bin-expire

bin-expire scans common "bin" folders, identifies stale binaries, and can archive/restore them safely.

By default it scans:

• ~/.cargo/bin
• ~/go/bin

It also detects Windows “App Execution Alias stubs” (0-byte .exe placeholder files) and treats them specially so you don’t accidentally archive them.

Install

Option A: Download from GitHub Releases

1. Download the asset for your OS from the GitHub Releases page.
2. Put the binary in a permanent folder (example):

• Windows: C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\rust-apps\bin-expire.exe

3. Add that folder (not the .exe) to your PATH.

Windows: add to User PATH (GUI)

• Start → search “Environment Variables” → open Edit the system environment variables
• Environment Variables… → under User variables select Path → Edit
• New → add the folder (example): C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\rust-apps
• OK → OK → OK, then close and re-open your terminal

Verify:

where bin-expire
bin-expire --help

Git Bash: ensure PATH includes the folder

Git Bash may not pick up Windows PATH changes until you restart it. If you want it to always work in Git Bash, add the folder to ~/.bashrc:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/c/Users/<you>/AppData/Local/rust-apps"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
bin-expire.exe --help

Option B: Build from source

Build an optimized binary:

cargo build --release

Run it:

./target/release/bin-expire scan --days 30

Or install it into your Cargo bin directory:

cargo install --path .

Quick start

# Scan default locations (~/.cargo/bin and ~/go/bin)
bin-expire scan

# Scan a specific directory
bin-expire scan -p ~/.cargo/bin --days 30

# Archive stale binaries (moves them into your configured archive_path)
bin-expire archive --days 30

# Restore a previously archived binary by name
bin-expire restore old_tool.exe

Commands

scan

• Default output shows only: - STALE rows (✗)
  • stub rows (·) (Windows App Execution Alias stubs)
• --verbose also shows OK rows (✓) and adds:
  • PATH column
  • SRC column indicating where last_used came from: A=atime, M=mtime, ?=unknown

Useful filters:

• --only-stale (hides OK + stubs)
• --hide-ok (mainly useful with --verbose)
• --hide-stub (hides stub rows)

archive

Moves stale binaries into archive_path and records each move in a manifest so it can be restored later.

Notes:

• App Execution Alias stubs (0-byte .exe) are never archived.
• Archiving avoids overwriting by choosing a non-colliding filename in the archive directory.
• If a direct rename/move fails, it falls back to copy + remove.

restore

Restores the most recent archived entry for the given name (from the manifest).

Safety behavior:

• Fails if the archived file is missing.
• Fails if the destination already exists (it will not overwrite your existing file).

Configuration

On first run, bin-expire creates a config file under your platform config directory:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\bin-expire\config.toml
• Linux: ~/.config/bin-expire/config.toml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/bin-expire/config.toml

You can override the config root with an environment variable:

• BIN_EXPIRE_CONFIG_DIR=/some/path

When set, bin-expire reads/writes:

• BIN_EXPIRE_CONFIG_DIR/bin-expire/config.toml
• BIN_EXPIRE_CONFIG_DIR/bin-expire/archive.json

Example config.toml:

ignored_bins = ["cargo", "rustc"]
default_threshold_days = 90
archive_path = "C:/Users/me/.bin-expire/archive"
windows_use_access_time = true

Config keys:

• ignored_bins: file names to ignore during scan/archive
• default_threshold_days: used when --days is not provided
• archive_path: where archived binaries are moved
• windows_use_access_time: Windows-only preference for selecting last_used

Windows note (atime)

On Windows, access times (atime) are best-effort and can be disabled, delayed, or updated by scanning/listing.

• If results look suspicious, set windows_use_access_time=false to use modified time (mtime).
• bin-expire may also detect atime “contamination” during a scan and fall back to mtime.

Development

cargo fmt --all
cargo clippy --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test
cargo test --release --all-targets