Coming soon · Free for macOS
Your Mac is full of build cruft.
We’re building the map.
Xcode, Docker, npm and Gradle quietly write gigabytes you never agreed to keep. DevCruft is a free Mac app we’re building to draw your whole disk to scale and name every developer cache on it.
No launch date yet. Until then, the guides on this site show how to find and clear every cache by hand.
Why build another one
Beautiful disk maps are blind. Developer cleaners are ugly lists.
The pretty analysers show you a folder named DerivedData and leave you to Google it. The developer cleaners know exactly what it is, then present it as a table of checkboxes you have to take on faith.
DevCruft is meant to be the missing half of each: a map you can read at a glance that already knows what every folder on it is for.
What we’re building
Planned for the first version
This is the design, not a finished product. Details will change as it gets built and tested.
A map, not a checklist
Your whole disk drawn to scale, so a 60 GB folder is the biggest thing on screen. You see the problem before you read a word.
It will know what DerivedData is
Instead of a folder name and a shrug, each developer cache labelled with what it is, which project it belongs to, and whether deleting it costs you anything.
Safe by design
Nothing removed without a named preview first. Paths classed as regenerable, replaceable or irreplaceable, and source code and uncommitted work never offered for removal.
Every node_modules, ranked
Not just the ones in ~/Projects: every folder on every volume, sorted by size and last-opened date, so the forgotten ones stand out.
Built for developer caches
Xcode, simulators, Docker, Gradle, Homebrew, package managers and language toolchains, each recognised by name rather than guessed at.
Private, no account
A scan will run entirely on your Mac. No sign-in, and no file names or paths sent anywhere.
Coverage
The caches it will know by name
Ranges are rough sizes these folders commonly reach on developer machines. The guides on the blog show how to measure your own.
| Tool | What it will look for | Where | Common size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xcode | DerivedData, Archives, iOS DeviceSupport | ~/Library/Developer/Xcode | 20–90 GB |
| iOS Simulators | Unavailable runtimes and stale devices | ~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator | 10–60 GB |
| Docker | The VM disk image, dangling images, volumes | ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker | 15–120 GB |
| node_modules | Every folder, ranked by last-opened date | anywhere on disk | 5–50 GB |
| npm / pnpm / yarn | Global package stores | ~/.npm, ~/Library/pnpm | 2–15 GB |
| Android Studio | AVD images, Gradle caches, SDK system images | ~/.gradle, ~/Library/Android | 20–100 GB |
| Homebrew | Downloaded bottles and stale casks | ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew | 1–10 GB |
| Swift Package Manager | Clone and artifact caches | ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm | 1–8 GB |
| CocoaPods | Spec repos and the pod cache | ~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods | 1–6 GB |
| Rust | Registry sources and target directories | ~/.cargo, target/ | 3–40 GB |
| Go | The module cache | ~/go/pkg/mod | 2–20 GB |
| Python | pip wheels, abandoned virtualenvs | ~/Library/Caches/pip | 1–12 GB |
From the blog
Do it by hand today
Every guide here is complete on its own and works with commands you already have. You don’t need to wait for the app.
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Read →Safari and Chrome: The Browser Caches You've Never Cleared
Safari and Chrome can hold gigabytes per profile in HTTP cache, service workers and site data. Where each one lives and the commands to clear them.
Read →Be first to know when it launches.
DevCruft will be free. Join the waitlist and we’ll send you one email when it’s ready.