The AI Engineer's Model Disk Cleanup Guide: Hugging Face, Ollama & PyTorch
The ultimate 1,200-word field guide for AI developers and local LLM hobbyists to reclaim 200GB+ from Ollama, Hugging Face, PyTorch, and vLLM model weights.
Developer Files
Build artifacts, caches, and dependency folders
Android Studio System Index Cache (AndroidStudio Cache)
Android Studio caches Gradle project indexes, VFS caches, and compiler artifacts. Invalidate and clear is safe.
Ansible Automation Temp & Fact Cache (~/.ansible/tmp)
Ansible stores temporary playbook execution modules and target host fact JSON caches in ~/.ansible/tmp. Clearing Ansible tmp is safe.
Astro Framework Build Output & Asset Cache (.astro)
Astro web framework caches pre-rendered HTML pages and optimized Vite assets in .astro and dist. Learn how to clean Astro build cache.
AWS CLI Cache (~/.aws/cli/cache)
The AWS CLI cache stores temporary IAM SSO session tokens and API responses. Deleting it is safe.
Azure CLI Log & Token Cache (~/.azure/logs)
The Azure CLI (.azure) stores execution logs and MSAL auth tokens. Deleting old log logs is safe.
Bun JavaScript Package Cache (~/.bun/install/cache)
The Bun install cache stores downloaded npm tarballs and binary packages. Clearing it is safe and frees disk space.
Rust Cargo Git Repository Cache (~/.cargo/git/db)
The .cargo/git folder caches bare Git repository checkouts for Rust dependencies. Clearing the Cargo Git cache is safe.
Carthage Compiled Framework Cache (Carthage/Build)
The Carthage/Build folder contains compiled iOS & macOS framework dependencies (.framework / .xcframework). Deleting it is safe.
Clojure REPL & CIDER Session Cache (.cider-repl)
Clojure CIDER and Leiningen cache REPL output history and Maven jar artifacts. Deleting CIDER session cache is safe.
The Cloud & DevOps Storage Playbook: Kubernetes containerd, K3s & Jenkins
The ultimate 1,200-word field guide for DevOps engineers and cluster admins to reclaim 150GB+ from Kubernetes containerd layers, K3s storage, Jenkins workspaces, and Terraform caches.
CocoaPods Master Spec Repository (~/.cocoapods/repos)
The CocoaPods repos directory stores local git clones of the iOS podspec master repository. Clearing repos is safe.
DeepSpeed Distributed LLM Training Checkpoints (global_step*)
Microsoft DeepSpeed saves distributed model training checkpoint states in global_step directories. Learn how to clean old DeepSpeed checkpoints.
Deno Module Cache (~/.deno/deps & ~/.deno/gen)
The DENO_DIR folder caches remote TypeScript imports and compiled V8 code bytes. Deleting it is safe.
The Software Engineer's Disk Cleanup Field Guide: Reclaim 200GB+ Safely
The ultimate 2,000-word terminal cleanup playbook for software engineers to reclaim 200GB+ from Docker, Xcode, npm, Cargo, and PyTorch.
Elasticsearch Nodes & Indices Cache Directory (data/nodes/0/indices)
Elasticsearch stores Lucene index segments and node cache data in data/nodes. Learn how to safely delete old indices via API.
Elixir Mix Framework Build Directory (_build)
The _build directory in Elixir project root holds compiled BEAM bytecode and Mix app dependencies. Clearing _build is safe.
FastAI Training Dataset Cache (~/.fastai/data)
The .fastai data folder caches downloaded computer vision and NLP training datasets. Purging FastAI datasets is safe.
Flutter SDK Engine Binary Cache (flutter/bin/cache)
The Flutter bin/cache directory stores compiled Flutter engine binaries, Dart SDK tools, and iOS/Android artifacts. Deleting it is safe.
Flutter Desktop Ephemeral Build Cache (build/ephemeral)
Flutter caches engine C++ headers and native desktop platform wrappers in build/ephemeral. Clearing ephemeral cache is safe.
Google Cloud SDK Cache (~/.config/gcloud/logs)
The gcloud CLI stores diagnostic logs and component installer caches. Deleting gcloud logs and staging cache is safe.
GitLab CI Runner Pipeline Cache (/var/lib/gitlab-runner/cache)
GitLab CI runners cache build artifacts and dependency archives in /var/lib/gitlab-runner/cache. Clearing runner cache is safe.
Gradle Daemon Logs & Process Cache (~/.gradle/daemon)
The .gradle/daemon folder stores log outputs and lock files from background Gradle build daemons. Deleting daemon logs is safe.
Haskell Cabal Global Package Store (~/.cabal/store)
The Cabal store caches compiled GHC library dependencies. Purging old Cabal store packages is safe.
Jenkins CI Build Workspace Directory (var/jenkins_home/workspace)
Jenkins CI stores extracted git source checkouts and build artifacts in job workspaces. Wiping idle job workspaces is safe.
Julia Language Binary Artifacts Cache (~/.julia/artifacts)
Julia caches downloaded binary dependencies and dataset artifacts in ~/.julia/artifacts. Purging Julia artifacts is safe.
K3s Kubernetes Runtime Cache (/var/lib/rancher/k3s/data)
K3s caches lightweight Kubernetes binary images and container runtime layers in /var/lib/rancher/k3s. Clearing stale data is safe.
kubectl Kubernetes API Schema Discovery Cache (~/.kube/cache)
kubectl caches Kubernetes cluster API OpenAPI schema definitions in ~/.kube/cache. Clearing kubectl HTTP cache is safe.
Kubernetes containerd Image Layer Storage (/var/lib/containerd)
containerd stores downloaded OCI container image layers in /var/lib/containerd. Pruning unused image layers is safe.
Lerna Monorepo Build & Package Task Cache (.lerna)
Lerna monorepo manager caches package build outputs and task graphs in .lerna and node_modules/.cache/lerna. Clearing Lerna cache is safe.
LM Studio Local LLM Models Cache (lm-studio/models)
LM Studio stores downloaded GGUF format Large Language Models. Deleting model files removes downloaded LLMs.
LoRA & QLoRA Fine-Tuned Model Adapter Weights (adapter_model.safetensors)
LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation) fine-tuning stores low-rank parameter delta weights in adapter_model.safetensors. Learn how to manage LoRA weights.
Xcode Offline Documentation Cache (DocSets)
Xcode stores downloaded offline developer API documentation sets (.docset). Deleting offline documentation sets is safe.
The iOS Developer's Disk Cleanup Handbook: Purging Xcode, Simulators & CocoaPods
The ultimate 1,400-word master field guide for iOS, macOS, Swift, Flutter, and React Native engineers to reclaim 100GB+ from Xcode DerivedData, simulators, and archives.
Xcode iOS Simulators Folder (~/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices)
CoreSimulator stores virtual disk images and cached app data for iOS, watchOS, and tvOS simulators. Deleting old devices is safe.
MariaDB & MySQL InnoDB System Tablespace File (ibdata1)
The ibdata1 file stores the InnoDB system tablespace, undo logs, and change buffers. Learn how to shrink ibdata1 safely.
Apache Maven Wrapper Cache (~/.m2/wrapper/dists)
The Maven Wrapper folder caches downloaded Maven zip distribution binaries. Deleting old wrapper dists is safe.
MongoDB Journal Write-Ahead Log Files (data/journal)
MongoDB stores write-ahead journal files in data/journal to ensure write durability. Learn when and how to safely clear MongoDB journals.
Neo4j Graph Database Transaction Log Files (neostore.transaction.db.*)
Neo4j stores transaction logs for database recovery and cluster replication. Learn how to prune old Neo4j transaction logs safely.
Nim Language C Translation Cache (nimcache)
Nim generates C source files and object binaries inside nimcache folders during compilation. Deleting nimcache is safe.
Node Version Manager Cache (~/.nvm/.cache)
The nvm .cache folder stores downloaded Node.js release tarballs and headers. Purging the nvm cache is completely safe.
Nx Monorepo Local Computation Cache (.nx/cache)
Nx monorepo tool caches task execution outputs in .nx/cache. Learn how to safely reset and clear local Nx computation cache.
OCaml OPAM Package Manager Download Cache (~/.opam/download-cache)
OPAM caches tarball archives of downloaded OCaml library packages. Clearing OPAM download cache is safe.
Ollama Model Manifests Registry Cache (~/.ollama/models/manifests)
Ollama stores JSON model registry manifests mapping GGUF model layers. Deleting manifest cache is safe.
Oracle Database Diagnostic Trace Files & Alert Logs (diag/rdbms)
Oracle Database stores diagnostic trace files (.trc, .trm) and incident dumps in Automatic Diagnostic Repository (ADR). Clearing old trace files is safe.
Pipx Application Environments (~/.local/state/pipx)
Pipx creates isolated Python virtual environments for CLI tools. Deleting pipx environments uninstalls those CLI tools.
pnpm Global CLI State (~/.local/share/pnpm/state)
The pnpm state folder logs update checks and global command logs. Deleting pnpm state files is safe.
Python Poetry Artifact Cache (~/.cache/pypoetry)
The pypoetry folder caches downloaded Python wheel package artifacts and virtualenv metadata. Deleting Poetry cache is safe.
Prisma ORM Binary Engines Cache (~/.cache/prisma/master)
Prisma downloads Rust query engine and migration engine binaries into this cache. Deleting Prisma engine binaries is safe.
Pulumi Infrastructure as Code Local State Backups (~/.pulumi/backups)
Pulumi CLI caches historical infrastructure state file backups (.json.bak) in ~/.pulumi/backups. Clearing old state backups is safe.
R Language Package Library Cache (R/win-library)
R language stores downloaded CRAN statistical packages in R/win-library. Cleaning unused R packages is safe.
Remix & React Router Framework Build Cache (.cache/remix)
Remix web framework caches route manifests and server-side render assets in .cache/remix. Deleting Remix build cache is safe.
Scala SBT & Ivy Dependency Cache (~/.ivy2/cache)
The Ivy2 cache stores compiled Scala JAR dependencies and SBT build artifacts. Clearing it is safe.
Solana CLI Ledger & Keypair Cache (~/.config/solana)
The .config/solana folder stores Solana CLI transaction history, test validator ledgers, and keypair files. Use caution.
SolidJS & SolidStart App Build Cache (.solid)
SolidJS and SolidStart frameworks cache compiled reactive components and server route manifests in .solid and dist. Clearing SolidJS build cache is safe.
Microsoft SQL Server Transaction Log Files (.ldf)
SQL Server database transaction logs (.ldf) grow infinitely if full recovery mode backups are not managed. Shrinking LDF logs requires caution.
SQLite Write-Ahead Log (.wal) & Shared Memory (.shm) Files
SQLite database WAL (.wal) and shared memory (.shm) files enable concurrent reads and writes. Learn when it is safe to delete WAL files.
Storybook UI Component Build Cache (node_modules/.cache/storybook)
Storybook caches webpack/vite component story bundles. Clearing storybook cache is safe.
Tauri Rust Desktop App Build Target (src-tauri/target)
Tauri compiles Rust backend binaries and web view wrappers inside src-tauri/target. Deleting the target directory is safe.
TensorBoard ML Training Metrics Log Files (events.out.tfevents.*)
TensorBoard records loss metrics, learning rate curves, and model graph visualizations in events.out.tfevents files. Clearing TensorBoard logs is safe.
TensorFlow Hub Model Cache (~/.cache/tfhub_modules)
tfhub_modules caches pre-trained neural network weights downloaded via TensorFlow Hub. Deleting it is safe.
Hugging Face Tokenizers Cache (~/.cache/huggingface/tokenizers)
The tokenizers cache stores BPE vocabulary files for LLM models. Deleting tokenizer cache files is safe.
NVIDIA Triton Inference Server Model Repository Cache (/var/tmp/triton)
NVIDIA Triton Inference Server caches compiled TensorRT engines and model repository artifacts in /var/tmp/triton. Clearing Triton cache is safe.
Unity Hub Editor Installer Cache (TargetSupport)
Unity Hub stores downloaded Unity Editor installation installers and build target modules. Purging downloaded installers is safe.
Vagrant Virtual Machine Base Box Images (~/.vagrant.d/boxes)
Vagrant stores downloaded base virtual machine images (.box) in ~/.vagrant.d/boxes. Pruning old Vagrant boxes is safe.
VitePress Static Site Build Cache (.vitepress/cache)
The .vitepress/cache directory caches Markdown parsing and Vite bundle artifacts. Deleting .vitepress/cache is safe.
vLLM Engine Model Weights Cache (~/.cache/vllm)
The vLLM cache stores downloaded Hugging Face LLM model weights and kv-cache buffers. Deleting vLLM model cache is safe.
Weights & Biases ML Experiment Local Run Directory (wandb/run-*)
Weights & Biases (wandb) caches local experiment runs, media artifacts, and stdout logs in wandb/run-*. Learn how to clean wandb local caches.
Wasmer WebAssembly Compiled Module Cache (~/.wasmer/cache)
The .wasmer cache stores pre-compiled WebAssembly (.wasm) bytecode modules. Deleting Wasmer cache is safe.
OpenAI Whisper Speech Model Cache (~/.cache/whisper)
The whisper cache stores downloaded OpenAI speech-to-text neural network weights (.pt). Clearing the Whisper cache is safe.
Yarn Global Package Cache (Yarn Cache)
Yarn v1 and Yarn Berry cache npm package zip archives locally. Clearing the global cache is safe.
Zig Compiler Global Build Cache (~/.cache/zig)
The Zig compiler caches LLVM IR bitcode and C translation artifacts in ~/.cache/zig. Clearing Zig global cache is safe.
Astro Framework Build Cache Folder (.astro)
The .astro folder stores auto-generated TypeScript content collection definitions and build caches for Astro projects. Deleting .astro is safe.
Babel Loader Transpiler Cache (node_modules/.cache/babel-loader)
The node_modules/.cache/babel-loader folder caches transpiled JavaScript & JSX files. Deleting it is safe and resolves stale transpilation errors.
Rust Cargo Target Folder (target/)
The target/ folder contains compiled Rust binaries and incremental build artifacts. Deleting it via cargo clean is safe and restores gigabytes of space.
CocoaPods Cache Folder (~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods)
~/Library/Caches/CocoaPods caches downloaded iOS and macOS pod dependencies. Clearing it via pod cache clean --all is safe.
PHP Composer Package Cache Folder (~/.composer/cache)
The ~/.composer/cache directory holds cached zip archives and git clones for PHP Composer packages. Deleting Composer cache is safe.
Anaconda & Miniconda Package Cache Folder (~/anaconda3/pkgs)
The Conda pkgs folder stores extracted tarballs and package downloads for Python environments. Clearing it via conda clean --all is safe.
Cypress E2E Testing Binary Cache (~/.cache/Cypress)
The ~/.cache/Cypress folder stores downloaded Electron & browser test runner binaries for Cypress. Deleting Cypress cache is safe.
Docker Data & overlay2 Folder (var/lib/docker)
Docker overlay2 stores container images, layers, and stopped volumes. Deleting unused layers via docker system prune is safe and recovers tens of gigabytes.
Elixir Mix Build & Deps Folders (_build & deps)
The _build and deps folders store compiled Erlang BEAM files and Elixir dependencies. Deleting them is safe and restores clean build states.
ESLint Cache File (.eslintcache)
The .eslintcache file stores linting results for JavaScript/TypeScript files. Deleting it is safe and forces a fresh code lint pass.
Go Language Build & Module Cache (~/.cache/go-build)
~/.cache/go-build and $GOPATH/pkg/mod store compiled Go packages and modules. Running go clean -cache is safe and reclaims lost storage space.
Gradle Cache Folder (~/.gradle/caches)
.gradle/caches stores downloaded Java and Android build dependencies. Deleting it is safe and reclaims gigabytes of unneeded build artifacts.
Kubernetes Helm Chart Cache Folder (~/.cache/helm)
The ~/.cache/helm directory stores cached Kubernetes Helm charts and repository indexes. Deleting Helm cache is safe.
Hugging Face Cache Folder (~/.cache/huggingface)
~/.cache/huggingface stores downloaded AI models, transformers, and datasets. Deleting old model caches is completely safe and reclaims massive disk space.
Hugging Face Hub Model Cache Folder (~/.cache/huggingface/hub)
The ~/.cache/huggingface/hub folder stores cached AI model weights and tokenizer files. Purging old model revisions via CLI is safe.
Jupyter Notebook Runtime Cache Folder (~/.local/share/jupyter/runtime)
The Jupyter runtime folder stores active kernel connection JSON files and notebook session logs. Deleting runtime logs is safe.
Maven .m2 Repository Folder (~/.m2/repository)
The .m2/repository folder caches downloaded Java dependencies for Maven and Gradle. Deleting it is safe and reclaims gigabytes of unused jar files.
Xcode Archives Folder (~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Archives)
The Archives folder stores compiled app build packages (.xcarchive) generated for App Store submission. Deleting old archives is safe.
Xcode iOS DeviceSupport Folder (~/Library/Developer/Xcode/iOS DeviceSupport)
iOS DeviceSupport stores symbol files for physical iOS devices attached to Xcode. Deleting old iOS version support files is safe.
Minikube ISO & Image Cache Folder (~/.minikube/cache)
The ~/.minikube/cache folder stores Kubernetes VM ISO images and pre-loaded container images. Deleting minikube cache is safe.
MySQL Binary Logging Files (/var/lib/mysql/binlog.*)
MySQL binlog.* files store transaction replication logs. Purging old binary logs via PURGE BINARY LOGS is safe and recovers server storage.
Next.js Build Cache Folder (.next/cache)
The .next/cache folder stores compiled pages, images, and SWC build artifacts for Next.js apps. Deleting it is safe and resolves stale page builds.
NuGet Global Packages Cache Folder (~/.nuget/packages)
The ~/.nuget/packages folder caches downloaded C# and .NET NuGet packages. Clearing it via dotnet nuget locals all --clear is safe.
Ollama Local LLM Models Cache Folder (~/.ollama/models)
The ~/.ollama/models folder stores local GGUF model blobs (Llama, Mistral). Deleting unneeded models via ollama rm is safe.
Python Pip Cache (~/.cache/pip)
The pip cache stores downloaded Python wheel and tar.gz package archives. Deleting it via pip cache purge is safe and reclaims lost storage space.
Playwright Browser Binaries Cache (~/.cache/ms-playwright)
The ms-playwright folder stores downloaded Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit test binaries for Playwright. Deleting it is safe and reclaims space.
pnpm Global Store Folder (~/.local/share/pnpm/store)
The pnpm global content-addressable store caches hard-linked packages. Pruning unreferenced packages via pnpm store prune is safe and frees storage.
Podman Storage & Container Cache (~/.local/share/containers/storage)
The Podman storage directory holds rootless container images, layers, and volumes. Cleaning it via podman system prune is safe.
PostgreSQL Write-Ahead Logging Folder (pg_wal)
pg_wal stores PostgreSQL Write-Ahead Logs for crash recovery and replication. Do NOT manually delete pg_wal files; use pg_archivecleanup.
Python Virtual Environment Folders (.venv & venv)
.venv and venv folders hold isolated Python packages for a project. Deleting them is safe and they can be recreated anytime using requirements.txt.
PyTorch Hub Model Weights Cache Folder (~/.cache/torch)
The ~/.cache/torch folder stores pre-trained PyTorch neural network model weights (.pt and .pth). Deleting model weights cache is safe.
Redis dump.rdb Database Snapshot File
dump.rdb is a point-in-time point snapshot of your Redis database memory. Use caution before deleting as it contains persistent database keys.
RubyGems Cache & Obsolete Gems (~/.gem/ruby)
The RubyGems cache stores downloaded gem archives and old gem versions. Clearing RubyGems cache is safe and frees up drive space.
Swift Package Manager Cache (.build & .swiftpm Folders)
.build and .swiftpm folders store compiled Swift packages and build artifacts. Deleting them is safe and resolves Xcode package resolution bugs.
Terraform Provider Cache Folder (.terraform/providers)
The .terraform folder stores downloaded cloud provider binaries (AWS, Azure, GCP). Deleting it is safe and forces a clean terraform init.
Turborepo Cache Folder (.turbo)
The .turbo folder stores build task caches for Turborepo monorepos. Deleting .turbo is safe and forces a fresh clean monorepo build.
Unity Editor AssetCache Folder
AssetCache stores imported Unity Asset Store packages and shader artifacts. Deleting it is safe and recovers lost space on Unity game developer drives.
Vite Bundler Cache Folder (node_modules/.vite)
The node_modules/.vite folder caches pre-bundled ES modules for Vite dev servers. Deleting it is safe and fixes stale dev server HMR bugs.
Weights & Biases ML Cache & Run Artifacts (wandb)
The wandb folder stores local experiment run logs, media artifacts, and model checkpoints. Clearing wandb cache is 100% safe.
Webpack Persistent Cache Folder (node_modules/.cache/webpack)
The node_modules/.cache/webpack folder stores compiled JavaScript bundles and module graphs. Deleting it is safe and resolves stale build errors.
WSL2 Virtual Hard Disk (ext4.vhdx)
ext4.vhdx is the virtual disk for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2). Shrinking or compacting it is safe and recovers tens of gigabytes of unassigned space.
Xcode DerivedData Folder (~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData)
DerivedData stores Xcode build indexes, intermediate object files, and module caches. Deleting it is safe and is a standard fix for Xcode build bugs.
Is It Safe to Delete ext4.vhdx (Docker)?
The ext4.vhdx file is a massive virtual hard drive used by Docker and WSL2 on Windows. Deleting it will permanently destroy all your containers and databases.
.git
The hidden folder containing the entire version control history of a code repository. Deleting it destroys all past commits and branches.
Is It Safe to Delete .idea and .vscode?
The .idea and .vscode folders store your personal IDE workspace settings. Deleting them is safe, but it will wipe your editor layouts and local configurations.
Is It Safe to Delete npm-cache?
The npm-cache folder stores compressed copies of Node.js packages you download. It is completely safe to nuke if you need space or are facing weird build errors.
Is It Safe to Delete __pycache__?
The __pycache__ folder contains compiled Python bytecode designed to make your scripts run faster. It is completely safe to delete.
Is It Safe to Delete node_modules?
node_modules contains downloaded dependencies for JavaScript projects. It can always be regenerated with npm install.