File-Deduplicator - Find and Remove Duplicates

Vernox Utility Skill - Clean up your digital hoard.

Overview

File-Deduplicator is an intelligent file duplicate finder and remover. Uses content hashing to identify identical files across directories, then provides options to remove duplicates safely.

Features

✅ Duplicate Detection

• Content-based hashing (MD5) for fast comparison
• Size-based detection (exact match, near match)
• Name-based detection (similar filenames)
• Directory scanning (recursive)
• Exclude patterns (.git, node_modules, etc.)

✅ Removal Options

• Auto-delete duplicates (keep newest/oldest)
• Interactive review before deletion
• Move to archive instead of delete
• Preserve permissions and metadata
• Dry-run mode (preview changes)

✅ Analysis Tools

• Duplicate count summary
• Space savings estimation
• Largest duplicate files
• Most common duplicate patterns
• Detailed report generation

✅ Safety Features

• Confirmation prompts before deletion
• Backup to archive folder
• Size threshold (don't remove huge files by mistake)
• Whitelist important directories
• Undo functionality (log for recovery)

Installation

clawhub install file-deduplicator

Quick Start

Find Duplicates in Directory

const result = await findDuplicates({
  directories: ['./documents', './downloads', './projects'],
  options: {
    method: 'content',  // content-based comparison
    includeSubdirs: true
  }
});

console.log(`Found ${result.duplicateCount} duplicate groups`);
console.log(`Potential space savings: ${result.spaceSaved}`);

Remove Duplicates Automatically

const result = await removeDuplicates({
  directories: ['./documents', './downloads'],
  options: {
    method: 'content',
    keep: 'newest',  // keep newest, delete oldest
    action: 'delete',  // or 'move' to archive
    autoConfirm: false  // show confirmation for each
  }
});

console.log(`Removed ${result.filesRemoved} duplicates`);
console.log(`Space saved: ${result.spaceSaved}`);

Dry-Run Preview

const result = await removeDuplicates({
  directories: ['./documents', './downloads'],
  options: {
    method: 'content',
    keep: 'newest',
    action: 'delete',
    dryRun: true  // Preview without actual deletion
  }
});

console.log('Would remove:');
result.duplicates.forEach((dup, i) => {
  console.log(`${i+1}. ${dup.file}`);
});

Tool Functions

findDuplicates

Find duplicate files across directories.

Parameters:

• directories (array|string, required): Directory paths to scan
• options (object, optional):
  • method (string): 'content' | 'size' | 'name' - comparison method
  • includeSubdirs (boolean): Scan recursively (default: true)
  • minSize (number): Minimum size in bytes (default: 0)
  • maxSize (number): Maximum size in bytes (default: 0)
  • excludePatterns (array): Glob patterns to exclude (default: ['.git', 'node_modules'])
  • whitelist (array): Directories to never scan (default: [])

Returns:

• duplicates (array): Array of duplicate groups
  • duplicateCount (number): Number of duplicate groups found
  • totalFiles (number): Total files scanned
  • scanDuration (number): Time taken to scan (ms)
  • spaceWasted (number): Total bytes wasted by duplicates
  • spaceSaved (number): Potential savings if duplicates removed

removeDuplicates

Remove duplicate files based on findings.

Parameters:

• directories (array|string, required): Same as findDuplicates
• options (object, optional):
  • keep (string): 'newest' | 'oldest' | 'smallest' | 'largest' - which to keep
  • action (string): 'delete' | 'move' | 'archive'
  • archivePath (string): Where to move files when action='move'
  • dryRun (boolean): Preview without actual action
  • autoConfirm (boolean): Auto-confirm deletions
  • sizeThreshold (number): Don't remove files larger than this

Returns:

• filesRemoved (number): Number of files removed/moved
• spaceSaved (number): Bytes saved
• groupsProcessed (number): Number of duplicate groups handled
• logPath (string): Path to action log
• errors (array): Any errors encountered

analyzeDirectory

Analyze a single directory for duplicates.

Parameters:

• directory (string, required): Path to directory
• options (object, optional): Same as findDuplicates options

Returns:

• fileCount (number): Total files in directory
• totalSize (number): Total bytes in directory
• duplicateSize (number): Bytes in duplicate files
• duplicateRatio (number): Percentage of files that are duplicates

Use Cases

Digital Hoarder Cleanup

• Find duplicate photos/videos
• Identify wasted storage space
• Remove old duplicates, keep newest
• Clean up download folders

Document Management

• Find duplicate PDFs, docs, reports
• Keep latest version, archive old versions
• Prevent version confusion
• Reduce backup bloat

Project Cleanup

• Find duplicate source files
• Remove duplicate build artifacts
• Clean up node_modules duplicates
• Save storage on SSD/HDD

Backup Optimization

• Find duplicate backup files
• Remove redundant backups
• Identify what's actually duplicated
• Save space on backup drives

Configuration

Edit config.json:

{
  "detection": {
    "defaultMethod": "content",
    "sizeTolerancePercent": 0,  // exact match only
    "nameSimilarity": 0.7,  // 0-1, lower = more similar
    "includeSubdirs": true
  },
  "removal": {
    "defaultAction": "delete",
    "defaultKeep": "newest",
    "archivePath": "./archive",
    "sizeThreshold": 10485760,  // 10MB threshold
    "autoConfirm": false,
    "dryRunDefault": false
  },
  "exclude": {
    "patterns": [".git", "node_modules", ".vscode", ".idea"],
    "whitelist": ["important", "work", "projects"]
  }
}

Methods

Content-Based (Recommended)

• Fast MD5 hashing
• Detects exact duplicates regardless of filename
• Works across renamed files
• Perfect for documents, code, archives

Size-Based

• Compares file sizes
• Faster than content hashing
• Good for media files where content hashing is slow
• Finds near-duplicates (similar but not exact)

Name-Based

• Compares filenames
• Detects similar named files
• Good for finding version duplicates (file_v1, file_v2)

Examples

Find Duplicates in Documents

const result = await findDuplicates({
  directories: '~/Documents',
  options: {
    method: 'content',
    includeSubdirs: true
  }
});

console.log(`Found ${result.duplicateCount} duplicate sets`);
result.duplicates.slice(0, 5).forEach((set, i) => {
  console.log(`Set ${i+1}: ${set.files.length} files`);
  console.log(`  Total size: ${set.totalSize} bytes`);
});

Remove Duplicates, Keep Newest

const result = await removeDuplicates({
  directories: '~/Documents',
  options: {
    keep: 'newest',
    action: 'delete'
  }
});

console.log(`Removed ${result.filesRemoved} files`);
console.log(`Saved ${result.spaceSaved} bytes`);

Move to Archive Instead of Delete

const result = await removeDuplicates({
  directories: '~/Downloads',
  options: {
    keep: 'newest',
    action: 'move',
    archivePath: '~/Documents/Archive'
  }
});

console.log(`Archived ${result.filesRemoved} files`);
console.log(`Safe in: ~/Documents/Archive`);

Dry-Run Preview Changes

const result = await removeDuplicates({
  directories: '~/Documents',
  options: {
    dryRun: true  // Just show what would happen
  }
});

console.log('=== Dry Run Preview ===');
result.duplicates.forEach((set, i) => {
  console.log(`Would delete: ${set.toDelete.join(', ')}`);
});

Performance

Scanning Speed

• Small directories (<1000 files): <1s
• Medium directories (1000-10000 files): 1-5s
• Large directories (10000+ files): 5-20s

Detection Accuracy

• Content-based: 100% (exact duplicates)
• Size-based: Fast but may miss renamed files
• Name-based: Detects naming patterns only

Memory Usage

• Hash cache: ~1MB per 100,000 files
• Batch processing: Processes 1000 files at a time
• Peak memory: ~200MB for 1M files

Safety Features

Size Thresholding

Won't remove files larger than configurable threshold (default: 10MB). Prevents accidental deletion of important large files.

Archive Mode

Move files to archive directory instead of deleting. No data loss, full recoverability.

Action Logging

All deletions/moves are logged to file for recovery and audit.

Undo Functionality

Log file can be used to restore accidentally deleted files (limited undo window).

Error Handling

Permission Errors

• Clear error message
• Suggest running with sudo
• Skip files that can't be accessed

File Lock Errors

• Detect locked files
• Skip and report
• Suggest closing applications using files

Space Errors

• Check available disk space before deletion
• Warn if space is critically low
• Prevent disk-full scenarios

Troubleshooting

Not Finding Expected Duplicates

• Check detection method (content vs size vs name)
• Verify exclude patterns aren't too broad
• Check if files are in whitelisted directories
• Try with includeSubdirs: false

Deletion Not Working

• Check write permissions on directories
• Verify action isn't 'delete' with autoConfirm: true
• Check size threshold isn't blocking all deletions
• Check file locks (is another program using files?)

Slow Scanning

• Reduce includeSubdirs scope
• Use size-based detection (faster)
• Exclude large directories (node_modules, .git)
• Process directories individually instead of batch

Tips

Best Results

• Use content-based detection for documents (100% accurate)
• Run dry-run first to preview changes
• Archive instead of delete for important files
• Check logs if anything unexpected deleted

Performance Optimization

• Process frequently used directories first
• Use size threshold to skip large media files
• Exclude hidden directories from scan
• Process directories in parallel when possible

Space Management

• Regular duplicate cleanup prevents storage bloat
• Delete temp directories regularly
• Clear download folders of installers
• Empty trash before large scans

Roadmap

• [ ] Duplicate detection by image similarity
• [ ] Near-duplicate detection (similar but not exact)
• [ ] Duplicate detection across network drives
• [ ] Cloud storage integration (S3, Google Drive)
• [ ] Automatic scheduling of scans
• [ ] Heuristic duplicate detection (ML-based)
• [ ] Recover deleted files from backup
• [ ] Duplicate detection by file content similarity (not just hash)

License

MIT

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Find duplicates. Save space. Keep your system clean. 🔮