mac-deep-cleaner 1.2.0

Professional Mac cleanup tool — Smart App Orphan Detector

Mac Deep Cleaner v1.2.0

Professional macOS cleanup tool — Smart App Orphan Detector

Detects and removes leftover files from uninstalled apps, stale caches, crash reports, logs, and other system junk — safely, with multiple layers of protection and full undo support.

Use either command name:

mac-cleaner scan
mdc scan

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What's New in v1.2.0

Feature	Command
Duplicate file finder (by hash)	mac-cleaner duplicates
Large file scanner (sortable)	mac-cleaner large-files
Broken symlink detector	mac-cleaner symlinks
iOS/iPhone backup finder	mac-cleaner extras --ios-backups
Language pack stripper	mac-cleaner extras --language-packs
Universal binary thinner	mac-cleaner binary
Undo / restore staged deletions	mac-cleaner undo
YAML config + profiles	~/.config/mac-cleaner/config.yaml
Scan history & diff	mac-cleaner history / mac-cleaner diff
HTML report export	--export report.html
Launch item manager	mac-cleaner system --launch-items
Login items viewer	mac-cleaner system --login-items
SIP & permission health check	mac-cleaner system --health
Weekly auto-scan scheduler	mac-cleaner schedule install
macOS notifications	--notify flag
CI mode / JSON threshold gate	mac-cleaner scan --ci --threshold-mb 500
Live TUI dashboard (expanded panels)	mac-cleaner dashboard
Developer junk scanner (project caches)	mac-cleaner scan --dev-junk
Global dev caches (opt-in)	mac-cleaner scan --dev-junk-global
First-run profile selection	mac-cleaner scan
Custom scan roots	mac-cleaner scan --root ~/Projects
Self-update from PyPI	mac-cleaner update
Homebrew formula + .pkg builder	Formula/mac-deep-cleaner.rb, bash scripts/build.sh pkg

mdc is a shorter alias for every command, for example mdc dashboard, mdc clean, and mdc scan --ci --threshold-mb 500.

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Features (All)

• Smart orphan detection — finds leftover app data after uninstalling apps
• General junk scan — caches, logs, crash reports, Trash, .DS_Store, Xcode artefacts, package manager caches
• Developer junk scan — node_modules, venv, build outputs, coverage dirs (opt-in)
• Global dev caches — ~/.npm, ~/.gradle, ~/.m2, ~/.cargo, ~/.nuget (opt-in)
• Duplicate finder — SHA-256 content hashing, two-phase (head + full), sorted by wasted space
• Large file scanner — finds files ≥100 MB (configurable), categorised by type
• Broken symlink detector — walks /usr/local, /opt/homebrew, ~/bin, etc.
• iOS backup finder — parses MobileSync/Backup manifests, shows device/age/size
• Language pack stripper — detects removable .lproj dirs in every installed app
• Universal binary thinner — uses ditto --arch safely; creates .fat_backup by default
• Undo / restore — files staged in ~/.mac_cleaner_trash/ instead of permanent delete
• Config file — ~/.config/mac-cleaner/config.yaml with profile support
• Scan history — JSON records in ~/.config/mac-cleaner/history/
• Diff — compare any two scans to see what's new or resolved
• HTML report — self-contained with Chart.js doughnut + collapsible sections
• System inspector — LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons, login items, SIP status
• Scheduler — installs a LaunchAgent for weekly auto-scans
• macOS notifications — via osascript, no dependencies
• CI mode — JSON-only scan summary with threshold-based exit code
• Live TUI dashboard — Rich Live/Layout summary while a scan is running
• Custom roots — scan project folders or external directories via config or --root
• Distribution helpers — wheel/sdist, Homebrew formula scaffold, and unsigned local .pkg builder
• Self-update — checks PyPI, upgrades via pip
• Safety first — system files (com.apple.*) are never touched; running apps are protected

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Installation

From PyPI (recommended)

pip install mac-deep-cleaner #will be available soon

From source (venv)

git clone https://github.com/NK2552003/Mac-Cleaner.git
cd mac_deep_cleaner
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

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Usage

Core scan & clean

# Preview scan (safe — never deletes)
mac-cleaner scan
mdc scan

# Live dashboard scan
mac-cleaner dashboard

# Developer junk scan
mac-cleaner scan --dev-junk

# Developer junk + global caches
mac-cleaner scan --dev-junk --dev-junk-global

# Interactive cleanup (files staged for undo by default)
mac-cleaner clean

# Auto-delete everything detected
mac-cleaner clean --auto

# Permanently delete (skip undo staging)
mac-cleaner clean --no-undo

# Skip general junk; orphans only
mac-cleaner scan --skip-junk

# Export results to JSON / YAML / HTML
mac-cleaner scan --export results.json
mac-cleaner scan --export results.html

# Protect a path from deletion
mac-cleaner clean --whitelist ~/Library/Application\ Support/MyApp

# Show all discovered apps
mac-cleaner scan --show-apps

# Use a profile
mac-cleaner scan --profile developer
mac-cleaner scan --profile minimal

# Add a custom scan root
mac-cleaner scan --root ~/Projects

# CI / automation mode: JSON to stdout, exit 1 when over threshold
mac-cleaner scan --ci --threshold-mb 500

# Post macOS notification when done
mac-cleaner scan --notify

Logging

# Enable debug logging (writes to ~/.config/mac-cleaner/mac-cleaner.log)
mac-cleaner scan --verbose

# Use a custom log file
mac-cleaner scan --log-file ~/mac-cleaner.log

New scanners

# Find duplicate files (default: ~/Downloads, ~/Documents, ~/Desktop, ~/Pictures)
mac-cleaner duplicates
mac-cleaner duplicates --path ~/Movies --min-size 500

# Find large files (≥100 MB by default)
mac-cleaner large-files
mac-cleaner large-files --min-mb 50 --export large.json

# Find broken symlinks
mac-cleaner symlinks
mac-cleaner symlinks --delete

# iOS backups
mac-cleaner extras --ios-backups
mac-cleaner extras --ios-backups --delete-backups

# Language packs
mac-cleaner extras --language-packs
mac-cleaner extras --language-packs --strip-languages

# All extras
mac-cleaner extras --all

# Universal binary thinner
mac-cleaner binary
mac-cleaner binary --thin
mac-cleaner binary --thin --arch arm64

History & diff

# Show past scans
mac-cleaner history

# Compare two most recent scans
mac-cleaner diff

# Compare specific scans (by ID prefix from history)
mac-cleaner diff abc12345 def67890

Undo

# List staged deletion sessions
mac-cleaner undo --list

# Restore the latest session
mac-cleaner undo

# Restore a specific session
mac-cleaner undo --session abc12345

# Purge old staged files
mac-cleaner undo --purge

System inspection

mac-cleaner system --all
mac-cleaner system --launch-items
mac-cleaner system --login-items
mac-cleaner system --health

Scheduler

mac-cleaner schedule install
mac-cleaner schedule install --no-notify
mac-cleaner schedule status
mac-cleaner schedule remove

Self-update

mac-cleaner update          # check and prompt
mac-cleaner update --yes    # upgrade without prompting
mac-cleaner update --check  # check only, no upgrade

Config

mac-cleaner config --init    # create default config file
mac-cleaner config --show    # print resolved settings

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Configuration (~/.config/mac-cleaner/config.yaml)

whitelist:
  - ~/Library/Application Support/Slack
  - ~/Library/Caches/MyApp

skip_categories:
  - "System Cache"
  - "Log File"

custom_scan_roots:
  - ~/Projects

scan_orphans: true
scan_junk: true
undo_mode: true
retention_days: 30
notify_after_scan: false

large_file_threshold_mb: 100
duplicate_min_size_kb: 4

profile: developer    # active profile

scan_dev_junk: false
scan_dev_junk_global: false
dev_junk_roots:
  - ~/Projects
dev_junk_max_depth: 6

profiles:
  minimal:
    skip_categories:
      - Xcode Junk
      - npm Cache
      - Cargo Cache
  developer:
    skip_categories: []
    large_file_threshold_mb: 50

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Safety Guarantees

Feature	Description
System Protection	com.apple.* files are NEVER deleted
Running App Guard	Files of currently-running apps are protected
Group Container Validation	Team IDs resolved against known vendor DB
System Cache Isolation	OS-owned caches skipped automatically
Preview by Default	scan never modifies the filesystem
Undo / Restore	Files staged in ~/.mac_cleaner_trash/ by default
Audit Logging	All deletions logged to ~/.mac_cleaner_deleted.log
Final Safety Gate	Every path validated immediately before deletion
Binary Backup	Fat binaries backed up as .fat_backup before thinning

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Requirements

• macOS 10.15+
• Python 3.9+
• rich, click, pyyaml (auto-installed)

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License

Apache 2.0