# gruntwork-io/cloud-nuke

A tool for cleaning up your cloud accounts by nuking (deleting) all resources within it

Repository: https://github.com/gruntwork-io/cloud-nuke
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cloud-nuke
Homepage: https://gruntwork.io/
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-27T14:18:49+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 88, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3402, "days_push": 37, "days_rel": 81, "gap_med": 29.0, "n_releases_24m": 17}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3178, forks 378 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:47.720627+00:00)

## What it is
cloud-nuke is a Go CLI tool that deletes all resources in a cloud account (primarily AWS, supporting 125+ resource types), designed for cleaning up test accounts and removing leftover or default resources. It offers dry-run inspection, region and resource-type filtering, config-file-based granular control, and a separate command for removing default VPCs and permissive security group rules.

## Use cases
- clean up all resources in an AWS test account
- delete leftover cloud resources to reduce costs
- remove default VPCs and permissive default security group rules
- preview which cloud resources would be deleted before nuking
- delete only specific resource types like EC2 or S3
- wipe resources in specific AWS regions
- programmatically clean up cloud accounts as a Go library

## When to choose
- you need to wipe a non-production AWS account clean of all resources
- you want to eliminate forgotten resources that generate cloud costs
- you need to remove insecure default VPCs and security group rules across accounts
- you want dry-run inspection and fine-grained filtering before deletion

## When to avoid
- you are targeting a production account - the aws command is highly destructive
- you need multi-cloud cleanup beyond AWS
- you need a general-purpose infrastructure management tool rather than deletion
- you cannot tolerate the risk of accidental mass deletion

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, cloud, infrastructure-as-code, developer-tools, security
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, developer-tools
- platform: cli, windows, go
- tags: aws, resource-cleanup, cost-management, destructive-operations, gruntwork, devops, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- gruntwork-io/cloud-nuke (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:47.720627+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:25:07.531961+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/gruntwork-io/cloud-nuke (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:47.720627+00:00, sha 200283a98ce7)
  - homepage: https://gruntwork.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:39:22.051381+00:00, sha 54f00bcc85cc)
  - site_page: https://docs.gruntwork.io (fetched 2026-08-29T09:39:22.062555+00:00, sha 7e0d30a2f012)
  - site_page: https://www.gruntwork.io/about (fetched 2026-08-29T09:39:22.067530+00:00, sha 4e7a3521f080)
  - site_page: https://www.gruntwork.io/pricing (fetched 2026-08-29T09:39:22.060553+00:00, sha ccbc757242dc)
  - site_page: https://www.gruntwork.io/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T09:39:22.064537+00:00, sha 6b22b4afc581)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.