Config GC — Garbage Collection for Claude Code Setups

Borrowed from runtime garbage collection: periodically scan for objects that are no longer referenced, redundant, expired, or low-value, and reclaim the space. The critical difference: here, collection requires a human in the loop. Never delete autonomously.

When to Activate

• The user asks to clean up, audit, or slim down their Claude Code configuration
• The user complains about too many skills, noisy hooks, or slow session startup
• A monthly/periodic config review is due
• After installing a large skill pack (e.g. this repo), to reconcile overlaps with existing setup

Do NOT activate for: cleaning project source code (that's refactoring), clearing chat history, or uninstalling Claude Code itself.

Design Philosophy

1. Append-only configs leak. Skills, memory files, hooks, and permission entries only ever get added. Without periodic review they rot silently.
2. Regular audits beat one-time purges. Scan every ~30 days, propose a small batch of candidates each time.
3. Per-channel strategies. Each accumulation type (skills, hooks, permissions, ...) has its own staleness signals — don't apply one rule everywhere.
4. Soft-delete first. Rename to .disabled > move to ~/.claude/_gc_trash/ > real deletion. Always keep an undo path.
5. Forced human-in-the-loop. Every candidate gets its own [y/n/skip] confirmation. No "yes to all" shortcut.
6. Keep a log. Every GC run appends to ~/.claude/gc_log.md: what was touched, why, and how to undo it.

Scan Channels

Workflow

1. Scan all channels (or the subset the user names). Collect candidates with: path, channel, signal that flagged it, size, last-modified.
2. Rank by confidence (broken/orphaned = high; merely old = low) and present as a numbered table. Cap each run at ~20 candidates — GC is periodic, not exhaustive.
3. Confirm one by one. For each candidate show the evidence, then ask [y/n/skip]. The user can stop at any point.
4. Soft-delete confirmed items: prefer .disabled rename for skills/hooks and _gc_trash/<date>/ move for files. Permission entries live in JSON (no comments possible): back up the settings file, record each removed entry verbatim in gc_log.md, then remove it from the allow array with jq. Only hard-delete when the user explicitly asks.
5. Log the run to ~/.claude/gc_log.md: timestamp, items actioned, undo instructions.
6. Report: reclaimed size, channels still healthy, suggested next review date.

Example Scan Commands

Orphaned hook scripts (channel 3) — scripts on disk that no hook config references:

for f in ~/.claude/hooks/*; do
  name=$(basename "$f")
  grep -rq "$name" ~/.claude/settings.json ~/.claude/settings.local.json 2>/dev/null \
    || echo "ORPHAN: $f"
done

Redundant permission entries (channel 4) — duplicates, and specific grants shadowed by a wildcard:

jq -r '.permissions.allow[]' ~/.claude/settings.local.json | sort | uniq -d

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