go-remove

A CLI tool to safely remove Go binaries with undo and history support

• Features
• Installation
  • From Source
  • From Releases
    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Archive Naming
• Quick Start
• Usage
  • Direct Removal
  • Interactive TUI
  • Undo Deletion
  • Restore from History
• Command Reference
• Filesystem Locations
  • Data Storage
  • Trash Locations
  • Binary Directories (in precedence order)
• Building from Source
• Requirements
• Contributing
• License

• Interactive TUI: Browse and select binaries to remove from a grid interface
• Undo Support: Restore the most recently deleted binary with a single command
• Deletion History: Browse and restore any previously removed binary
• Safe Removal: Moves binaries to system trash instead of permanent deletion
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux (XDG-compliant) and Windows
• Verbose Logging: Optional detailed output for debugging

go install github.com/nicholas-fedor/go-remove@latest

The binary will be installed to $GOPATH/bin (typically ~/go/bin/go-remove).

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page.

Available architectures: amd64, i386, armhf, arm64v8

# Download and extract (replace amd64 with your architecture)
curl -LO https://github.com/nicholas-fedor/go-remove/releases/latest/download/go-remove_linux_amd64_latest.tar.gz
tar -xzf go-remove_linux_amd64_latest.tar.gz
chmod +x go-remove
sudo mv go-remove /usr/local/bin/

# Verify checksum (optional)
curl -LO https://github.com/nicholas-fedor/go-remove/releases/latest/download/checksums.txt
sha256sum -c checksums.txt --ignore-missing

Available architectures: amd64, i386, arm64v8

# Download and extract (replace amd64 with your architecture)
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/nicholas-fedor/go-remove/releases/latest/download/go-remove_windows_amd64_latest.zip" -OutFile "go-remove.zip"
Expand-Archive -Path "go-remove.zip" -DestinationPath "."

# Move to a directory in your PATH (requires Administrator privileges)
Move-Item -Path ".\go-remove.exe" -Destination "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps\"

Release archives follow the pattern: go-remove_{OS}_{ARCH}_{VERSION}.{ext}

# Launch interactive TUI to select binaries
go-remove

# Remove a specific binary
go-remove vhs

# Undo the last deletion
go-remove --undo

Remove a specific binary by name:

go-remove vhs

With verbose output:

go-remove -v vhs

Remove from GOROOT/bin instead of GOBIN/GOPATH/bin:

go-remove --goroot vhs

Launch without arguments to use the interactive TUI:

go-remove

TUI Controls:

Restore the most recently deleted binary:

go-remove --undo
# or
go-remove -u

Browse and restore from deletion history:

go-remove --restore
# or
go-remove -r

History View Controls:

Deletion history is stored in a Badger KV database:

Linux:

• $XDG_DATA_HOME/go-remove/history.badger
• Fallback: ~/.local/share/go-remove/history.badger

Windows:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\go-remove\history.badger
• Fallback: %USERPROFILE%\go-remove\history.badger

Linux: XDG-compliant trash at $XDG_DATA_HOME/Trash (fallback: ~/.local/share/Trash)

• files/ - Trashed binaries
• info/ - Metadata files (.trashinfo)

Windows: Windows Recycle Bin via Shell API

1. GOROOT/bin (when using --goroot flag)
2. GOBIN (environment variable)
3. GOPATH/bin (from GOPATH environment variable)
4. Default fallback: ~/go/bin (Linux/macOS) or %USERPROFILE%\go\bin (Windows)

git clone https://github.com/nicholas-fedor/go-remove.git
cd go-remove
go build -o go-remove .

Run locally:

./go-remove --help

• Go 1.26.0 or later

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines on:

• Setting up your development environment
• Code standards and testing requirements
• Submitting pull requests
• Commit signing requirements
• AI policy

You can also submit issues or pull requests on GitHub.

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.

Logo Credits: Special thanks to Maria Letta for the awesome Free Gophers Pack.