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The moon teardown command, as its name infers, will teardown and clean the current environment, opposite the setup command. It achieves this by doing the following:
  • Uninstalling all configured toolchains
  • Removing any download or temporary files/folders
$ moon teardown
Output: 
▪▪▪▪ Tearing down and uninstalling toolchains...
✓ Toolchains have been torn down!

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How It Works

The teardown command:
  1. Identifies toolchains - Reads configured toolchains from .moon/toolchains.*
  2. Calls teardown hooks - Executes teardown logic for each toolchain plugin
  3. Uninstalls versions - Removes installed toolchain versions via proto
  4. Cleans artifacts - Removes temporary files and downloads

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What Gets Removed

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Toolchain Installations

Removes installed versions from ~/.proto/tools/:
  • Node.js installations and npm/yarn/pnpm
  • Rust installations and cargo
  • Go installations
  • Python installations
  • Deno installations
  • Bun installations
  • Custom toolchains

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Temporary Files

Cleans up:
  • Download caches
  • Temporary build files
  • Installation artifacts
  • Shim/wrapper scripts

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What Gets Kept

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Workspace Cache

The teardown command does NOT remove:
  • .moon/cache/ directory
  • Task outputs and artifacts
  • Hash manifests
  • Workspace state
Use moon clean to remove cache.

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Configuration

All configuration files remain:
  • .moon/toolchains.yml
  • .moon/workspace.yml
  • Project moon.yml files

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Source Code

Your source code and dependencies are untouched:
  • node_modules/
  • Cargo.lock / target/
  • Project files

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When to Use

Use moon teardown when you want to:

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Clean Development Environment

# Remove all toolchains
$ moon teardown

# Start fresh
$ moon setup

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Switch Toolchain Versions

# Remove old versions
$ moon teardown

# Update .moon/toolchains.yml
# Then reinstall
$ moon setup

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Troubleshoot Installation Issues

# Clean slate
$ moon teardown

# Try again
$ moon setup

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Free Disk Space

# Uninstall toolchains
$ moon teardown

# Clean cache too
$ moon clean --all

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CI/CD Usage

In CI environments, teardown is rarely needed since:
  • Runners are typically ephemeral
  • Toolchains are installed fresh each run
  • Cleanup happens automatically
However, for persistent runners: 
# GitHub Actions self-hosted runner
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup
        run: moon setup
      
      - name: Build
        run: moon run build
      
      - name: Cleanup
        if: always()
        run: moon teardown

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Comparison with Other Commands

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moon teardown vs moon clean

  • moon teardown - Uninstalls toolchains, removes binaries
  • moon clean - Removes workspace cache, task outputs
Use both for complete cleanup: 
$ moon teardown && moon clean --all

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moon teardown vs moon setup

  • moon teardown - Removes toolchains
  • moon setup - Installs toolchains
They are opposite operations: 
# Uninstall
$ moon teardown

# Reinstall
$ moon setup

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System vs Managed Toolchains

If you use system-installed toolchains: 
# .moon/toolchains.yml
node:
  version: 'system'
Then moon teardown:
  • Will NOT uninstall system toolchains
  • Only cleans moon-managed installations
  • System Node.js, Rust, etc. remain untouched

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Examples

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Basic teardown

$ moon teardown

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Complete cleanup

# Remove toolchains and cache
$ moon teardown
$ moon clean --all

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Reset and reinstall

# Clean everything
$ moon teardown

# Reinstall toolchains
$ moon setup

# Verify
$ moon check --all

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CI cleanup job

# .github/workflows/cleanup.yml
name: Weekly Cleanup

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 0' # Every Sunday

jobs:
  cleanup:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - name: Teardown
        run: moon teardown
      
      - name: Clean cache
        run: moon clean --all

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Safety

The teardown command is safe to run:
  • Does not affect system installations
  • Does not remove configuration
  • Does not delete source code
  • Does not remove dependencies (node_modules, etc.)
You can always reinstall with moon setup.

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Troubleshooting

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Teardown Fails

If teardown fails:
  1. Check if processes are using the toolchains
  2. Close editors, terminals, running tasks
  3. Try manual cleanup: 
    rm -rf ~/.proto/tools/*
  4. Check file permissions

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Partial Teardown

If some toolchains fail to uninstall:
  • Other toolchains are still removed
  • Check error messages
  • May need manual intervention
  • System toolchains require manual removal

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Configuration

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See Also

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