purge (prg
) is a simple command‑line uninstaller for macOS applications.
prg
automates removal of an app bundle and all its associated files—preferences, caches, support files, receipts, and more—by parsing the app’s metadata and scanning known system directories. Think of it as a drag‑and‑drop uninstaller in your terminal.
- Bundle metadata parsing: Extracts
CFBundleIdentifier
andCFBundleName
from the app’sInfo.plist
. - Targeted scan paths: Searches only standard macOS locations (
~/Library/Preferences
,~/Library/Caches
,/var/db/receipts
, etc.) for speed and accuracy. - Interactive selection: Presents an interactive checklist so you can choose which files to keep or delete.
- Dry‑run support: Preview all candidate files without actually trashing them (coming soon!).
- Single‑file binary: Delivered as a self‑contained executable via
bun build --compile
, no Bun runtime required on target machines.
# If you maintain your own tap:
brew tap wess/packages
brew install purge
# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/wess/purge.git
cd purge
# Install dependencies and build (macOS x64 + arm64)
npm install
npm run build:mac
# Link the binary
tln -sf "$(pwd)/dist/prg-macos-$(uname -m)" /usr/local/bin/prg
Run prg
followed by one or more .app
bundle paths:
$ prg /Applications/SomeApp.app
You’ll see a checklist of all related files. Uncheck items to keep them; press Enter to trash the rest.
-n, --dry-run
Preview candidate files without deleting.-h, --help
Show usage information.
- Source: https://github.com/wess/purge
- Issues & PRs: welcome!
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.