Disk Analyzer

A Python script that analyzes disk usage recursively on directories exceeding a specified size threshold. Created because OmniDiskSweeper was killing me with freezes and pauses.

Demo (Browser Feature)

Features

• Runs du -h -d 1 on specified directories and sorts results by size
• Recursively analyzes subdirectories exceeding a minimum size (default: 2GB)
• Saves output to a directory structure that mirrors the filesystem
• Each output file is named after its corresponding directory with "_disk_usage.txt" suffix
• Optional sudo mode for accessing restricted directories
• Configurable error handling with quiet mode

Requirements

• Python 3.6 or later

Usage

# Basic usage (analyzes your home directory by default)
python3 disk_analyzer.py

# Analyze a specific directory
python3 disk_analyzer.py /path/to/directory

# Specify output directory and minimum subdirectory size (in GB)
python3 disk_analyzer.py /path/to/directory --output /path/to/output --min-size 1.5

# Use sudo to access restricted directories
python3 disk_analyzer.py --sudo

# Suppress error messages
python3 disk_analyzer.py --quiet

Options

• directory: Directory to analyze (default: user's home directory)
• --output, -o: Output directory to save results (default: ./output)
• --min-size, -m: Minimum size in GB to process subdirectories (default: 2.0)
• --sudo, -s: Use sudo for du commands (gives access to more directories)
• --quiet, -q: Suppress error messages from du command (similar to 2>/dev/null)

Using the Shell Wrapper

For convenience, a shell wrapper script is provided:

# Show help and available options
./run_analyzer.sh --help

# Run with default options
./run_analyzer.sh

# Run with custom options
./run_analyzer.sh --dir /path/to/directory --output ./results --min-size 1.0 --sudo --quiet

Example

# Analyze the /Users/username directory, saving results to ./disk_analysis
# and recursively check subdirectories larger than 1GB with sudo access
python3 disk_analyzer.py /Users/username --output ./disk_analysis --min-size 1 --sudo

Output

The script creates text files in the output directory, maintaining the relative path structure of analyzed directories. Each file contains the sorted output of du -h -d 1 for the corresponding directory.

Error Handling

By default, the script will display error messages from the du command. These errors typically occur when the tool can't access certain directories due to permission restrictions.

If you prefer to hide these error messages (similar to using 2>/dev/null in the original command), use the --quiet option.

Disk Usage Browser

The disk analyzer includes an interactive terminal-based browser to navigate and visualize the analysis results:

# Run the browser to view previous analysis results
python3 browser.py

# Specify a custom output directory
python3 browser.py --output /path/to/output

Browser Features

• Timestamp Selection: Choose from previous analysis runs sorted by date/time
• Directory Navigation: Explore directories and subdirectories analyzed during each run
• Size Information: View size of each directory and its subdirectories
• Sorted Display: Directories are sorted by size (largest first) for easy identification of space usage
• Parent Directory Navigation: Navigate back to parent directories using the ".." option

Browser Controls

• ↑/↓: Move selection up/down
• Enter: Select a directory to navigate into it
• o: Open the current directory in Finder
• r: Return to run selection to view a different analysis timestamp
• q: Quit the browser

How the Browser Works

1. The browser first shows a list of available analysis runs by timestamp
2. After selecting a run, it displays the root directory with its subdirectories sorted by size
3. When navigating into subdirectories, it automatically loads the appropriate analysis data
4. Each directory displays its total size and the sizes of all immediate subdirectories

The browser makes it easy to identify which directories are consuming the most disk space on your system.