Copilot-Skills cleanup.instructions.md

Cleanup Operations - Automatic Context Instructions

Related Prompt: /cleanup

Triggers: cleanup, remove, delete, unused, stale, orphan, tidy, clean up

Context: Cleanup and Maintenance Operations

When working with files that match cleanup patterns or when user queries contain cleanup keywords, this context is automatically activated.

Default Behaviors

When user mentions "cleanup" or "unused"

1. Suggest /cleanup skill prompt for guided cleanup workflow
2. Analyze project for common cleanup targets
3. Respect .gitignore patterns (never delete ignored files without confirmation)
4. Create safety checkpoints before destructive operations

When user mentions "dependencies" or "node_modules"

1. Check for unused dependencies in package.json, requirements.txt, etc.
2. Suggest removal of unused packages
3. Warn about breaking changes before removal
4. Update lockfiles after changes

When user mentions "cache" or "build artifacts"

1. Identify safe-to-delete cache directories
2. Preserve development environment configurations
3. Keep .gitignore patterns up to date

Quality Guidelines

✅ Do

• Always ask for confirmation before deleting files
• Show what will be deleted before executing
• Use dry-run flags when available
• Backup important files before cleanup
• Update .gitignore after cleanup
• Clean incrementally (one type at a time)

❌ Don't

• Delete files matching .gitignore without explicit confirmation
• Remove dependencies without checking usage
• Clean production builds without backup
• Delete configuration files
• Remove version control history
• Clean without showing file list first

Common Cleanup Targets

Safe to Remove (Usually)

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/
*.egg-info/
target/

# Cache directories
__pycache__/
.pytest_cache/
.mypy_cache/
.ruff_cache/
node_modules/.cache/
.next/
.nuxt/

# Log files
*.log
npm-debug.log*
yarn-debug.log*
yarn-error.log*

# Temporary files
*.tmp
*.temp
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db