My previous app remover was a one-time purchase app that went into maintenance mode with no major improvements since its release. It also lacks one feature I’d consider fundamental, one I would find useful for AI-assisted environments — exporting the list of files it found. Search for an app, and it gives back a listing in its GUI. For a human end user, that may be enough. Put AI into the mix, though, and a text list not only makes it easier to keep track of what was removed but also lets the AI vet the files before they are removed.

Mole is a free, open-source cleanup tool for macOS and Windows that runs on the command line. Its uninstaller removes an app along with the leftover files it can tie back to that app, and a dry run prints that detailed list without removing anything. Anyone who prefers to wire up a workflow will find it more useful. It also comes in optional, paid GUI versions, Mole for Mac and Mole for Windows, sold separately for a one-time $19 each.

My current workflow is to vet the app through the CLI using AI, then do the actual removal in the GUI app. It carries other tools as well, but for my purposes, the reason I use it is the solid GUI surface it provides. Running both is doable, and it is a documented setup, but the GUI app is not required. Either way, execution is still not in the hands of AI; I’m not giving it the delete, and I’m not even suggesting that it’s allowed to delete a file.

Side note, just a few days ago, I filed a bug report for Mole. The GUI found more items than the CLI, when the GUI’s scope is supposed to be the narrower of the two. The developer answered within a day and issued a fix. Mole is still very active in development, and that is both its strength and its weakness.