# isaacs/rimraf

A `rm -rf` util for nodejs

Repository: https://github.com/isaacs/rimraf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rimraf
Language: TypeScript
License: BlueOak-1.0.0
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-05-15T19:38:06+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 69/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 82, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5685, "days_push": 110, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5851, forks 267 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:31.640388+00:00)

## What it is
A cross-platform Node.js implementation of the UNIX `rm -rf` command, available as both a library and CLI tool for recursively deleting files and directories. It handles platform-specific quirks like Windows EBUSY errors with fallback strategies.

## Use cases
- recursively delete directories in a node script
- cross-platform rm -rf equivalent for windows
- clean build output folders before compiling
- remove node_modules or temp directories programmatically
- delete files matching a glob pattern from the command line

## When to choose
- you need reliable recursive file deletion across Windows, macOS, and Linux in Node.js
- you want a battle-tested deletion utility with sync, async, and native implementations
- you need glob-based path deletion with a CLI and library API

## When to avoid
- you need to delete files based on untrusted user input - this tool is unsafe for that
- you only target POSIX systems and can use the native rm command
- you need soft-delete or trash/recycle-bin behavior rather than permanent deletion

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: file-system, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, files, cross-platform
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: rm-rf, file-deletion, recursive-delete, typescript, npm, command-line, nodejs

## Member repositories
- isaacs/rimraf (main) score 69

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:31.640388+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 2026-08-29T17:51:53.606187+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/isaacs/rimraf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:31.640388+00:00, sha a89309798a44)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/rimraf (fetched 2026-08-29T08:47:31.152570+00:00, sha 0bd6504bed3d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.