Remove files

Remove a file or symlink:

syq rm old-file

Named paths, --src, and --srcs refuse directories. Select a tree explicitly to remove it recursively:

syq rm --src-dir old-output

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

syq rm --srcs-in cache

Add --dry-run -v to preview what would be removed first. A missing path is not an error. Filesystem removal is permanent; completed deletions cannot be rolled back.

On another machine

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

Keep the connection open until removal finishes. A dry run can still install syq on the server; see Automatic installation on SSH servers.

For object storage, use --on s3://BUCKET:

syq rm --on s3://backups --src-dir old-backup --dry-run -v

Ordinary removal respects bucket versioning; explicit version deletion is available with --s3-all-versions or --s3-version-id. See Versions and deletion.

Limit the selection

syq rm --root /srv --src-dir cache --src-dir old-output

This removes /srv/cache and /srv/old-output, with selection confined to /srv. Syq refuses paths or symlinks that lead outside that directory. See Selection rules for the supported selectors.

Symlinks

Removing a symlink leaves its target alone. This applies to selected links and links found inside a directory being removed.

Use --follow-src to reach a file through a symlink in its parent path:

# If current points to releases/v1, remove releases/v1/log.txt.
syq rm --follow-src current/log.txt

syq rm --follow-src current still removes only the link. To remove a linked directory or its contents, select the actual directory. With --root, paths must stay inside that root.

Results

If some entries cannot be removed, syq reports the errors and continues with independent entries. Completed deletions remain in effect. Use automation results for per-path outcomes in scripts.

See syq rm for all options.