Overview
Ruby projects, especially Rails applications, accumulate gem dependencies, caches, and logs over time. A mature Rails app can have hundreds of megabytes in vendor directories alone.
What Cluttered Cleans
| Artifact | Description | Typical Size |
|---|---|---|
vendor/bundle/ | Bundled gem dependencies | 100MB - 800MB |
tmp/cache/ | Rails cache files | 10MB - 500MB |
log/ | Development and test logs | 10MB - 1GB |
coverage/ | Test coverage reports | 5MB - 50MB |
.bundle/ | Bundler configuration cache | 5MB - 20MB |
Why Ruby Projects Get Large
Ruby projects accumulate space from:
- Native extensions: Compiled C extensions in gems
- Asset pipeline: Compiled and cached assets
- Development logs: Can grow unbounded
- Test artifacts: Coverage reports, screenshots
Safety Considerations
Cluttered protects your Ruby projects by:
- Detecting running Rails servers
- Checking for active Sidekiq processes
- Identifying recent Gemfile.lock changes
- Preserving production-configured directories
Rails-Specific Cleanup
| Artifact | Rails Command | Cluttered |
|---|---|---|
| Logs | rails log:clear | Visual selection |
| Tmp files | rails tmp:clear | One-click |
| Assets | rails assets:clobber | Included |
Frequently Asked Questions
Will cleaning vendor/bundle break my app?
No. Run bundle install to restore gems. Your Gemfile.lock ensures exact versions.
What about the global gem directory?
Cluttered focuses on project-local vendor directories. Global gem cleanup is available in Pro.
Does it clean .rbenv or .rvm?
These are treated as system directories and require explicit opt-in.