mole
A CLI cleaner: caches, logs, developer junk and orphaned files, with a dry run first.
What it does
mole scans the usual accumulation points — user and system caches, logs, Xcode derived data and simulators, package manager caches, browser data, orphaned application support directories — reports what it found and how much it would reclaim, and deletes on confirmation.
Being a CLI is the advantage: it is scriptable, scheduleable, and shows exactly which paths it intends to touch instead of a progress bar and a total.
Notes
Any cleaner can delete something you wanted. Run the scan and read the path list before letting it delete, especially where “developer junk” is concerned — Xcode simulator runtimes are large, slow to re-download, and easy to lose by accident.
Alternative to
| Alternative | Type | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| OnyX | Free | GUI, more conservative about what it will delete |
| CleanMyMac | Paid | The best-known app in this category |
| Pearcleaner | Open source | Narrower: app leftovers rather than caches and logs |
| Doing nothing | — | macOS purges most caches on its own under disk pressure |
Install
brew install mole