nm-sweep

A cross-platform CLI tool to remove node_modules from inactive Node.js repositories using Git commit history.

Features

• Accurate inactivity detection using Git commit timestamps
• Monorepo support (npm workspaces, pnpm workspaces)
• Interactive selection or automatic cleanup
• Dry-run mode for safe preview
• Disk space estimation
• Cross-platform compatible (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Installation

npm install -g nm-sweep

Or use npx without installation:

npx nm-sweep

Usage

Basic Usage

Scan the current directory:

nm-sweep

Options

| Option | Alias | Default | Description | |--------|-------|---------|-------------| | --dir <path> | -d | current directory | Directory to scan | | --months <number> | -m | 3 | Inactivity threshold in months | | --dry-run | | false | Preview deletions without executing | | --yes | -y | false | Skip confirmation prompt |

Examples

Scan a specific directory:

nm-sweep --dir /path/to/projects

Use 6-month inactivity threshold:

nm-sweep --months 6

Preview what would be deleted:

nm-sweep --dry-run

Delete all inactive node_modules without prompting:

nm-sweep --yes

Combine options:

nm-sweep --dir ~/projects --months 6 --dry-run

How It Works

1. Scan: Recursively scans the specified directory for Git repositories
2. Validate: Checks each repository for package.json (valid Node.js project)
3. Detect: Identifies monorepos via workspaces field or pnpm-workspace.yaml
4. Analyze: Gets the last commit timestamp using Git
5. Filter: Filters repositories inactive beyond the threshold
6. Discover: Finds all node_modules directories (root + workspace packages)
7. Select: Allows interactive selection or uses all inactive repos
8. Delete: Removes selected node_modules directories

Requirements

• Node.js 14.14.0 or higher
• Git must be installed and available in PATH

License

MIT