knip-cleanup

Knip — Dead Code & Dependency Cleanup

Knip finds unused files, dependencies, exports, types, and duplicate packages in JavaScript/TypeScript projects. Use this skill to analyze, report, and safely clean up projects.

What Knip Detects

Category	Description	Risk Level
Unused files	Source files not imported anywhere	Medium
Unused dependencies	Packages in dependencies/devDependencies not imported	High — safe to remove
Unlisted dependencies	Packages imported but not in package.json	Critical — must add
Unused exports	Named exports not consumed by other modules	Low — may be public API
Unused types	TypeScript types/interfaces not referenced	Low
Duplicate packages	Same package at multiple versions in lockfile	Medium
Unused binaries	Binaries declared but not used in scripts	Low
Unresolved imports	Imports that point to missing modules	Critical

Installation

# Install as dev dependency (recommended)
pnpm add -D knip

# Or run without installing
pnpm dlx knip

Configuration

Knip works zero-config for many projects but supports knip.json, knip.jsonc, .knip.json, knip.ts, or a knip key in package.json.

Basic Config (knip.json)

{
  "$schema": "https://unpkg.com/knip@latest/schema.json",
  "entry": ["src/index.ts", "src/main.ts"],
  "project": ["src/**/*.ts"],
  "ignore": ["**/*.test.ts", "**/*.spec.ts"],
  "ignoreDependencies": ["@types/node"]
}

Monorepo Config

{
  "$schema": "https://unpkg.com/knip@latest/schema.json",
  "workspaces": {
    "packages/*": {
      "entry": ["src/index.ts"],
      "project": ["src/**/*.ts"]
    },
    "apps/web": {
      "entry": ["src/main.tsx", "next.config.{js,ts}"],
      "project": ["src/**/*.{ts,tsx}"]
    }
  }
}

Common Framework Configurations

Next.js:

{
  "entry": [
    "src/app/**/page.tsx",
    "src/app/**/layout.tsx",
    "src/app/**/route.ts",
    "src/app/**/loading.tsx",
    "src/app/**/error.tsx",
    "src/app/**/not-found.tsx",
    "src/middleware.ts",
    "next.config.{js,ts,mjs}"
  ],
  "project": ["src/**/*.{ts,tsx}"]
}