Remove files

Remove a file or a directory tree:

syq rm old-output

Remove a directory’s contents, leaving the directory itself:

syq rm --srcs-in cache

Add --dry-run -v to either command to see what would be removed first. Missing paths succeed. Removal is permanent; completed deletions cannot be rolled back.

On another machine

syq rm --on server /scratch/old-output

This removes /scratch/old-output on server. Remote removal runs while your connection stays open; there is no detached mode.

Limit the selection

syq rm --root /srv cache old-output

This removes /srv/cache and /srv/old-output, with selection confined to /srv. Use --src-non-dir PATH or --src-dir DIR when the path must be a non-directory or directory respectively. All selections are checked before deletion begins. Filters are not supported.

Symlinks

A selected symlink is removed as a link, leaving its target alone. Symlinks inside a selected directory are also only unlinked.

--follow-src permits traversal through symlinks in --cwd, --root, and selector parent directories. --follow also permits symlinks in the --results path. The final selected symlink is always removed as a link, even with --follow-src or --follow. For example, if current points to releases/v1, syq rm --follow-src current/log.txt removes releases/v1/log.txt, while syq rm --follow-src current removes only the link.

--src-dir and --srcs-in reject a final selected symlink, including when following is enabled. Select the actual directory to remove it or its contents. With --root, traversal must still stay inside that root.

Results

The command continues with independent entries after per-entry failures and exits 23. Fatal setup or connection failures exit 1. Use --results for per-path outcomes in scripts.

For the full option list, run syq rm --help-all.