Project retention

Customer and project data on your machine should not outlive its purpose. The Pentest operation rules suggests a dedicated directory for local pentest files. Delete anything you no longer need.

Project Sense

Project Sense is a small tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS that watches configured directories and deletes stale content. It runs on a schedule and writes a log of what it deleted, skipped, or kept.

Each direct child folder of an observation root counts as one project folder. The tool deletes a project folder when all files inside are older than MaxAgeDays (90 by default), or when the folder is empty.

To keep a project longer, place an empty SKIP_DELETION file in the project folder root. The folder is then skipped until you remove that file. Delete this flag file if the project is no longer needed.

Setup (Windows)

1. Clone the repository and open config.json.
2. Set ObservationRoots to the directory where you store pentest projects (absolute path).
3. Set Logfile to an absolute path where you want the run log (e.g. C:\Logs\ProjectSense.log).
4. Leave MaxAgeDays at 90 unless agreed otherwise with the team.
5. Test without deleting:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\ProjectSense.ps1 -ConfigPath config.json -WhatIf

6. Run once manually to confirm the log looks right:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\ProjectSense.ps1 -ConfigPath config.json

7. Register automatic runs at login: open shell:startup, create a shortcut with this target (adjust paths):

powershell.exe -ep Bypass -WindowStyle hidden C:\Path\To\ProjectSense\scripts\ProjectSense.ps1 -ConfigPath C:\Path\To\ProjectSense\config.json

Check the log file after the first scheduled run. Full configuration options and troubleshooting are in the repository README.

Setup (Linux / macOS)

Prerequisites: bash, jq, and optionally notify-send (Linux) for desktop notifications.

chmod +x scripts/project-sense.sh
./scripts/project-sense.sh --config config.json --what-if   # dry run
./scripts/project-sense.sh --config config.json             # run for real

Register a daily cron job, for example at 11:00:

0 11 * * * /full/path/to/scripts/project-sense.sh --config /full/path/to/config.json

See config.unix.example.json in the repository for path examples.

Before you rely on it

• Store pentest files only under your configured observation root(s).
• Run with -WhatIf / --what-if after changing config.json or moving projects.
• Review the log when a project you expected to keep was deleted (usually the newest file was still within 90 days, or SKIP_DELETION was missing).
• Remove customer data from other locations manually; Project Sense only watches the paths you configure.