When you upgrade SmolVM, the new release pulls a fresh set of pre-built sandbox images. The images from older releases stay on disk underDocumentation Index
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~/.smolvm/images/ and slowly add up. The smolvm prune command finds those leftover image folders and deletes them so you get the space back.
Run it any time after an upgrade. It only touches caches that belong to versions you’re no longer using, so your current sandboxes keep working.
Synopsis
Options
Show what would be deleted without removing anything. Useful for previewing the targets before you commit.
Print results as JSON instead of a formatted table. Useful for scripts and automation.
Examples
Preview before deleting
Always safe to run first — it never deletes:Reclaim disk space
Delete the stale caches:JSON output for automation
Get a machine-readable report:--json flag emits a structured object listing the cache directories that were considered, which were removed, and the total bytes reclaimed. Pipe into jq to extract specific fields, or combine with --dry-run to inspect targets without deleting:
What gets deleted
smolvm prune only removes cached image folders for SmolVM versions other than the one currently installed. The current version’s cache is preserved.
It does not touch:
- Running sandboxes or their state
- Custom images you built with
ImageBuilder - Snapshots stored under
~/.smolvm/snapshots/ - SSH keys under
~/.smolvm/keys/
If you upgrade SmolVM frequently, run
smolvm prune periodically to keep your cache footprint small. Each release ships a fresh set of pre-built rootfs and kernel artifacts.Exit codes
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
0 | Success — caches removed (or none found) |
1 | Error reading or deleting cache files |
Related commands
smolvm cleanup— remove stale VMs and free TAP devicessmolvm doctor— diagnose your install before pruning