trasher

trash is a small rm-like CLI that moves files/directories into the macOS Trash instead of deleting them.

Install (dev / editable)

python3 -m pip install -e .

If your trash executable isn’t found after installing, make sure your Python “scripts” directory is on PATH (for the python.org installer this is often /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/<ver>/bin).

Usage

trash some-file.txt
trash -r some-directory/
trash -rf build/ dist/
trash -i important.txt
trash --dry-run -rv *

If trash is already taken on your system, use trasher (installed by this project) or adjust your PATH so this project’s trash resolves first.

Notes

• By default, items are moved into the appropriate macOS Trash folder:
  • Same volume as your home: ~/.Trash
  • Other volumes: <volume>/.Trashes/<uid>/
• When run via sudo, the tool uses the invoking user’s Trash (via SUDO_UID/SUDO_USER) when available.
• If sudo trash ... can’t find the executable, use sudo $(which trash) ... or add the install location to sudo’s secure_path.
• This tool moves items to Trash for recovery, but Finder “Put Back” metadata is not guaranteed.