Rimraf Node Cleanup

Use this workflow to implement portable cleanup scripts that behave consistently across shells.

Preconditions

• Work from the project root that contains package.json.
• Keep the current package manager (npm, pnpm, or yarn).
• Check build tooling before adding redundant cleanup.
• Preserve existing script names unless the user requests a rename.
• If package.json is missing, stop and ask for the correct project path instead of creating files speculatively.

Workflow

1. Confirm project root and package manager deterministically:
   • Detect lockfile priority: pnpm-lock.yaml -> yarn.lock -> package-lock.json.
   • If no lockfile exists, preserve existing workflow and default install commands to npm.
2. Inspect package.json scripts and list cleanup-related entries.
3. Identify shell-specific delete commands (rm -rf, rmdir /s /q, del /f /q) and cleanup targets.
4. Decide whether a dedicated script is needed:
   • If build tooling already guarantees cleanup and no standalone cleanup command is requested, keep existing behavior.
   • Otherwise continue with rimraf standardization.
5. Install rimraf as a dev dependency only when missing:
   • npm i -D rimraf
   • pnpm add -D rimraf
   • yarn add -D rimraf
6. Add or update scripts using direct rimraf calls:
   • Standalone clean: "clean": "rimraf dist"
   • Multi-folder clean: "clean": "rimraf dist coverage .cache"
   • Prebuild hook: "prebuild": "rimraf dist"
7. Replace shell-specific cleanup commands with equivalent rimraf commands.
8. Keep scripts minimal and deterministic:
   • Do not prefix rimraf with npx inside package.json scripts.
   • Keep target list explicit; do not add folders that are not present or requested.
   • For glob targets, use quotes in scripts when required for shell portability (for example "*.tsbuildinfo").
9. Re-open package.json and verify JSON validity after edits.
10. If no edit is required, report a no-op result with exact reason (already portable or explicitly out of scope).

Script patterns

Use direct rimraf calls inside package.json scripts. Do not prefix script commands with npx.

Example:

{
  "scripts": {
    "clean": "rimraf dist coverage .cache",
    "prebuild": "rimraf dist",
    "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.build.json"
  }
}

Use npx rimraf ... only for one-off terminal commands outside package.json scripts.

Decision rules

Use rimraf when:

• A dedicated clean step is needed.
• Multiple output folders must be removed.
• Scripts must run reliably across Windows and Unix shells.

Prefer alternatives when:

• The build tool already provides sufficient cleanup (for example, tsup with clean: true) and no standalone clean script is needed.
• Cleanup is done in application code paths (use Node fs.rm APIs in code instead of package scripts).

Do not change behavior when:

• The user asks only for an audit/review and does not request edits.
• Existing scripts are already cross-platform and satisfy requested targets.

Verification

1. Run the updated cleanup script (npm run clean, pnpm run clean, or yarn clean).
2. If a prebuild hook is present, run the build command that depends on cleanup.
3. Confirm removed folders are recreated only by the build process.
4. Confirm no shell-specific delete commands remain in package.json scripts.
5. If using glob targets, confirm arguments are quoted when required by the shell.
6. Confirm rimraf is present in devDependencies only once and no duplicate installer artifacts were introduced.

Additional resources

Use reference.md for CLI options, glob behavior, and the programmatic API.