{
  "id": 9812701,
  "title": "Disk full? broot's whale-spotting mode plus Ctrl-G turns your cleanup into one command",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/25/disk-full-broots-whale-spotting-mode-plus-ctrl-g-turns-your-cleanup",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-25T18:59:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/kamon-shellcraft/disk-full-broots-whale-spotting-mode-plus-ctrl-g-turns-your-cleanup-into-one-command-cab"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Disk space issues are a common headache for engineers. When a build or backup job fails, du -sh and rm may seem like a quick fix, but they lack the ability to view directory totals and delete multiple files in one go. Enter the broot staging area, which offers an interactive solution to this problem. By using the br -w flag, the tree displays files sorted by size, making it easy to identify the largest ones. Ctrl-G allows users to collect files they want to delete in a review panel, while :rm deletes the entire set in one command. This workflow provides a visual representation of the files being deleted, making it easier to understand the impact before taking action.",
  "summary": "Every engineer knows the disk-full afternoon. The build or the backup job fails, and you end up in the same loop using du -sh and rm : du -sh * / | sort -h rm that-one-cache-dir du -sh * / | sort -h rm another-thing That works but, since the listing you get is flat, you see directory totals, not the files inside them. And you delete one directory at a time, with no way to collect a set of files,…",
  "key_points": [
    "broot staging area visualizes files by size",
    "Ctrl-G collects files for deletion review",
    ":rm deletes entire set in one command"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}