Burrow is a free, open-source native macOS desktop app (with a Windows version in Beta), bringing together the Mole CLI's cleanup, optimization, analysis, history, and MCP server into a single window. It offers sixteen feature interfaces, and each tool re-themes the entire window in a different color to signal what is about to happen. All operations can be completed end-to-end in the graphical interface, with no need to enter the terminal.
Main capabilities include:
- Cleanup: Scans more than a dozen categories such as caches, logs, and temporary files, sorted by deletion safety, and shows the file list and byte counts before moving any files.
- Development leftover cleanup: Finds node_modules, DerivedData, build outputs, stale package caches, and more, and shows the rebuild cost.
- Installer cleanup: Finds .dmg and .pkg files still left in the Downloads folder after the app has been installed.
- App management: Lists all installed apps, sortable by size or recent use, supports multi-select uninstalling and cleans up preferences, support files, and launch agents.
- System maintenance: Rebuilds Quick Look, repairs caches and metadata, flushes DNS, audits login items, and provides a one-click Smart-Care that automatically performs applicable maintenance tasks.
- Disk mapping: Displays the entire disk as a square treemap, allows drilling into any branch, and via the context menu reveals in Finder or moves to Trash.
- Duplicate file finder: Based on content hashing, with hard link awareness to avoid double-counting shared files.
- Leftover file finder: Matches support files, preferences, and launch agents left behind by deleted apps.
- Similar photo finder: Finds near-identical photos and burst frames through perceptual matching.
- Real-time monitoring: Displays mini charts for CPU, memory, GPU, disk, network, and battery on one page, and provides a pinnable process table and menu bar HUD.
- Port viewer: Lists all listening ports and their corresponding processes.
- Network throughput: Displays real-time throughput by interface and process.
- Connection diagnostics: Provides a guided path for DNS, gateway, captive portal, and interface checks.
- History: All status samples are stored in a local SQLite file, allowing lookback from 5 minutes to 90 days, and displays a per-process peak table.
- MCP server: Provides 26 MCP tools, exposing the entire app to agents such as Claude Code, and also provides a local HTTP API at 127.0.0.1:9277. Read-only by default, with destructive operations requiring separate opt-in.
How to use: Download the .zip from the official website (supports Apple Silicon and Intel) or install via cask (app + engine). The Windows version is a preview and is currently provided as a zip. The app requires no account and has no subscription; all tools, the menu bar HUD, history, and the MCP server are free to use.
Use cases: Suitable for macOS users who need to free up disk space, manage apps, monitor system status, analyze disk usage, and automate system operations through agents.
Limitations: The Windows version is still in Beta, and features are being aligned gradually. Some operations require administrator privileges, but Burrow does not run a background root helper; instead, it requests authorization through macOS's own dialogs. Full Disk Access is optional, and granting it allows access to deeper App Support and container caches. Telemetry data is anonymous and can be opted out of, with fields listed item by item in TELEMETRY.md.
