Maven Cleaner

A tool to clean up your local Maven repository and Gradle caches. Scans for old artifact versions, checks Maven Central for upstream availability, protects local-only builds, and reclaims disk space safely.

View on GitHub · Latest Release: v0.6.0

Built with Kotlin, JDK 21, and FlatLaf.

What can Maven Cleaner do?

Maven Repository Cleaning

Scan all versions or snapshots only across your entire ~/.m2/repository
Select Old Versions — automatically identifies all versions except the latest per artifact
Upstream Verification — checks each artifact against Maven Central before deleting
Local-Only Protection — artifacts not found upstream are never deleted
Metadata Refresh — updates maven-metadata.xml after deletion to keep the repository consistent
Latest Version Safety — warns before deleting all versions of an artifact

Gradle Cache Cleaning

Daemon logs (.out.log files older than 7 days)
Version caches, transform caches, build caches, module caches
Downloaded Gradle wrapper distributions
Build scan data and native platform files

Split Repository Migration

Supports the Maven 3.9+ split local repository layout:

~/.m2/repository/cached/ — downloaded dependencies (safe to delete)
~/.m2/repository/installed/ — locally built artifacts (protected)

Detects current layout: Classic, Partially Split, or Fully Split.

How does Maven Cleaner protect against accidental deletion?

Path validation — refuses to operate outside allowed roots
Symlink protection — rejects symlinks, validates every walked entry stays within bounds
TOCTOU mitigation — re-validates paths immediately before each destructive operation
Bulk trash via JNA — uses Windows SHFileOperation for efficient batch Recycle Bin moves
XXE protection on all XML parsers
Cancel support for all long-running operations

Quick Start

# GUI
.\run-gui.ps1

# CLI — dry run first
.\run-cli.ps1 -DryRun

# CLI — clean without upstream checks (faster, less safe)
.\run-cli.ps1 -SkipUpstream

# CLI — migrate to split repository layout
.\run-cli.ps1 -MigrateSplit -DryRun
.\run-cli.ps1 -MigrateSplit

CLI Flags

Flag	Description
`--dry-run`	Simulate without deleting or moving to trash
`--skip-upstream`	Skip Maven Central verification
`--repo <path>`	Use a custom repository path
`--migrate-split`	Migrate to split repository layout

Build & Run with Maven

# Build
mvn install -DskipTests

# Launch GUI
mvn -pl swing-ui exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.maven.cleaner.ui.MainWindowKt

# Launch CLI
mvn -pl cli exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.maven.cleaner.cli.MainKt \
    -Dexec.args="--dry-run --skip-upstream"

Requirements

JDK 21 or higher
Maven 3.9+

Project Structure

maven-cleaner/
├── core/       Domain models, scanning, cleaning, migration logic
├── cli/        Command-line interface
└── swing-ui/   Swing desktop application (FlatLaf)

FAQ

What is Maven Cleaner?

Maven Cleaner is a desktop tool that scans your local Maven repository (~/.m2/repository) and Gradle caches for old artifact versions, verifies them against Maven Central, and safely reclaims disk space. It is available as a GUI (Swing with FlatLaf) or a command-line interface.

Will Maven Cleaner delete artifacts I built locally?

No. Every artifact is checked against Maven Central before deletion. Artifacts not found upstream — meaning they were built locally and never published — are protected and never deleted.

Does it support Gradle caches?

Yes. It cleans Gradle daemon logs older than 7 days, version caches, transform caches, build caches, module caches, and downloaded Gradle wrapper distributions.

Does Maven Cleaner support the split repository layout?

Yes. It supports the Maven 3.9+ split local repository layout with separate cached/ (downloaded dependencies) and installed/ (locally built) directories. It can also migrate from classic to split layout.

Is there a dry-run mode?

Yes. Run with --dry-run to see what would be deleted without actually removing anything.

License

Apache License 2.0