Mole is a free and open-source terminal tool designed for Mac with deep cleaning and system optimization features that can clean cache files, system logs, browser junk, and app residue files with one click, freeing up up to 95GB of storage space in a single cleanup. The tool intelligently uninstalls apps and completely clears all hidden files, supports visual analysis of disk space, real-time monitoring of CPU/memory, and rebuilds system cache to improve running speed.
Easy to install, can be done through curl commands or the Homebrew package manager; The tool supports useful features such as security preview cleanups, Touch ID authentication, and more. You can quickly reclaim disk storage space, improve computer performance, and easily diagnose system problems directly in the terminal without spending money on paid cleaning tools.
On the macOS platform, system cleaning and maintenance tools have long been dominated by GUI commercial software, such as CleanMyMac, DaisyDisk, etc. These tools are comprehensive, but they also come with issues such as bulkiness, uncontrollable operation, and payment costs.
Mole is positioned in the opposite direction: it is a free, open-source, terminal-based system cleaning and maintenance tool with a greater emphasis on controllability, transparency, and composability.
From a design perspective, Mole does not try to “make decisions for the user”, but encapsulates common system maintenance behaviors into a set of explicit commands that users can execute on demand in the terminal.
1. Cleaning capabilities: focus on “identifiable system redundancy”
Mole’s core function is still cleanup, but its scope of cleanup objects is relatively clear, mainly including:
- System Cache
- System and application log files
- Temporary documents
- Browser-related cache and residual data
- Configuration and cache directories left over after app uninstallation
Before performing a cleanup, Mole scans the cleanable items and allows you to preview the results, and then you confirm whether to delete them. This process is closer to “tool-assisted judgment” rather than one-time automated clearing, which helps reduce the risk of accidental deletion.
In systems that have not been cleaned for a long time and have frequent software installations, the cleanup operation may free up a large amount of disk space, but Mole itself does not make any guarantees or commitments to free up capacity, and its behavior is still to delete identifiable redundant files.
2. Application uninstallation: Make up for the lack of native macOS capabilities
macOS’s native app uninstall usually simply drags apps to the Trash, which leaves behind a lot of hidden files, such as:
~/Library/Application Support~/Library/Preferences~/Library/Caches- Plists, logs, or status files
The uninstall feature provided by Mole attempts to find files related to the target app in these common paths, allowing for a more complete uninstallation process.
It should be noted that this approach relies on path rules and naming conventions, and is still “as thorough as possible” rather than completely eliminated in the absolute sense, but has significantly reduced manual troubleshooting costs.
3. Disk and system status analysis: lightweight but sufficient
In addition to cleanup, Mole provides some foundational system analysis capabilities, including:
- Analyze disk usage in the form of terminal interaction to quickly locate directories with large space occupancy
- View the underlying system status such as CPU, memory, and more to quickly understand the current operating load
These functions are not highly graphical, but are more inclined to the “point-of-care inspection tool” commonly used by engineers.
For users who are already used to doing things in the terminal, this is often more efficient than opening multiple GUI applications.
4. System maintenance commands: “state arrangement” and do not emphasize performance myths
Mole also includes some system maintenance-related commands, such as cleaning or rebuilding the system cache. This type of operation may help improve certain abnormal conditions (such as cache disorder, excessive historical retention, etc.) in long-running systems.
It should be emphasized that this type of operation is more of a system state organization and is not the same as the “acceleration promise” commonly found in performance optimization tools.
Mole’s design is more geared towards engineering practices than results-oriented performance publicity.
5. Installation and permissions: Try to fit the native mechanism of macOS
Mole supports installation in a variety of ways, including:
- Homebrew
- curl script
Less overall dependencies and low installation and update costs.
When it comes to system-level directory operations, the tool follows macOS’s permissions management mechanism and can authenticate with Touch ID or sudo instead of bypassing system security policies, as long as the system supports it.
Github：https://github.com/tw93/Mole
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