node-module-cleaner

A simple and efficient CLI tool to recursively find and delete node_modules folders from a directory tree — with size estimates and confirmation prompts.

Features

• Scans for all folders matching a given name (default: node_modules)
• Calculates and displays disk space usage per folder
• Confirms before deletion (optional --force flag to skip)
• Skips nested matches to avoid double-counting
• Fast and dependency-free (uses native Node.js)

Installation

npm install -g node-module-cleaner

Or use directly via npx:

npx node-module-cleaner

Usage

node-module-cleaner [options]

Options

| Flag | Alias | Description | Default | | --------- | ----- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------- | | --path | -p | Base directory to start scanning from | Current working dir | | --name | -n | Folder name to search for and delete | node_modules | | --force | -f | Skip confirmation prompt before deletion | false | | --help | | Show usage instructions | |

Examples

Delete all node_modules folders under current directory

npx node-module-cleaner

Delete all dist folders under a specific project directory

npx node-module-cleaner -p ./projects/my-app -n dist

Force deletion without confirmation

npx node-module-cleaner -f

Output Example

Scanning for 'node_modules' folders in '/home/user/projects'...

Found 3 'node_modules' folder(s):

58.4 MB      frontend/node_modules
102.1 MB     backend/node_modules
36.2 MB      shared/node_modules

Total space to be freed: 196.7 MB

Do you want to delete these folders? (Y/N): y

Deleting folders...

=== Summary ===
Folders deleted: 3
Space freed: 196.7 MB
Cleanup completed!

Why?

node_modules folders can eat up gigabytes of space. This tool helps you:

• Quickly reclaim disk space
• Clean up old or abandoned project directories
• Gain visibility into how much space dependencies are taking

License

MIT

Author

Crafted by Sunny