Install trash-cli with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• trash-empty
• trash-list
• trash-put
• trash-restore
• trash-rm

Project history

The project grew out of the Unix command-line gap between irreversible `rm` and desktop trash implementations. The official README frames trash-cli as a command-line and scripting interface to the same trash can used by KDE, GNOME, and XFCE, making desktop-style file recovery available from shells and scripts.

GitHub repository metadata identifies `andreafrancia/trash-cli` as an official source repository created in 2011, while the README examples still show older usage dates from 2007 and 2008. The project has continued to publish tagged versions and maintain Python packaging instructions, with the README recommending pipx or pip, source installs from Git, and distro package managers.

Adoption history

trash-cli moved from being a convenience wrapper for freedesktop.org trash semantics into a broadly packaged Unix utility. The official README lists package-manager installation commands for Debian/Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Fedora, and the batch input additionally records availability in Homebrew, apk, Debian, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, Ubuntu, and zypper.

The package's adoption is tied to cross-desktop Linux behavior: by using the freedesktop.org trash location and metadata model, it fits systems where graphical file managers and command-line tools need to see the same trash state.

How it is used

Typical use is replacing ad hoc destructive cleanup with explicit trash operations: `trash-put` sends files or directories to the trash, `trash-list` supports shell filtering, `trash-restore` interactively restores entries, `trash-empty` clears trash or old entries, and `trash-rm` removes trashed files matching patterns.

The README explicitly warns against aliasing `rm` directly to `trash-put` because the commands have different semantics, including directory handling. Instead it suggests using shell aliases that remind users not to run `rm`, and it documents cron-based automatic deletion with `trash-empty 30`.

Why package nerds care

For package-manager users, trash-cli is the portable Linux answer to safer deletion from scripts and terminals. It matters because it integrates with the desktop trash standard rather than inventing a private holding directory, so it can be packaged once and behave consistently across common Unix desktops.

The formula is also a good example of a small CLI whose executable surface is intentionally split into subcommands, making it easy for downstream packagers and shell users to expose focused tools instead of one large interactive program.

Timeline

• 2007-2008: README examples show early trash-list and trash-empty workflows.
• 2011: Official GitHub repository metadata records creation of `andreafrancia/trash-cli`.
• 2020s: README documents pipx, pip, Git source installs, and distribution package-manager installs.

Related projects

• Related to freedesktop.org trash implementations used by KDE, GNOME, and XFCE.
• Contrasts with `rm`, which permanently unlinks files rather than recording trash metadata for recovery.
• Complements macOS-specific tools such as Ali Rantakari's `trash`, which targets Finder and macOS Trash behavior.

Sources

• Batch input fields: source_facts.description, source_facts.executables, source_facts.package-manager
• Official GitHub repository metadata: https://github.com/andreafrancia/trash-cli
• Official README: https://github.com/andreafrancia/trash-cli#readme