Examples

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Interactive Sweep (Default)

Scan and choose which folders to delete: 
pumu sweep
Example Output: 
🔎 Scanning for heavy dependency folders in '.'...
⏱️  Found 3 folders. Calculating sizes concurrently...

🗑️  Select folders to delete:
▸ [✓] /home/user/projects/webapp/node_modules       1.23 GB
  [✓] /home/user/projects/rust-app/target            487.50 MB
  [ ] /home/user/projects/api/.venv                  89.32 MB

  2/3 selected
  press ? for help
After pressing enter, the selected folders are deleted: 
🗑️  Deleting 2 folders...
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/webapp/node_modules (1.23 GB)
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/rust-app/target (487.50 MB)

🎉 Sweep complete! Freed 1.72 GB

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Sweep with Reinstall

Delete folders and choose which to reinstall: 
pumu sweep --reinstall
Example Output: 
🔎 Scanning for heavy dependency folders in '.'...
⏱️  Found 3 folders. Calculating sizes concurrently...

🗑️  Select folders to delete:
▸ [✓] /home/user/projects/webapp/node_modules       1.23 GB
  [✓] /home/user/projects/rust-app/target            487.50 MB
  [✓] /home/user/projects/api/.venv                  89.32 MB

  3/3 selected
  press ? for help

[After confirming deletion]

🗑️  Deleting 3 folders...
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/webapp/node_modules (1.23 GB)
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/rust-app/target (487.50 MB)
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/api/.venv (89.32 MB)

📦 Select projects to reinstall:
▸ [✓] /home/user/projects/webapp (npm)
  [ ] /home/user/projects/rust-app (cargo)
  [✓] /home/user/projects/api (pnpm)

  2/3 selected
  press ? for help

[After confirming reinstall]

📦 Reinstalling 2 projects...
✅ Reinstalled /home/user/projects/webapp (npm install)
✅ Reinstalled /home/user/projects/api (pnpm install)

🎉 Sweep complete! Freed 1.79 GB and reinstalled 2 projects.

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Sweep Without Interactive Selection

Delete all found folders immediately (old behavior): 
pumu sweep --no-select
Example Output: 
🔎 Scanning for heavy dependency folders in '.'...
⏱️  Found 3 folders. Calculating sizes concurrently...

🗑️  Deleting 3 folders...
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/webapp/node_modules (1.23 GB)
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/rust-app/target (487.50 MB)
✅ Deleted /home/user/projects/api/.venv (89.32 MB)

🎉 Sweep complete! Freed 1.79 GB

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Sweep Specific Directory

Scan and sweep a specific path: 
pumu sweep --path ~/old-projects

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Sweep and Reinstall All (No Prompts)

Combine flags for full automation: 
pumu sweep --reinstall --no-select
Using --no-select will delete all found folders without confirmation. Use with caution.

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Interactive Selection Shortcuts

When the interactive multi-select interface appears, use these keyboard shortcuts:
KeyAction
↑ / kMove cursor up
↓ / jMove cursor down
gGo to first item
GGo to last item
spaceToggle selection of current item
aSelect all items
nDeselect all items
iInvert selection
enterConfirm selection and proceed
q / escCancel and exit
?Toggle help display
Vim users: The j/k navigation keys work just like vim! Use G to jump to the bottom and g to jump to the top.

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How Sweep Works

  1. Scans recursively - Walks through the directory tree looking for dependency folders
  2. Calculates sizes - Concurrently measures folder sizes using goroutines (max 20 concurrent operations)
  3. Shows selection UI - Presents an interactive list (unless --no-select is used)
  4. Deletes concurrently - Removes selected folders in parallel for speed
  5. Reinstalls if requested - Shows another selection UI for which projects to reinstall

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Common Use Cases

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Clean Up Development Machine

Free up disk space across all your projects: 
cd ~/projects
pumu sweep

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Bulk Cleanup with Selective Reinstall

Clean everything but only reinstall active projects: 
cd ~/dev
pumu sweep --reinstall
# Select all for deletion
# Select only active projects for reinstall

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Archive Old Projects

Before archiving projects, remove their dependencies: 
cd ~/archive
pumu sweep --no-select
tar -czf archive.tar.gz ~/archive

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Clean Before Backup

Reduce backup size by removing dependency folders: 
pumu sweep --path ~/projects
# Then run your backup

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CI/CD Cache Cleanup

In automated scripts, use --no-select for non-interactive cleanup: 
pumu sweep --no-select --path /tmp/build-cache

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Performance

  • Concurrent deletion - Multiple folders are deleted simultaneously for speed
  • Atomic operations - Thread-safe accumulation of deleted space using atomic operations
  • Smart path skipping - Automatically ignores system folders and caches
  • Error handling - Continues processing even if individual deletions fail

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Safety Features

Sweep only removes known dependency folders (node_modules, target, .venv, etc.). Your source code and other files are never touched.
  • Interactive selection by default - You choose what gets deleted
  • Smart folder detection - Only removes recognized dependency/build folders
  • Concurrent safe - Uses mutexes and atomic operations to prevent race conditions
  • Graceful error handling - Shows errors but continues with remaining deletions
  • Skips system paths - Automatically ignores .git, .cache, system folders
  • list - Preview what sweep will find (dry-run)
  • prune - Smart cleanup based on staleness score
  • repair - Fix corrupted dependencies instead of deleting
  • Default mode - Refresh a single project directory

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