macbroom 1.1.3

Open-source macOS cleaner — free up disk space safely with a local web UI. Caches, app leftovers, large & duplicate files, dev junk.

🧹 MacBroom

Open-source macOS cleaner — free up disk space safely
开源 macOS 清理工具 — 安全、可视化地释放磁盘空间

An open-source CleanMyMac alternative: scan reclaimable space → group it by app → tick and clean. Deletions go to the Trash by default and can be restored. Local-only, zero-dependency, no telemetry.

一个 开源的 CleanMyMac 替代品：扫描可释放空间 → 按软件分组 → 勾选一键清理。默认移入废纸篓、可还原；纯本地、零依赖、不联网。完整中文文档见 README.zh.md。

简体中文 · English

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✨ Features

• Local only · zero dependencies: pure Python 3 standard library, no network calls, no telemetry.
• Safety first: files go to the macOS Trash (not rm), restorable from Trash; system-critical paths (/System, Keychains, SSH keys, …) are hard-blocked.
• Risk grading: every item is tagged safe / moderate / risky. Risky items (personal data, irreversible actions) are hidden by default until you tick "Show risky items".
• Explainable leftovers: each suspected uninstall leftover shows why it was flagged (bundle id with no matching app) and can be expanded to inspect the actual files before you decide.
• Confirm before delete (dry-run): the dialog lists every selected item with its path and reason, total count and reclaimable size; large totals (>10 GB) or risky selections get an extra warning.
• Sort & drill-down: sort results by size or name, expand any group or item to see what is inside.
• Audit log + in-app viewer: every scan and deletion is written to ~/Library/Logs/MacBroom/macbroom.log (override with MACBROOM_LOG_DIR), and you can review recent activity right inside the app (Settings → View activity log).
• Grouped by app: caches and the like are grouped per app; your selection is preserved across rescans.
• Customizable: toggle each scan category on/off; a persistent exclusion list for false positives; long scans are cancelable.
• iCloud-aware: detects iCloud-synced folders to avoid breaking cross-device sync.
• Respects CACHEDIR.TAG: standard cache markers are recognized so the right directories are treated as cache.
• Covers popular apps: beyond browser/dev caches, also Slack, Discord, VS Code, Microsoft Teams, Spotify, Steam, Telegram, Minecraft.
• Login items check: finds orphaned launch-at-login items pointing to deleted programs (the "background items" macOS warns about). User-level entries move to the Trash; system-level ones come with a sudo command for you to run yourself (never auto-elevated).
• CLI / scripting friendly: macbroom scan --json prints a report right in the terminal for automation and CI.
• macbroom doctor: pre-flight checks for Python, Full Disk Access, log directory, and port availability before you scan.
• No forced deletion: items that can't be removed are listed with a copy-paste Terminal command for you to run.
• Clean web UI: collapsible groups, group-level select-all, live reclaimable-space totals.

🔍 What it detects

Category	Description
🧹 App Caches	Rebuildable caches grouped by app (incl. npm/pip/Gradle/CocoaPods/Homebrew dev caches and Chrome/Edge/Brave/Arc/Firefox browser caches)
👻 App Leftovers	Support files, containers, logs and preferences likely left by uninstalled apps (heuristic; review first)
🐘 Large Files	Single files larger than 100 MB — find space-hungry videos / images / archives
🛠️ Dev Clutter	Build products, caches, simulators and SDK temp dirs for iOS/Xcode, Android/Android Studio, HarmonyOS/DevEco Studio
🧬 Duplicate Files	Byte-for-byte identical files (size → partial hash → full SHA-256), keeping the newest copy per group
🚀 Login / Startup Items	Launch-at-login LaunchAgents / LaunchDaemons, focusing on orphaned entries pointing to deleted programs
✨ Other Cleanup	Diagnostic reports, iOS device backups, Homebrew leftovers, Docker images, Time Machine local snapshots, scattered node_modules, mail attachment caches, old downloads

📊 How MacBroom compares

A focused comparison on what MacBroom is built for: safe, open-source, scriptable everyday cleanup.

	MacBroom	CleanMyMac	Pearcleaner	Mole
Price	Free	$39.95/yr	Free	Free
Open source	✅ MIT	❌	✅ Fair-code	✅ MIT
Runtime deps	✅ Python 3 stdlib · zero deps	Closed	Native	Native
Install	✅ pip/pipx one-liner	DMG	DMG / brew	brew
Interface	Local web UI + CLI	Native app	Native app	Command line
CLI / scriptable (--json)	✅	❌	❌	✅
Trash by default	✅	✅	✅	➖
Risk grading + risky hidden	✅	➖	➖	❌
Dry-run per-item confirm	✅	➖	✅	➖
Audit log	✅	❌	➖	❌
In-app activity log viewer	✅	➖	❌	❌
iCloud-sync aware	✅	➖	❌	❌
Persistent exclusion list	✅	➖	✅	❌
App cache cleanup	✅	✅	➖	✅
Uninstall leftovers (explainable)	✅ exact bundle-id	✅	✅ focused	✅
Large / duplicate files	✅ / ✅	✅ / ✅	❌	❌
Dev clutter (Xcode/iOS/Android/HarmonyOS)	✅ incl. HarmonyOS	➖ Xcode	❌	➖
Login / orphaned startup items	✅	✅	❌	➖

✅ yes · ➖ partial/limited · ❌ no. MacBroom is for people who want an open-source, zero-dependency cleaner that installs with one pip line, is safe by default, and can be scripted into CI.

💡 Why MacBroom? — built from real cleaner failures

We collected a large amount of user feedback on pain points with rival cleaners and designed MacBroom to not repeat their most painful, real, reported accidents:

Real-world failure reported in other cleaners	How MacBroom avoids it by design
A cleaner deleted a user's entire Chrome profile — logins and bookmarks gone	We only target precise Default/Cache & Code Cache dirs — never the profile directory
Apple Notes / Claude Code CLI deleted as "leftovers" (matched by name, not identity)	Leftover detection matches bundle id exactly; each flagged item shows why, with an expandable file list to review before deleting
Shell history wiped (~/.zsh_history) as "junk"	We never scan or touch shell history
Cleanup broke iCloud sync (Desktop/Documents)	We detect iCloud-synced paths, mark them risky and hide them by default
Uninstall misidentified unrelated files (~/Public, printer configs, another app's data)	Bundle-id matching + risk grading + a persistent exclusion list to permanently skip false positives
Wrong / negative free-space numbers (sparse images counted by logical size)	Real on-disk usage via st_blocks, so sparse VM/disk images are not over-counted
Untranslated or mistranslated UI	Native-quality English and Chinese from day one, not machine-translated strings
Simulator cleanup throwing errors	iOS/Xcode simulators are cleaned through the official xcrun simctl interface, not by blindly deleting paths
Long scans froze the app with no way to stop	Every scan is cancelable mid-run
Orphaned login items left erroring in System Settings after uninstalls	Dedicated Login Items scanner flags startup entries pointing to deleted programs

In short: other cleaners delete first and apologize later. MacBroom is designed to be un-dangerous — Trash-by-default, risky items hidden, dry-run confirmation that lists exactly what goes, and an audit log of everything it does.

🚀 Usage

Option A: pipx / pip (recommended)

pipx install macbroom      # or: pip install macbroom
macbroom                   # starts and opens the browser

Option B: run from source (no install)

git clone https://github.com/mythkiven/MacBroom.git
cd MacBroom
./run.sh                   # or: python -m macbroom

The browser opens at http://127.0.0.1:37700. Click "Start Scan", then "Clean Selected".

macbroom --port 40000      # custom port
macbroom --no-open         # don't open the browser

Option C: command-line report (headless / scripting)

macbroom doctor                                # pre-flight: Python, FDA, port, log dir
macbroom scan                                  # print per-category summary and total
macbroom scan --json                           # JSON output for scripts / CI
macbroom scan --lang en                        # force English output
macbroom scan --category caches,login_items    # scan specific categories only

🛡️ Security

See SECURITY.md for the full security model and how to report vulnerabilities. In short: local-only, Trash-by-default, protected-path hard blocks, risk grading, audit log, loopback-only with Host validation + per-session CSRF token on the delete endpoint.

🖥️ Compatibility

• Python 3.9+ (standard library only).
• macOS 12 (Monterey) through 15 (Sequoia) / 26 (Tahoe). On older systems, any missing path or command (e.g. simctl runtime, tmutil thinlocalsnapshots) is skipped automatically without affecting other categories.

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. MacBroom needs no third-party packages; run tests with:

MACBROOM_LOG_DIR=/tmp/macbroom-test python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

📄 License

MIT