Mole: Mac Terminal Cleaner & System Monitor
/Mole
Mole is a command-line tool that folds Mac cache cleanup, app uninstalling, disk analysis, and live system monitoring into one terminal binary instead of four separate GUI apps. Reach for it if you're comfortable running cleanup commands from a terminal and want one tool instead of juggling CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus; skip it if you'd rather click through a GUI with zero command-line risk.
What is Mole for macOS?
Mole is a free, open-source command-line utility built specifically for macOS, packaged as a single binary that handles cache cleanup, app removal, disk-space analysis, and live hardware monitoring. Each job that would normally need its own app (CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, iStat Menus) becomes one `mo` subcommand instead.
Key Features for Mac Cleanup and Monitoring
- ✓`mo clean` sweeps user app cache, browser cache, developer-tool cache (Xcode, Node.js, npm), system logs, and Trash in one pass; the README's own example run reports 95.5GB reclaimed.
- ✓`mo uninstall` works as a macOS uninstaller from the command line, removing an app plus its launch agents, preferences, and hidden remnants; the README's example clears 52 related files across 12 locations.
- ✓`mo analyze` is a terminal-based Mac disk analyzer with percentage bars per folder, large-file drill-down, and support for scanning specific paths like `/Volumes` or `/private/tmp`; it skips external drives by default for faster startup.
- ✓`mo status` is a Mac system monitor CLI: a live dashboard with a single color-coded health score (built from CPU, memory, disk, temperature, and I/O load) plus CPU, memory, disk, power, network, and per-process resource monitoring.
- ✓`mo optimize` acts as a Mac system optimizer, refreshing Finder, network, and database state and repairing supported maintenance items, while skipping anything it judges unsafe or unnecessary for the current machine.
- ✓`mo purge` handles build-artifact purge across your project folders, removing stale `node_modules`, `target`, `.build`, `build`, and `dist` directories, with anything newer than 7 days left unselected by default.
- ✓`mo installer` locates leftover installer files (.dmg, .pkg, .zip) across Downloads, Desktop, Homebrew caches, iCloud, and Mail, labeling each by source.
- ✓A `--json` flag is supported by both `mo analyze` and `mo status` for scripting, and `mo status` auto-switches to JSON automatically when its output is piped.
Installing Mole on macOS
Install via Homebrew: `brew install mole`. Homebrew support follows Homebrew's own supported macOS tiers, so the README recommends macOS 14 or later for that path; older macOS versions should fall back to the script installer on a best-effort basis. The script path is `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tw93/mole/main/install.sh | bash`, and it accepts optional args like `-s latest` for the main-branch build or `-s 1.17.0` for a specific version. Mole is built for macOS; an experimental Windows build lives in the project's `windows` branch for early adopters. Once installed, run `mo` with no arguments for an interactive menu, or `mo --help` to see every subcommand.
Mastering Mole's Command-Line Functions
The core workflow runs through seven subcommands: `mo clean` for cache cleanup, `mo uninstall` as the macOS uninstaller for command-line app removal, `mo optimize` for refreshing caches and system services, `mo analyze` for interactive disk-space analysis, `mo status` for live resource monitoring, `mo purge` for deleting stale project build folders, and `mo installer` for finding old .dmg/.pkg files. Every destructive subcommand accepts `--dry-run` to preview changes first, and `--debug` adds detailed logs on top of that. Past operations get logged to `~/Library/Logs/mole/operations.log` and are reviewable with `mo history` (or `mo history --json`); set `MO_NO_OPLOG=1` to turn that logging off. `mo clean --whitelist` and `mo optimize --whitelist` protect specific caches or optimization rules from ever being touched, and those choices persist in `~/.config/mole/whitelist`. Inside the interactive screens, navigation works with arrow keys or Vim-style `h/j/k/l`. `mo touchid` wires up Touch ID for sudo prompts, `mo completion` sets up shell tab completion, and `mo update` (or `mo update --nightly` for unreleased main-branch builds) keeps Mole current. A separate setup script wires Mole's core commands into Raycast or Alfred as quick launchers. One quirk worth knowing: Mole auto-detects your terminal app, and the README flags iTerm2 as having known compatibility issues, recommending Kaku, Alacritty, kitty, WezTerm, Ghostty, or Warp instead.
Advantages of Using Mole
- ✓One binary replaces four separate categories of Mac utility (cleaner, uninstaller, disk analyzer, and system monitor) instead of installing and paying for four different apps.
- ✓Destructive commands default to caution: `--dry-run` previews, a logged operations history, and whitelist protection for caches and optimization rules you don't want touched.
- ✓`mo analyze` sends files to the Trash via Finder, rather than performing an outright deletion, a protective measure that a basic `rm` command fails to provide.
- ✓Free and open source under GPL-3.0, with no license fee for the CLI itself.
- ✓`mo purge` and `mo installer` target the kind of clutter general-purpose Mac cleaners tend to miss: stale build folders and forgotten installer files.
- ✓JSON output on `mo analyze` and `mo status` means it plugs into scripts instead of staying a manual, interactive-only tool.
Important Considerations and Known Issues
- △Several commands are explicitly destructive (`clean`, `uninstall`, `purge`, `installer`, `remove`), so skipping `--dry-run` means trusting Mole's judgment about what's safe to delete.
- △The Windows build is explicitly labeled experimental and lives on a separate branch, not the main release.
- △Homebrew installation is only recommended on macOS 14 and later; older macOS versions are pointed at the script installer on a 'best-effort' basis, per the README's own wording.
- △The outcomes from `mo optimize` are determined by the current state of the Mac, along with any system tools that may be available, and the README itself says the counts it reports are illustrative rather than fixed.
- △The facts available here don't include a changelog, release cadence, or roadmap, so how often subcommands and flags change isn't clear from the README alone.
Alternative Mac System Utilities
Frequently Asked Questions About Mole
Mole's command-line tool is free and open source, licensed under GPL-3.0. A separate, paid native app called Mole for Mac exists at mole.fit for people who want a graphical interface instead of the terminal.
Mole was developed for macOS. The Homebrew install path follows Homebrew's own supported macOS tiers, and the README recommends macOS 14 or later for that route; older macOS versions should use the script installer on a best-effort basis.
Mole's README describes it as combining what CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus do separately into one command-line binary (cache cleanup, app uninstalling, disk analysis, and live monitoring) instead of a GUI app you click through.
Mole documents safety-first defaults, including path validation, protected-directory rules, and explicit confirmation for higher-risk actions, plus a `--dry-run` flag on every destructive command and an operations log you can review with `mo history`. The project's own docs still call several commands destructive, so previewing before confirming is worth doing.
`mo analyze` skips external drives under `/Volumes` by default to keep startup fast, but you can point it at them directly with `mo analyze /Volumes` or a specific mount path.
The README suggests buying Mole for Mac (the paid companion app) as the most direct way to support development, or starring the repo, sharing it, and opening issues or pull requests if you'd rather contribute for free.
The problem it solves
Developers who live in a terminal don't have a single CLI that covers Mac maintenance end to end: freeing cache space, removing orphaned app files, and clearing stale project build artifacts each usually need a different paid GUI app, like CleanMyMac or DaisyDisk, or manual `find`/`du` digging. None of the usual GUI cleaners are built to specifically hunt down developer clutter like leftover `node_modules`, `target`, or `.build` folders scattered across old project checkouts. Mole folds that entire workflow (cleanup, uninstalling, disk analysis, live monitoring, and build-artifact purge) into one CLI with subcommands instead of four separate apps.
Best use cases
- •Freeing disk space on an aging Mac without paying for CleanMyMac or DaisyDisk, using `mo clean` and `mo analyze` from a terminal you already have open.
- •Uninstalling large apps completely (the README's own screenshots use Photoshop, IntelliJ IDEA, and Premiere Pro as examples), including the launch agents and preferences a plain drag-to-Trash leaves behind.
- •Clearing out old project checkouts for disk space management: `mo purge` targets `node_modules`, `target`, `.build`, `build`, and `dist` folders across directories like `~/Projects` or `~/GitHub`.
- •Watching live CPU, memory, disk, and network load during a build or a heavy task without opening Activity Monitor.
- •Hunting down forgotten installer files sitting in Downloads or iCloud months after you used them once.
Who should try it — and who should skip
Try Mole if you already live in a terminal and want one tool for cleanup, uninstalling, disk analysis, and monitoring instead of four paid apps, and you're fine reading `--dry-run` output before trusting a delete. Skip it if you want a mouse-driven GUI with zero command-line steps, or if you need the Windows build to be release-ready rather than experimental.
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