Disk Cleanup

Automated disk space recovery for OpenClaw deployments. Covers 12 cleanup categories that OpenClaw does not handle natively (as of 2026.3.13).

What OpenClaw Already Handles (skip these)

• Session store: session.maintenance config (pruneAfter, maxEntries, rotateBytes)
• Sandbox containers: sandbox.prune config (idleHours, maxAgeDays)
• Context pruning: contextPruning config (cache-ttl mode)

What This Skill Handles (the gaps)

| # | Category | Typical Growth | Trigger | |---|----------|---------------|---------| | 1 | Memory SQLite .tmp-* orphans | Hundreds of MB from failed reindex | Always | | 2 | Memory SQLite VACUUM | Fragmentation after heavy use | --aggressive | | 3 | Docker images/volumes/build cache | GB from sandbox rebuilds | Always | | 4 | Gateway logs (/tmp/openclaw/*.log) | Grows daily | >3 days old | | 5 | /tmp OpenClaw temp files | Patrol/board/cron artifacts | >24h old | | 6 | Workspace .prebind.* backups | Hundreds of MB per backup | >7 days old | | 7 | Delivery queue old entries | Grows with message volume | >7 days old | | 8 | systemd journal | GB on default VPS configs | >500MB | | 9 | npm/yarn/pnpm/bun/prisma/node-gyp cache | GB from skill/plugin installs | >100MB | | 10 | Rotated syslogs + btmp | SSH brute-force logs on public VPS | Always | | 11 | Git workspace .git | Auto-commit growth (board-move etc.) | >200MB | | 12 | QMD/migration artifacts | Stale after backend switch | Auto-detected |

Quick Start

Run directly:

# Preview what would be cleaned (safe, no deletions)
bash scripts/disk-cleanup.sh --dry-run

# Normal cleanup
bash scripts/disk-cleanup.sh

# Deep cleanup: includes SQLite VACUUM + aggressive git gc
bash scripts/disk-cleanup.sh --aggressive

# Cron mode: only outputs summary line
bash scripts/disk-cleanup.sh --quiet

Schedule as Cron Job

Weekly Sunday 04:00 CET (recommended):

Use the cron tool:
  schedule: { kind: "cron", expr: "0 3 * * 0", tz: "Europe/Luxembourg" }
  payload: { kind: "agentTurn", message: "Run disk cleanup: bash scripts/disk-cleanup.sh --aggressive --quiet. Report results." }
  sessionTarget: "isolated"

Or integrate into an existing infra-health-check script by adding a disk usage threshold trigger:

DISK_PCT=$(df / --output=pcent | tail -1 | tr -d ' %')
if [ "$DISK_PCT" -ge 85 ]; then
  bash /path/to/disk-cleanup.sh --quiet
fi
if [ "$DISK_PCT" -ge 90 ]; then
  bash /path/to/disk-cleanup.sh --aggressive --quiet
fi

Environment Variables

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | OPENCLAW_HOME | ~/.openclaw | OpenClaw state directory | | OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE | $(pwd) | Agent workspace root |

Exit Codes

• 0 — Success (cleaned or nothing to clean)
• 1 — Error during cleanup

Output Format

Last line is machine-parseable:

CLEAN|0|0B|44%          # Nothing cleaned
CLEANED|5|1.2GB|67%     # 5 actions, freed 1.2GB, now at 67%

Safety

• --dry-run previews all actions without deleting
• SQLite VACUUM only on --aggressive and only when fragmentation ≥5%
• Docker prune only removes dangling (untagged) images; named images are safe
• btmp is truncated (not deleted) — system expects the file to exist
• Journal vacuum installs a persistent 500MB limit to prevent regrowth
• Git gc uses --auto by default; --aggressive only with flag