pyrig rmpyc

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Overview

uv run pyrig rmpyc

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What It Does

1. Scans the project’s package and tests directories for __pycache__ directories
2. Recursively searches all subdirectories
3. Deletes each __pycache__ directory and all .pyc files within
4. Reports each deletion to stdout

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Usage

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Basic Usage

uv run pyrig rmpyc

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With Verbose Output

# See detailed deletion information
uv run pyrig -v rmpyc

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Quiet Mode

# Only show warnings and errors
uv run pyrig -q rmpyc

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Expected Output

$ uv run pyrig rmpyc
Removing myproject/__pycache__
Removing myproject/utils/__pycache__
Removing myproject/models/__pycache__
Removing tests/__pycache__
Removing tests/models/__pycache__
✓ Removed 5 __pycache__ directories

# When no __pycache__ directories exist
$ uv run pyrig rmpyc
✓ No __pycache__ directories found

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What Gets Deleted

• All __pycache__/ directories
• All .pyc files (compiled bytecode)
• All .pyo files (optimized bytecode)

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Directory Structure Before

myproject/
├── __pycache__/
│   ├── __init__.cpython-311.pyc
│   └── main.cpython-311.pyc
├── utils/
│   └── __pycache__/
│       └── helpers.cpython-311.pyc
└── models/
    └── __pycache__/
        └── user.cpython-311.pyc

tests/
└── __pycache__/
    └── test_main.cpython-311.pyc

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Directory Structure After

myproject/
├── utils/
└── models/

tests/

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Behavior

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When to Use

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Use rmpyc When:

• Import errors - Stale .pyc files causing module import issues
• Debugging - Ensuring you’re running the latest source code
• Disk space - Cleaning up unnecessary compiled files
• Before deployment - Cleaning the project before packaging
• After refactoring - Removing cached files from renamed/deleted modules
• Version control - Cleaning up before committing (though .pyc should be git-ignored)

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Common Scenarios

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Stale Bytecode Issues

# Problem: ImportError despite correct source code
$ python -m myproject
ImportError: cannot import name 'OldClass' from 'myproject.models'

# Solution: Clear bytecode cache
$ uv run pyrig rmpyc
Removing myproject/models/__pycache__

$ python -m myproject
# Works now!

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After Major Refactoring

# After renaming/moving modules
mv src/myproject/old_module.py src/myproject/new_module.py

# Clear stale bytecode
uv run pyrig rmpyc

# Verify imports
python -c "from myproject.new_module import MyClass"

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Disk Space Cleanup

# Check size before
du -sh myproject/
# 45M    myproject/

# Clean cache
uv run pyrig rmpyc

# Check size after
du -sh myproject/
# 23M    myproject/  (saved 22M)

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What About .pyc Files?

1. A module is imported
2. Python compiles the source code to bytecode
3. The bytecode is cached for faster subsequent imports

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When .pyc Files Cause Problems

• Renamed files: Old .pyc files can cause import errors
• Moved modules: Cached paths become stale
• Modified code: Sometimes Python doesn’t detect changes (rare)
• Python version changes: .pyc files from different Python versions

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Alternative Approaches

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Integration with Other Commands

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Before Running Tests

# Ensure clean bytecode before tests
uv run pyrig rmpyc
uv run pytest

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After Code Changes

# Make changes
vim src/myproject/module.py

# Clear cache to ensure fresh import
uv run pyrig rmpyc

# Test changes
python -m myproject

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Before Building

# Clean before build
uv run pyrig rmpyc

# Build artifacts
uv run pyrig build

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Performance

• Uses Path.rglob() for efficient filesystem traversal
• Deletes directories in a single pass
• Minimal overhead from pyrig CLI

# Large project with 1000+ modules
$ time uv run pyrig rmpyc
Removed 347 __pycache__ directories

real    0m1.234s

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Safety

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Troubleshooting

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Permission Errors

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'myproject/__pycache__'

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Still Seeing Import Issues

1. Check Python version: Ensure you’re using the correct Python version
2. Verify environment: Make sure virtual environment is activated
3. Check sys.path: Verify import paths are correct
4. Reinstall package: Try uv sync to reinstall dependencies

# Full cleanup and reinstall
uv run pyrig rmpyc
rm -rf .venv
uv sync

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Git Integration

# .gitignore
__pycache__/
*.py[cod]
*$py.class

# Remove from git but keep local
git rm -r --cached **/__pycache__

# Remove completely
uv run pyrig rmpyc

# Commit removal
git add .gitignore
git commit -m "Remove __pycache__ from version control"

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Related Commands

• init - Generates .gitignore that excludes __pycache__
• mkroot - Updates .gitignore configuration
• build - Building (often done after cleanup)

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Implementation

1. Gets package names from PackageManager.I.package_name() and ProjectTester.I.tests_package_name()
2. Converts package names to Path objects
3. Uses Path.rglob("__pycache__") to find all cache directories
4. Deletes each with shutil.rmtree()
5. Prints each deletion with typer.echo()