Sherlock

Sherlock is an all-in-one Python tool to inventory, analyze, and summarize your projects on macOS.
It scans folders, detects project roots (Python, Node.js, Go, Rust, C/C++, Git, etc.), generates a full file inventory, and produces a project summary with alerts for dead, large, or duplicate-name projects.

---

Features

• Full file-level inventory with:
  • project name
  • project root path
  • language
  • file path
  • file size
  • creation date
  • last opened date
• Project summary CSV with:
  • file count
  • total size
  • oldest and newest file
  • alert for:
    • dead projects (not opened > 2 years)
    • large projects (> 500MB)
    • possible duplicate project names
• Stage-based scanning: Desktop, Downloads, Documents, or any folder
• Single script (sherlock.py) handles everything

---

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• macOS (uses file creation and access timestamps)
• Terminal access

---

Installation / Setup

1.0 Clone the repository (or copy the folder to your machine):

git clone <repo-url> sherlock
cd sherlock

2.0 Make sure the script is executable (optional):

chmod +x sherlock.py

Usage

1.0 Scan default folders (Desktop, Downloads, Documents):

python3 sherlock.py --scan home

2.0 Scan custom folders (target):

python3 sherlock.py --dirs ~/Projects /Users/you/Downloads

3.0 Output files

By default, Sherlock produces two CSVs in your home folder: • ~/projects_inventory.csv – full file-level inventory • ~/projects_summary.csv – project-level summary with alerts

3.1 You can override paths

python3 sherlock.py --scan home --inventory ~/my_inventory.csv --summary ~/my_summary.csv

3.2 Optional Parameter

• --stop-at : Stop searching for project root above this folder (default: your home directory)

• --scan all : Scan the entire filesystem (may be slow)

• --dirs : Specify exact folders to scan

---

Next Steps / Recommendations

• Open the CSVs in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets;
• Sort and filter projects by:
  • dead_or_duplicate_alert
  • total_size_bytes
  • language or last_opened_iso
  • Use this to identify projects to archive, delete, or reorganise