Meet Topo: The High-Performance Linux System Optimizer with a Sleek TUI

TopoCLI — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:57:45 +0000

The Problem: Linux Cleanup shouldn't be a chore

As Linux users, we love control. But over time, our systems get cluttered with unused package caches, orphan dependencies, and "residue" folders left behind by uninstalled apps (looking at you, ~/.config and ~/.local/share).

While tools like BleachBit exist, I wanted something faster, more modern, and tailored for terminal enthusiasts—something that feels "alive" and provides instant
feedback.

Enter Topo 🦡.

What is Topo?

Topo is an open-source, high-performance Linux system optimizer and disk analyzer. It’s designed to be a "surgical" tool for your OS—fast enough to be used daily and
smart enough to know what’s safe to delete.

It combines a Python-based TUI for interactive navigation with a Rust-powered engine (topo-core) for lightning-fast disk scanning.

Key Features

High-Performance Disk Analysis
Forget waiting for minutes to see what's eating your disk. Topo uses a dedicated Rust engine to walk your filesystem.
In the latest v0.7.0 release, we introduced Subtree Caching. This means Topo scans your entire directory hierarchy once, allowing you to "drill down" into folders instantly without any re-scanning jitter.
Smart App Uninstaller (with Residue Cleanup)
Normal package managers (apt, dnf, pacman) often leave user data behind. Topo's uninstaller is different:
- Binary Removal: Executes native commands like apt purge --autoremove or pacman -Rns.
- Residue Hunting: It intelligently searches for configuration and cache folders in your home directory associated with the app.
- Safety First: It whitelists critical system components and uses a "Mole-style" preview screen so you can see exactly what's being removed before you commit.
Sleek "Mole-style" TUI
Inspired by high-end CLI tools, Topo features a minimalist, responsive terminal interface. It supports:
- Interactive menus with keyboard shortcuts.
- Real-time system health monitoring (CPU load, memory, disk usage).
- Grouped cleanup tasks (System, Developer tools, AI models, Caches).
Developer-Centric Optimization
Topo understands developer workflows. It has dedicated tasks for:
- Clearing Node.js/Python/Go/Rust build artifacts.
- Cleaning up large AI models and temporary developer caches.
- Trimming SSDs (fstrim) and optimizing browser databases.

Why use Topo over other tools?

Performance: The Rust core ensures even massive node_modules trees don't slow it down.
Portability: It’s verified on Fedora, Ubuntu, and Arch Linux.
Auditability: Every destructive action is logged in ~/.local/state/topo/deletions.log. You can even use topo history to see exactly how much space you've reclaimed over time.

Quick Start

You can install Topo with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Jesencloud/Topo/main/install.sh | bash

Once installed, just type topo to launch the interactive menu, or use specific commands:

   1 topo status    # Check system health
   2 topo analyze   # Explore disk usage (Rust-powered)
   3 topo clean     # One-key safe cleanup
   4 topo history   # View your cleanup logs

Open Source & Contributing

Topo is built for the community. We recently hit version v0.7.0, adding more thorough APT uninstallation and instant cache-hit drilling for the analyzer.

Check out the code on GitHub:
👉 Jesencloud/Topo (https://github.com/Jesencloud/Topo) (Give it a ⭐ if you like it!)

I’d love to hear your feedback—what’s your biggest "pain point" when it comes to keeping your Linux distro clean? Let’s discuss in the comments!