lysosome

Open-source CLI Mac app on the waitlist

Digest what your agents leave behind.

Claude Code, Cursor and parallel agents spin up git worktrees all day, and each one drags its own node_modules, target/ or .venv. lysosome finds them, along with stale build output, package caches, local AI models, Docker and Xcode data. It labels every item by how safe it is to remove, and never touches work you haven't pushed.

brew install lysosome-dev/tap/lysosome CLI · first release soon
regenerable · safe to clear expensive · costs a re-download review · left for you

Example output

See where the space went before anything is deleted.

Three commands. worktrees and scan only read; clean is a dry run until you add --yes. Every command also speaks --json, a stable, versioned contract you can script against.

example output 
$ lysosome worktrees ~/code
Scanned 412 repos in 3.8s

23 dormant worktrees are holding 41.2 GB.
18.6 GB is safe to remove now. 27.9 GB of the total is node_modules, target/ and .venv.

STATUS     SIZE    IDLE  BRANCH                 PATH
REMOVABLE  6.4 GB   47d  feat/checkout-v2       ~/code/shop/.claude/worktrees/checkout-v2
REMOVABLE  4.1 GB   38d  agent/fix-flaky-tests  ~/code/api/.claude/worktrees/fix-flaky-tests
REVIEW     3.9 GB   61d  spike/rust-indexer     ~/code/indexer-spike
           └ 2 commits not merged or pushed
REMOVABLE  3.2 GB   33d  refactor-auth          ~/.cursor/worktrees/web/refactor-auth
ORPHAN     2.7 GB   90d  (detached)             ~/code/old-monorepo-wt
           └ parent repo moved or deleted
REVIEW     2.2 GB   44d  feat/onboarding        ~/code/app-onboarding
           └ 14 uncommitted changes
… 17 more (--all to show)

Stale metadata: 4 worktree entries point at folders that no longer exist.

Suggested:
  git -C ~/code/shop worktree remove ~/code/shop/.claude/worktrees/checkout-v2
  git -C ~/code/api worktree remove ~/code/api/.claude/worktrees/fix-flaky-tests
  …

Nothing was changed.

Illustrative output from a developer machine. Your numbers will differ.

What it finds

Six places a dev Mac quietly fills up.

Every finding carries a safety tier, so you know what a deletion costs before you make it.

  • Agent worktrees

    .claude/worktrees/* ~/.cursor/worktrees/* git worktree add

    Idle 30+ days, clean, and merged or pushed: removable. Dirty, locked or unpushed: left for you. Orphans and stale metadata get flagged too.

    regenerablereview

  • Build artifacts

    node_modules target/ .venv .next dist Pods

    Only folders git confirms are ignored, ranked by how long the project has been untouched.

    regenerable_expensive

  • Local AI models

    ~/.ollama/models ~/.cache/huggingface ~/.lmstudio

    Listed by model name, size and last use, not blob hashes, with what it would cost to download again.

    regenerable_expensive

  • Package caches

    ~/.npm pnpm store ~/.cargo/registry Go Gradle Homebrew

    Resolved from each tool where it can tell us, so custom cache locations are found too.

    regenerable

  • Docker & OrbStack

    build cache images volumes

    Build cache is cheap to lose; images cost a pull. Volumes may hold data, so they stay in review.

    regenerableregenerable_expensivereview

  • Xcode

    DerivedData iOS DeviceSupport simulators Archives

    DerivedData rebuilds on the next build. Archives hold dSYMs you may need for crash reports.

    regenerableregenerable_expensivereview

Safety

Careful by default, every time.

A lysosome breaks down only what the cell has marked as waste. Same idea here: nothing goes unless it's clearly rebuildable, and anything ambiguous waits for you.

Scans are read-only
Git runs with --no-optional-locks. Nothing is written, not even the index.
Dry run first
clean prints exactly what would happen. Nothing changes until you add --yes.
Unpushed work is off-limits
Worktrees with uncommitted changes, untracked files, locks or unpushed commits are never removed.
Recoverable
Items go to the macOS Trash, or through the tool's own cleanup: git worktree remove, docker image prune, brew cleanup, xcrun simctl.
Only ignored files count
A folder is an artifact only if git check-ignore agrees. Tracked source is never called junk.
When unsure, it asks
Anything ambiguous is labeled REVIEW, never REMOVABLE.

Free and open source

Get the CLI.

MIT-licensed, written in Rust, macOS first. The first release is close; watch lysosome-dev/cli to hear when it lands.

  • Homebrewbrew install lysosome-dev/tap/lysosome
  • Shellcurl -fsSL https://lysosome.dev/install.sh | sh
  • Cargocargo install --git https://github.com/lysosome-dev/cli lysosome

Coming soon · lysosome for Mac

Stop finding out at 2 GB free, mid-build.

A native menu bar app built on the CLI. It keeps watch so you don't have to remember to run anything.

  • Disk pressure, always on. A quiet gauge in the menu bar, and an alert before your SSD fills during a build or a model pull.
  • Knows which agent made what. Worktrees are tied to the Claude Code or Cursor session that created them, so you can tell a live task from a forgotten one.
  • Cleanups on a schedule. Rules like "regenerable caches older than 14 days, Sundays at 3am". Review items are never part of a rule.
  • One click, with undo. Reclaim sends items to the Trash, and Undo puts them back.
  • History. Charts of where your space went, week by week.
  • Model library. Every local model in one list, with last use, size and re-download cost.
Design preview with example data. The app is in development.

CLI or app

The CLI is free. The app does it for you.

FeatureCLI free · MITMac app paid · coming soon
Find worktrees, artifacts, caches, models, Docker, XcodeYesYes
Safety tier on every itemYesYes
Dry-run cleanup to the TrashYesYes
Stable --json for scriptsYesBuilt on it
Always-on disk pressure monitoringNoYes
Alerts before the disk fillsNoYes
Agent-aware worktree trackingNoYes
Scheduled cleanups with rulesNoYes
One-click reclaim with undoNoYes
History charts and model libraryNoYes
Team and fleet viewNoLater

Pricing

Early-bird pricing for the waitlist.

The CLI is free and stays that way. lysosome for Mac will be a paid app, sold as a one-time or yearly license; we haven't decided which. Everyone on the waitlist gets first access to the beta and an early-bird price.

Questions

What is lysosome?

A disk cleaner for developers on macOS. The open-source lysosome CLI shows where your disk went (dormant git worktrees, git-ignored build artifacts, package caches, local AI models, Docker and Xcode data), labels each item by how safe it is to delete, and cleans up safely. A paid menu bar app built on the CLI is coming.

Why are agent worktrees such a problem?

Agent tools create a git worktree per task so they can work in parallel, and nothing removes them afterwards. Each worktree gets its own dependency install and build output, so a few weeks of agent work can leave dozens of copies of node_modules or target/ behind.

Can it delete something I still need?

It's built not to. Scans never modify anything. Worktrees with uncommitted changes, untracked files, locks or unpushed commits are never removed. clean is a dry run until you add --yes, and removed items go to the macOS Trash or through the tool's own cleanup command.

Does it work on Linux or Windows?

macOS comes first, on Apple Silicon and Intel. The CLI also builds for Linux where that costs nothing extra. Windows isn't planned.

How much will the Mac app cost?

Pricing isn't set. It will be a one-time or yearly license, and people on the waitlist get an early-bird price.

What happens to my email?

It's used only to tell you when the Mac app beta and early-bird pricing open, plus CLI news if you asked for it. We don't share it.