Claude Cleaner is an interactive terminal UI — built with Bubble Tea and Lip Gloss — that inspects Claude Code project session history, displays disk usage, and safely deletes only the sessions you select.
Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No runtime required when using a pre-built binary.
See SCREENSHOTS.md for all scenario walkthroughs.
npx claude-cleaner
npm install --global claude-cleaner claude-cleaner
The npm package is a thin wrapper. On install it automatically downloads the correct pre-built binary for your platform from GitHub Releases. No Go required.
Go to Releases, download the archive for your platform, extract, and run.
| Platform | File |
|---|---|
| Linux x64 | claude-cleaner_*_linux_amd64.tar.gz |
| Linux ARM64 | claude-cleaner_*_linux_arm64.tar.gz |
| macOS x64 | claude-cleaner_*_darwin_amd64.tar.gz |
| macOS Apple Silicon | claude-cleaner_*_darwin_arm64.tar.gz |
| Windows x64 | claude-cleaner_*_windows_amd64.zip |
| Windows ARM64 | claude-cleaner_*_windows_arm64.zip |
go install github.com/ePlus-DEV/claude-cleaner@latest
claude-cleaner
claude-cleaner --claude-dir "/path/to/.claude"
claude-cleaner --help
claude-cleaner --version--claude-dir <path> Custom Claude config directory (default: ~/.claude)
--dry-run Preview deletions without modifying any files
--mock-update Simulate a newer version available (for testing the update flow)
-h, --help Show help
-v, --version Show version
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
↑ / ↓ or j / k |
Navigate list |
g / G |
Jump to top / bottom |
space |
Toggle selection |
a |
Select / deselect all visible items |
n |
Unselect all |
o |
Select orphaned projects only |
enter |
Open Project Detail when nothing is selected; otherwise delete selected project session-history directories |
l |
Lock / unlock project (protected projects are skipped by destructive bulk actions) |
X |
Forget project: remove Claude session data + project metadata, never source code |
p |
Full purge selected projects through Claude CLI when available |
x |
Force-purge item at cursor — no confirm |
s |
Cycle sort: recent / size / tokens / name |
f |
Cycle filter: all / has data / orphaned |
e |
Cycle expiry filter: off / 7 / 14 / 30 / 60 / 90 days |
/ |
Search by project name or path |
c |
Open category cleanup |
r |
Rescan / refresh project list |
u |
Update claude-cleaner in-place (shown when update available) |
? |
Show key bindings |
esc |
Go back / clear search and filters / cancel |
q / ctrl+c |
Quit (works on every screen) |
- Reads project list from
~/.claude.json— shows all projects Claude Code knows about, even those with no local session files. - Displays token usage per project — reads
lastTotal*fields from~/.claude.jsonwhen available, otherwise aggregatesmessage.usagefrom session.jsonlfiles. Formatted as K / M / B / T / P / E. - Status column
●(session files on disk) /○(config only, no local data). - Windows path dedup —
d:/fooandD:/footreated as the same project; higher-token entry wins. - Project Detail screen with per-conversation JSONL session count, modified time, message count, token usage, and size.
- Delete individual conversation sessions without removing the entire project history.
- Protected Projects with
l: locked projects are excluded from select-all, orphan selection, delete, purge, and forget operations. - Forget Project with
X: removes Claude-owned session data and the matching~/.claude.jsonproject entry while preserving the real source project. - Project list includes conversation/session counts alongside size, token usage, and last-modified time.
- Multi-select with
space, select all witha, confirm withenter. - Separate deletion backends: normal Delete removes only the selected Claude session-history directory; Purge uses
claude project purgewhen available and falls back to session-directory removal. --dry-runpreviews exactly which projects/categories would be cleaned without touching files.- Search, sort, orphan filters, and age/expiry filters for large project lists.
- Category cleanup for disposable Claude data such as debug logs, telemetry, history, backups, and plugin cache while preserving plugin installation state.
- Live progress bar during deletion.
- Claude CLI integration is used only for explicit purge operations.
- Auto update check against npm registry on startup;
uto update in-place. - Claude CLI presence and version shown in header.
rto rescan at any time.qquits from every screen.- Rejects paths outside the Claude
projectsdirectory. - Concurrent filesystem scanning.
- Supports custom Claude configuration directories via
--claude-dirorCLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR.
Only project session folders directly inside ~/.claude/projects (or $CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR/projects).
These folders contain Claude Code session and conversation history. Source code directories are never touched.
| Mode | Key | Confirm | Scope | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delete | enter with selected projects |
✓ screen | selected items | removes only the matching directory under ~/.claude/projects; never invokes claude project purge |
| Delete conversation | Project Detail → enter |
✓ screen | selected JSONL sessions | removes only selected conversation files inside one project |
| Forget project | X |
✓ screen | current/selected projects | removes Claude session data and matching ~/.claude.json metadata; source code is never touched |
| Purge | p |
✓ screen | selected items | runs claude project purge -y <path> when available; falls back to the matching session directory |
| Force-purge | x |
✗ | cursor item only | same purge chain as p, without a confirm screen |
| Delete all | a then enter |
✓ screen | all visible/selected items | deletes selected session directories individually; does not call purge --all |
| Purge all | a then p |
✓ screen | all projects | may use claude project purge --all -y for efficiency |
All modes validate that the target path is inside the Claude projects directory before deleting.
Priority order: --claude-dir > CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR > ~/.claude
# macOS / Linux export CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR="/mnt/data/claude" claude-cleaner
# Windows PowerShell $env:CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = "D:\ClaudeData" claude-cleaner
Claude directory not found — Run Claude Code at least once so the directory is created, or point to the correct path:
claude-cleaner --claude-dir "/correct/path/.claude"Permission denied — Run as the same OS user that owns the Claude config directory.
Binary not found after npx — Try reinstalling:
npm install --global claude-cleaner
Windows: Access is denied when running go run . — Windows locks the temp executable while it's in use. Kill any other running instances, or build once and run the binary directly:
go build -o claude-cleaner.exe . .\claude-cleaner.exe
See ROADMAP.md for planned releases, automation improvements, storage insights, cleanup policies, and the longer-term v2 direction.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, build, test, and release instructions. For internal data flow diagrams see ARCHITECTURE.md.
MIT © ePlus.DEV