🍀 MacOSCleaner 2.4.0 in development

[AlexTkDev]

We are actively working on MacOSCleaner 2.4.0.

Our primary focus for this release is maximum cleaning precision, uncompromising safety, and technical honesty. Unlike traditional cleaners that run background daemons, inflate freed space metrics, or label basic heuristic checks as "antivirus engines", MacOSCleaner remains strictly on-demand, privacy-first, and transparent.

Here is what is planned and currently in development:

---

1. Zero Background Footprint & Honest APFS Metrics

• 0% background CPU and 0 MB background RAM: No tray agents, no background daemons, and no continuous polling. Every scan runs strictly on-demand when you open the window.
• Honest disk space delta: Space freed is measured using the real APFS filesystem delta (volumeAvailableCapacityForImportantUsage), accounting for APFS clones and purgeable space, instead of displaying artificial sums of raw file sizes.
• Trash-first safety: Reviewable files and uninstalls move to the macOS Trash via trashItem(at:). For users who enable direct deletion, a clear warning and audit log are enforced.

---

2. Startup Services Audit (Factual Verification, Not Fake Antivirus)

• We explicitly reject marketing gimmicks like "built-in antivirus" without a threat signature database.
• Instead, the Startup Services screen provides verifiable facts about every LaunchAgent, LaunchDaemon, and Login Item:
  • Code signature & notarization: Verifies whether binaries are properly signed and notarized using Apple's security framework.
  • Orphaned items detection: Identifies launch services whose target binaries no longer exist on disk.
  • Execution location audit: Highlights services executing from suspicious temporary directories (/tmp, /private/var/tmp).
  • Modern Login Items (macOS 26+): Migrated from legacy AppleScript to native Background Task Management (SMAppService / BTM).

---

3. Expanded Developer Toolchains & Local AI Caches (305 Apps, 105 Toolchains, 2,427 Paths)

We have significantly broadened our coverage of modern programming runtimes and local AI stacks:

• Python & AI: uv (both standard ~/Library/Caches/uv and XDG), pipx, pdm, ruff, PyTorch compilation kernels & Inductor, Hugging Face assets/modules, OpenAI Triton JIT cache, LiteLLM, Fabric CLI, vLLM.
• JS / TS / Web: Bun (~/.bun/install/cache), Turborepo build cache, Deno dependency cache.
• Rust, C, C++, Zig: Cargo .crate and git caches (~/.cargo/registry/cache, ~/.cargo/git/db), sccache (Mozilla compilation cache), ccache, Zig compiler cache.
• JVM & Scala: Gradle (~/.gradle/caches, daemon, wrapper/dists), Coursier (~/Library/Caches/Coursier/v1), sbt boot artifacts.
• Go, PHP, .NET, Ruby, Haskell, Elixir: go mod cache, Composer, NuGet v3 cache, Bundler, Cabal, Stack, Hex & Rebar3.
• AI Coding Agents & IDEs: Claude Code session logs & telemetry, Continue.dev indexes, Cline & Roo Code extension caches, Windsurf, Figma, Postman.

🔒 Strict Configuration Safety Invariant:
Cleanup only removes caches and rebuildable binary artifacts. Configuration files (gradle.properties, settings.xml, config.toml, .env, API tokens, SSH/GPG keys, .vscode/settings.json, .claude.json) are strictly protected and never touched in Cleanup. Application preferences and data can only be removed in the Uninstaller under an explicit, optional checkbox confirmed by the user.

---

4. Smart Project Purge (mo purge evolved)

• Scans user project directories (Developer, Projects, repos, src, Documents, code) for heavy rebuildable folders (node_modules, target, .build, venv, .next, .turbo, dist).
• Sibling-file validation: Confirms context (package.json for node_modules, Cargo.toml for target, go.mod for vendor, etc.) so innocent user folders are never removed.
• Active project protection: Configurable modification time threshold (7–14 days default). Projects you worked on in the past week are automatically skipped to avoid disrupting active builds.
• Safe deletion: Items are moved to the Trash (trashItem(at:)), never wiped irrevocably.

---

5. Forgotten Installers Hunter (mo installer evolved)

• Dedicated review scan for forgotten .dmg, .pkg, .iso images and large archive installers (.zip, .tar.gz > 50 MB).
• Scans Downloads, Desktop, Documents, Mail Downloads, Telegram media caches, and Homebrew bottle download caches.
• Displays download dates, source locations, and indicates whether the application inside the installer is already installed in /Applications.

---

6. Transparency & Permissions (TCC + Network Sockets)

• TCC Privacy Manager: Read-only inspection of macOS permissions with standard tccutil reset functionality.
• On-Demand Network Snapshot: Instant snapshot of open process sockets and remote addresses using libproc (no packet sniffing, no network extension, no background daemon).
• Browser Extensions Inspector: Read-only manifest and permissions inspection for Safari, Chrome, Brave, Arc, Edge, and Firefox, with safeguards blocking removal while browsers are active.

---

7. Core Bugfixes & Technical Debt

• Code signature check fix: Fixed a critical bug where unsigned binaries without a Team ID were incorrectly treated as Apple-signed.
• Thread blocking elimination: Replaced synchronous Process.run() calls in signature checks with async execution.
• macOS 26+ service lifecycle: Removed obsolete launchctl load/unload -w in favor of modern bootout/bootstrap.
• Root launch daemon permissions: Replaced silent osascript administrator prompts with clear UI permission badges.
• Full Siri / Shortcuts integration: Expanded CleanDeveloperCachesIntent (.all target) to clean all 9 developer categories implemented in the engine.

---

Roadmap & Next Steps

1. Stage 0: Core bugfixes & code signing corrections.
2. Stage 1: Honest APFS delta measurement & verification reporting.
3. Stage 2: TCC permissions viewer & on-demand network socket snapshots.
4. Stage 3: Safe browser extensions inspector.
5. Stage 4: Startup services audit (signatures, orphaned items, BTM login items).
6. Stage 5: Deep project purge & installer hunter.
7. Stage 6: Final localization check (14 languages) & release verification.

---

💬 We’d love your feedback!

Background services & daemons:

• Are there specific background agents or launch daemons that cause issues on your Mac?
• Any edge cases when disabling or removing startup items?

Localization & RTL:

• If you are a native Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Korean, or Polish speaker, we would appreciate help reviewing terminology and layout fit once the new locale builds drop.

Leftover paths & developer caches:

• Notice an application or CLI tool leaving large residual files that we didn't pick up? Let us know the tool name, bundle ID, and paths so we can add them to our test suite.

Drop your thoughts, bug reports, and suggestions below. Every comment helps us build a cleaner you can trust.