ZCL — Z Cleaner

A cross-platform cache cleaner built for 42 School students. One script, two platforms, no setup headaches.

---

Table of Contents

• Short Description
• How to Install
• How it Works
• Contribute

---

Short Description

Key	Value
Name	ZCL — Z Cleaner
Description	A session cache cleaner for 42 students on shared machines
Version	2.0 — Python rewrite, successor to zcleaner written in C
Language	Python 3 + GNU Make
Platforms	Linux · macOS (Darwin)
Origin	Migrated from private repo zcl-internal, now public
Target Users	42 School students dealing with session storage limits
Why it exists	Cache files from browsers, editors, and package managers pile up silently and eat your session quota. ZCL clears all of it in one command.

---

How to Install

Prerequisites

You need Python 3 on your machine and at least one of these shell configs: .bashrc, .zshrc, .profile, or fish's config.fish.

Steps

Clone the repository and move into it:

git clone https://github.com/xidruk/zcl.git
cd zcl

Run the installer:

make install

The installer handles everything — it detects your shell config, finds your Python interpreter, copies the project files to ~/.zcl/, and registers the zcl alias so you can call it from anywhere.

Once it's done, reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc   # or ~/.bashrc, depending on what you use

That's it. From now on, just run:

zcl

---

Uninstall

make uninstall

This removes the ~/.zcl/ directory and strips the zcl alias from all detected shell configs. Restart your terminal afterward and it will be like it was never there.

---

Makefile Targets

Target	Description
make install	Install ZCL and register the zcl command
make uninstall	Remove ZCL and clean all shell aliases
make clean	Remove local __pycache__ and .pyc files

---

How it Works

Execution Flow Diagram

(Place your diagram screenshot here)

flowchart TD
    A([User runs: zcl]) --> B[Detect Platform]

    B --> C{Platform?}
    C -->|linux| D[Get username via pwd]
    C -->|darwin| D
    C -->|unsupported| E([Exit — Unsupported OS])

    D --> F[Get disk usage]
    F --> G[Display Session Info\nplatform · user · disk used · free]
    G --> H{Confirm cleanup?\ny / N}

    H -->|No / Ctrl+C| I([Aborted — nothing deleted])
    H -->|Yes| J[Snapshot disk usage BEFORE]

    J --> K{Platform?}
    K -->|linux| L[purge_linux_cfps\nwipes ~/.cache · npm · pip · yarn\nbrowsers · vscode · cursor · discord\nslack · spotify · thumbnails · trash]
    K -->|darwin| M[purge_darwin_cfps\nwipes Library/Caches · browsers\nvscode · cursor · discord · slack\nspotify · iOS Simulator · .Trash]

    L --> N[Snapshot disk usage AFTER]
    M --> N

    N --> O[Calculate space freed\nbefore_bytes - after_bytes]
    O --> P([Show Results\nBefore · After · Freed in MB/GB])

Loading

---

What Gets Cleaned

ZCL splits its work into two modules, one per platform.

Linux — zcl_linux_machine_cfps.py

Covers the general system cache under ~/.cache, then goes through package managers like npm, pip, yarn, cargo, gem, and bun. It also handles editors — VS Code and Cursor — cleaning their cache folders, workspace storage, and crashpad data. On the browser side it targets Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi, both native installs and Flatpak versions. Apps like Discord, Slack, Spotify, GitKraken, Obsidian, and Docker are included as well. Finally it clears thumbnails, the Trash, and a handful of 42-specific files like .42* and .zcompdump*.

macOS — zcl_darwin_machine_cfps.py

Starts with ~/Library/Caches, then covers the same editors and browsers as the Linux module but using their macOS paths. It also handles Docker, Spotify, and the iOS Simulator (CoreSimulator). On top of that it cleans .Trash, Downloads, and 42-specific leftovers like Piscine Rules *.mp4 and PLAY_ME.webloc that tend to show up on school machines.

---

Project Structure

zcl.py                        Entry point — detects platform, runs the session, shows results
zcl_linux_machine_cfps.py     Linux cache path list and purge logic
zcl_darwin_machine_cfps.py    macOS cache path list and purge logic
makefile                      install / uninstall / clean targets
cache_dirs/
  linux_machine.cfp           Linux cache path config file
  darwin_machine.cfp          macOS cache path config file

---

Contribute

ZCL started as an internal tool to solve a real problem at 42, and it can keep getting better. If you use it and want to help, here are a few ways to do that.

The most useful contributions are usually new cache paths — if you notice something that ZCL misses on your machine, you can add it directly to zcl_linux_machine_cfps.py or zcl_darwin_machine_cfps.py. Bug reports are equally welcome, especially if something breaks on a specific machine setup. If you want to go further, the installer could use better edge-case handling, and fish shell support still has room for improvement.

To send a contribution:

# Fork the repo, then:
git checkout -b feat/your-feature-name

# Make your changes, test them, then:
git commit -m "feat: describe what you changed"
git push origin feat/your-feature-name
# Open a Pull Request

ZCL is the Python successor to the original zcleaner tool written in C. If you went through 42 you already know why this tool exists — help make it better.

---

Made for the 42 Network.