docker-sweep

docker-sweep 🧹

Interactively reclaim Docker disk space — see exactly what you're deleting before you delete it.

docker system prune is a blunt axe. It deletes everything with no preview.
docker-sweep shows you every reclaimable resource — images, stopped containers, unused volumes, build cache — grouped by project, sorted by size, with ages shown. You pick exactly what to delete.

The Problem

Error response from daemon: no space left on device

Every Docker user hits this. Your options today are:

• docker system prune — nukes everything, no preview, no selection
• docker rmi / docker rm / docker volume rm — manual, tedious, no size overview
• Docker Desktop's "Clean Up" — only available in the paid GUI

docker-sweep fills that gap.

Demo

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  docker-sweep   14.2 GB reclaimable                         ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                              ║
║  ▼ IMAGES  (3 items • 1.8 GB)                               ║
║                                                              ║
║  [✓] node:18                   980.0 MB   41d ago  dangling ║
║  [ ] app-backend:latest      420.0 MB   122d ago  unused   ║
║  [✓] postgres:13               380.0 MB   90d ago  dangling ║
║                                                              ║
║  ▼ CONTAINERS  (2 items • 45 MB)                            ║
║                                                              ║
║  [ ] app_web_1               32.0 MB    5d ago   exited   ║
║  [ ] redis_test                13.0 MB    2d ago   exited   ║
║                                                              ║
║  ▼ VOLUMES  (1 item • 2.1 GB)                               ║
║                                                              ║
║  [✓] myapp_pgdata              2.1 GB     30d ago  local    ║
║                                                              ║
║  ▼ BUILD CACHE  (847 layers • 8.3 GB)                       ║
║                                                              ║
║  [ ] regular                    8.3 GB    various           ║
║                                                              ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Selected: 3 items  3.5 GB                                  ║
║  [↑/↓] navigate  [SPACE] select  [A] all  [D] delete  [Q] quit
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Install

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

brew install advayaflow/tap/docker-sweep

Go install

go install github.com/advayaflow/docker-sweep/cmd/docker-sweep@latest

Download binary

Grab the latest binary for your platform from Releases:

Docker (no install needed)

docker run --rm -it \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  ghcr.io/advayaflow/docker-sweep

Usage

# Launch interactive TUI
docker-sweep

# Dry run — shows what WOULD be deleted, touches nothing
docker-sweep --dry-run

# Only show resources older than 7 days
docker-sweep --min-age 7

# JSON output (great for scripting / CI)
docker-sweep --json

# Combine: JSON of resources older than 30 days
docker-sweep --json --min-age 30 | jq '.total_reclaimable'

Keyboard Shortcuts

Flags

JSON Output Schema

{
  "images": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4e5f6",
      "label": "node:18",
      "size_bytes": 1027604480,
      "size": "980.0 MB",
      "age": "47d ago",
      "detail": "dangling"
    }
  ],
  "containers": [...],
  "volumes": [...],
  "build_cache": [...],
  "total_reclaimable_bytes": 15234236416,
  "total_reclaimable": "14.2 GB"
}

How It Works

docker-sweep talks directly to the Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock) using the official Docker Go SDK. It calls the same APIs Docker CLI uses:

• ImageList → finds images not referenced by any container
• ContainerList with status=exited → stopped containers
• VolumeList with dangling=true → volumes not mounted anywhere
• DiskUsage → build cache layers

No root required. No side effects until you press D and confirm.

Why Not docker system prune?

Contributing

PRs welcome. Run make tidy before submitting.

git clone https://github.com/advayaflow/docker-sweep
cd docker-sweep
make tidy
make build
make dry-run   # test without Docker resources being deleted

License

MIT — see LICENSE.