next-nuke

Reset a Next.js project's build state in one command. next-nuke finds every .next in your repo, shows you what it will delete and how much disk you get back, and can reinstall dependencies afterwards. Monorepo- and pnpm-aware.

npx next-nuke

Why not rm -rf .next?

Usually rm -rf .next is fine. Two cases where it isn't:

Turborepo can put the folder straight back. turbo build caches task outputs keyed on an input hash, and a standard Next.js pipeline lists .next/** among those outputs. Delete .next, rebuild without changing an input, and Turbo reports a cache hit and restores the build you just deleted. The clean rebuild you thought you did is the old build. next-nuke notices the .turbo cache and tells you; --turbo clears it.

A monorepo has more than one. You need to know where every app lives, and you probably want to skip some of them. next-nuke finds them, sizes them, and gives you a checklist.

There's also the reinstall. --full deletes node_modules alongside .next, works out which package manager your lockfile belongs to, and runs a single install at the workspace root.

Safety

next-nuke runs rm -rf, so it's built defensively:

• It only ever deletes folders named .next, node_modules, .turbo, .next/cache, or .next/dev/cache — never your source files, configs, or documents. Every path is re-checked against this rule immediately before deletion.
• It refuses to run at your home directory, the filesystem root, or any ancestor of home.
• It stays in scope — every target must be inside the directory you pointed it at.
• It never follows symlinks — symlinked build folders are skipped, not chased.
• --dry-run shows exactly what would go, and there's a confirmation prompt before anything is deleted.

Every release is published from CI by npm OIDC trusted publishing, so each version on npm carries a signed provenance attestation linking the tarball to the exact GitHub Actions run and commit that built it.

Usage

npx next-nuke [path] [options]
# or: pnpm dlx next-nuke

| Command | What it does | | --- | --- | | next-nuke | Delete the whole .next (regenerates on next dev/build) | | next-nuke --cache | Delete only the Next.js caches (.next/cache and, on Next 16+, .next/dev/cache) — reclaim disk, keep the compiled build | | next-nuke --full | Delete node_modules + .next, then reinstall dependencies | | next-nuke --turbo | Also clear .turbo caches | | next-nuke --build | Run the project's build after cleaning | | next-nuke --exclude <pattern> | Skip apps whose path contains <pattern> (repeatable) | | next-nuke --dry-run | Show the plan, delete nothing | | next-nuke -y, --yes | Skip the confirmation prompt (scripts / CI) |

Flags compose: next-nuke --full --turbo --build.

Monorepos

Run it at the repo root and it finds every app's .next; when there's more than one, you get a checklist to pick which to reset. Run it inside a single app and it resets just that one. Discovery only ever looks at or below where you stand — it never reaches up and touches sibling apps.

Use --exclude to skip apps by path, which is what you want for non-interactive (--yes) or CI runs where there's no checklist. It's repeatable and matches a substring of each app's path:

next-nuke --full --yes --exclude apps/legacy --exclude packages/docs

pnpm / package managers

--full detects your package manager from the lockfile (pnpm-lock.yaml, package-lock.json, yarn.lock, bun.lock[b]), deletes every node_modules in scope, and runs a single install at the workspace root. If it can't tell which manager to use, it refuses to reinstall rather than guess.

Why not npkill -t .next?

npkill already finds and deletes .next folders, and it's good at that. next-nuke is narrower and does two things npkill doesn't:

• Delete and reinstall (--full) — wipe node_modules + .next, then run the right install for you.
• Turbo-cache honesty — in a Turborepo, deleting .next alone can be undone by .turbo restoring a stale build from cache. next-nuke warns you, and --turbo clears it.

If you only ever want to reclaim disk across many projects, npkill -t .next is the right tool. If you want to reset the project you're working in, this is.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for local development and the release process.

License

MIT © Roy Bakker