Rule Types & Matchers

Matchers reference

`type`

Whether to match files or directories. Defaults to file.

Value	Description
`file` (default)	Matches regular files only
`dir`	Matches directories only

match:
  type: "dir"
  pattern: "^AppIcons$"

When type: dir is set, extensions, min_size, max_size, older_than, and newer_than are ignored — only pattern applies.

`extensions`

Match files by extension. Case-insensitive. Leading dot is optional in the config but recommended.

match:
  extensions: [".pdf", ".docx", ".xlsx"]

`pattern`

Match the filename (not the full path) against a regular expression.

match:
  pattern: "^Screenshot.*"      # files starting with "Screenshot"
  pattern: ".*_backup\\.(zip|tar\\.gz)$"  # backup archives

`min_size` / `max_size`

Match files by size. Supports B, KB, MB, GB, TB.

match:
  min_size: "500MB"   # larger than 500 MB
  max_size: "2GB"     # smaller than 2 GB

`older_than` / `newer_than`

Match files by their last modification time. Supports d (days), w (weeks), and Go duration syntax.

match:
  older_than: "90d"   # not modified in the last 90 days
  newer_than: "7d"    # modified within the last 7 days

Scope

Restrict which directories a rule applies to. Scope has two independent properties:

`scope.dirs`

Directories the rule applies to when running ordr clean manually. When empty, the rule applies everywhere.

scope:
  dirs:
    - "~/Desktop"
    - "~/Downloads"

`scope.watch_dirs`

Directories the rule monitors when ordr watch is running. Completely independent from scope.dirs — no fallback. If watch_dirs is not set, the rule is inactive during watch mode.

scope:
  dirs: ["~/Downloads"]
  watch_dirs: ["~/Downloads", "~/Desktop"]

This gives you full independent control:

# Restrict ordr clean to Downloads, also watch Downloads and Desktop
scope:
  dirs: ["~/Downloads"]
  watch_dirs: ["~/Downloads", "~/Desktop"]

# No scope.dirs — ordr clean applies this rule anywhere, ordr watch only on Desktop
scope:
  watch_dirs: ["~/Desktop"]

# Restrict ordr clean to Downloads only, not watched at all
scope:
  dirs: ["~/Downloads"]

Paths support ~ for the home directory. Both absolute and relative paths are accepted.

Options

`on_conflict`

What to do when a file already exists at the destination.

Value	Behavior
`rename` (default)	Appends `(1)`, `(2)`, etc.
`skip`	Leaves the source file untouched
`overwrite`	Replaces the destination file

options:
  on_conflict: "skip"

`recursive`

When true, the rule also applies to files in subdirectories of the target directory.

options:
  recursive: true

`action`

Controls what happens when a directory rule matches. Only applies when match.type: dir.

Value	Behavior
`move` (default)	Moves the entire directory as a unit
`flatten`	Extracts all top-level files from the directory into `target`

options:
  action: "flatten"

`remove_empty`

Only applies when action: flatten. When true, the source directory is deleted after extraction if it is empty.

options:
  action: "flatten"
  remove_empty: true

Combining matchers

All matchers are AND-combined. This rule matches .mp4 files that are over 500 MB and older than 90 days:

- name: "Old large videos"
  target: "~/Archive/Videos"
  match:
    extensions: [".mp4", ".mov", ".mkv"]
    min_size: "500MB"
    older_than: "90d"

Rule Types & Matchers

Matchers reference

type

extensions

pattern

min_size / max_size

older_than / newer_than