system-data-log-hunter

A tiny, read-only macOS CLI that finds unusually large log/text/trace/WAL files that can hide inside “System Data”.

It is a diagnostic tool, not a cleaner. It does not promise to recover disk space; it helps you identify suspiciously large files so you can review the owner app and decide manually.

Safety

• Read-only by default and by design
• No sudo
• No delete, rotate, truncate, quarantine, move, chmod, or mutation commands
• Does not modify files or metadata
• Prints candidate paths, sizes, last modified time, and manual review hints
• Next step is human review: identify the owner app, close it if active, check vendor/support docs, and back up before any manual action

Why

macOS Storage Settings often labels many unrelated things as System Data. Sometimes the cause is a runaway app log or a huge .sqlite-wal file in ~/Library, but users should identify the owner app before deleting anything.

system-data-log-hunter helps with that first measurement step.

Install

git clone https://github.com/00xmorty/system-data-log-hunter.git
cd system-data-log-hunter
chmod +x system-data-log-hunter.zsh

Usage

./system-data-log-hunter.zsh summary
./system-data-log-hunter.zsh scan --min-mb 250
./system-data-log-hunter.zsh scan --path "$HOME/Library/Containers" --min-mb 100

Example output

system-data-log-hunter v0.1.0
Read-only scan. No sudo. No delete.

Minimum size: 250 MB

== /Users/you/Library/Group Containers ==
    147890.0 MB  2026-06-17 09:42  /Users/you/Library/Group Containers/.../Mail.log
              hint: shared app container — common for Mail/Office/chat apps

What it scans by default

• ~/Library/Logs
• ~/Library/Containers
• ~/Library/Group Containers
• ~/Library/Application Support
• /Library/Logs

File types:

• .log
• .txt
• .trace
• .sqlite-wal
• .crash

Manual review workflow

1. Identify the largest candidate file.
2. Check which app owns the folder/path.
3. Close that app if it is active.
4. Search the app’s support docs or inspect whether the file is a disposable diagnostic log.
5. Back up before manual deletion or rotation.

This tool intentionally does not automate step 5.

License

MIT