File Deleter Skill - MANDATORY DELETION METHOD

CRITICAL: This skill MUST be used for ALL file and directory deletion operations. The rm command is blocked on this system.

System Policy

• ALL deletions must use this skill's delete-file.js script
• Direct rm, rm -rf, rmdir commands are BLOCKED
• This applies to cleanup, refactoring, removing old files, or any deletion operation
• No exceptions - even for temporary files or build artifacts

When to Use

Use this skill ANY time you need to:

• Remove any file (code, config, markdown, etc.)
• Delete any directory (empty or with contents)
• Clean up temporary files
• Remove build artifacts
• Delete old/unused code
• Perform any operation that would normally use rm or rmdir

How It Works

The skill uses a Node.js script that:

1. Finds the project root (where .git and .claude directories exist)
2. Moves specified files/directories to .deleted/ while preserving their path structure
3. Creates a .gitignore in .deleted/ that ignores all contents
4. Handles both absolute and relative paths
5. Recursively moves directories with all contents
6. Overwrites existing files/directories in .deleted/

Script Location

The delete-file.js script is located in the scripts subdirectory of this skill.

When Claude Code loads this skill, the base directory path is provided, allowing the script to be located at <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js.

Usage

Standard deletion syntax - use this for all deletions:

node <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js <path1> [path2] [path3] ...

Examples:

# Delete single file
node <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js src/old-component.tsx

# Delete multiple files
node <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js file1.txt file2.js dir/file3.md

# Delete entire directory
node <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js old-features/

# Delete multiple directories and files
node <skill-base-dir>/scripts/delete-file.js temp/ build/ old-file.txt

Behavior

• Non-existent files: Skipped with warning, script continues
• Overwriting: Existing files/directories in .deleted/ are overwritten
• Directory structure: Preserved within .deleted/
  • Example: src/components/Button.tsx → .deleted/src/components/Button.tsx
• Git ignore: All contents of .deleted/ are automatically git-ignored

Recovery

Files remain recoverable in .deleted/ and can be manually restored if needed.

Error Handling

If you attempt to use rm commands, you will receive an error message directing you to use this skill instead. Always default to using this script for any deletion operation.