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README.md
asimov
Stop backing up files you'll never restore.
Every Time Machine snapshot copies your node_modules, .venv, target, DerivedData; gigabytes of files you can rebuild with one command. With git worktrees and AI coding agents spinning up parallel copies of every project, that waste compounds fast.
Asimov scans your home directory, finds dependency folders next to their config files, and tells Time Machine to skip them. Install once, run daily, forget it exists.
Install
Stable — v0.3.0
The last release from Asimov's original maintainer, available in homebrew-core:
brew install asimov
brew services start asimov
It's from 2020 and predates everything below — no config file, far fewer ecosystems, and a full scan on every run. A new stable lands once the beta settles.
Beta — v0.9.0-beta.2 (recommended)
Where active development lives: 30+ more ecosystems, a config file, --dry-run, and caching that takes typical runs from ~75s to ~1–2s.
Don't see your tool? You can teach Asimov your own directory + sentinel pairs in a couple of lines — no need to wait for a release. See Add your own patterns.
| Option | Description |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| --dry-run | Print what would be excluded without changing Time Machine |
| --verbose | Show all directories including already-excluded ones |
| --quiet | Suppress all output except errors |
| --stats | Show per-directory sizes and a total-space summary |
| --no-read-cache | Ignore cached state; re-discover and re-verify everything, then rebuild the cache |
| --no-write-cache | Run normally but don't persist any cache updates |
Asimov keeps a cache under ~/.cache/asimov/ so repeat runs are near-instant. The two flags above control it on independent axes — reading and writing:
--no-read-cache — "rebuild." Ignores everything cached, re-scans the filesystem, and re-verifies every directory against Time Machine, then writes a fresh cache. --full-scan is an alias.
--no-write-cache — "don't touch state." Uses the fast cache to read, but persists nothing. Handy with --dry-run.
Both together = a fully stateless run that reads and writes nothing. --no-cache is an alias for this.
Schedule
The curl and source installers set up a daily launchd job automatically. To trigger one immediately or stop the schedule:
launchctl kickstart gui/$(id -u)/com.stevegrunwell.asimov # run now
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.stevegrunwell.asimov # stop schedule
Configuration
Asimov works out of the box. To customize it, drop a config file at ~/.config/asimov/config. The most useful thing you can do here is teach it dependency directories of your own.
Add your own patterns
Using a tool Asimov doesn't know about yet? Add it yourself. Each pattern is a directory sentinel pair — exactly the same mechanism the built-ins use: the directory is excluded only when the sentinel file sits right beside it, so it's safe even for common folder names.
[sentinels]
extra = .cache my-tool.toml # exclude .cache only when my-tool.toml is its sibling
extra = generated codegen.yml # one "extra =" line per pattern
extra = dist *.podspec # glob sentinels work too
Want to turn a built-in off? List its exact pair under disabled:
Global tool caches in your home directory (~/.cache, ~/.gradle/caches, …) are left alone by default. Opt in, and add paths of your own:
[fixed_dirs]
enabled = true # exclude the built-in global caches
extra = ~/my-build-cache # plus any paths you name (always excluded when they exist)
extra = ~/golang/pkg/mod # e.g. a Go module cache under a custom GOPATH
Other install methods
From source:
git clone https://github.com/AsimovMac/asimov.git --depth 1
cd asimov && make install
See UPGRADING.md for migrating from v0.4.x or the original stevegrunwell/asimov.
Credits
Asimov was created by Steve Grunwell, who built and maintained it at stevegrunwell/asimov from 2018 through v0.3.0 — the version most people know it by. Thank you, Steve, for the years of work and for handing it on so carefully.
The project now lives at AsimovMac/asimov (the original repo, transferred — the old URL still redirects here), maintained by @django23. Releases from v0.4.0 onward add expanded ecosystem coverage, a config file, and the caching that took typical runs from ~75s to ~1–2s.
Built on the contributions of everyone who filed issues and PRs over the years. Asimov is, and stays, MIT-licensed and community-driven.
