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: Install as a cargo crate

1. Install Rust (from rustup)

2. Run

   cargo install bin-expire
   

Option B: 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.
4. Verify:

where bin-expire
bin-expire --help

Option C: 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