Distill Project to Source Code

Strip a project down to pure source code — no build artifacts, no dependencies, no docs, no demo data, no setup scripts. Ready for git init && git push.

Process

1. Confirm the source directory

Ask the user which directory to distill if not already specified. The source must exist and be readable.

2. Create the distilled copy

Use rsync to copy the project to <original>-distilled/ alongside the original, excluding these categories:

Build artifacts & caches:

• node_modules/, node_modules_old/
• client/node_modules/, client/node_modules_old/
• dist/, dist-electron/, release/, build/
• .ruff_cache/, __pycache__/
• *.log

Runtime data:

• data/
• server/data/
• server/config.json (sensitive)

Version control:

• .git/ (fresh start for GitHub)

Temp/files:

• vite.config.ts.timestamp-*

rsync -av \
  --exclude='node_modules/' \
  --exclude='node_modules_old/' \
  --exclude='client/node_modules/' \
  --exclude='client/node_modules_old/' \
  --exclude='dist/' \
  --exclude='dist-electron/' \
  --exclude='release/' \
  --exclude='build/' \
  --exclude='.ruff_cache/' \
  --exclude='__pycache__/' \
  --exclude='*.log' \
  --exclude='data/' \
  --exclude='server/data/' \
  --exclude='server/config.json' \
  --exclude='vite.config.ts.timestamp-*' \
  --exclude='.git/' \
  --exclude='.claude/' \
  "<source>/" "<source>-distilled/"

3. Remove non-source files

After rsync, delete these categories from the distilled copy:

• Setup/startup scripts: setup.bat, setup.sh, stop.sh, start.sh, run.sh, install.sh
• Documentation: README.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, CHANGELOG.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, *.md (except keep nothing in root — no docs)
• Demo/example data: demo-*, *.csv, *.xlsx, sample-*, example-*
• Environment templates: .env.example, .env.template
• Build/packaging scripts dir: scripts/ (if it contains only build/packaging, not application source)
• IDE/editor config: .claude/, .vscode/, .idea/
• CI/CD: .github/, .gitlab-ci.yml, Jenkinsfile

rm -rf \
  "<dst>/setup.bat" "<dst>/setup.sh" "<dst>/stop.sh" \
  "<dst>/README.md" "<dst>/ARCHITECTURE.md" \
  "<dst>/demo-"* "<dst>/*.csv" "<dst>/*.xlsx" \
  "<dst>/.env.example" \
  "<dst>/scripts" \
  "<dst>/.claude" "<dst>/.vscode" "<dst>/.idea" \
  "<dst>/.github"

4. Clean up stray Python caches

find "<dst>" -type d -name "__pycache__" -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null

5. Verify and report

• Show the final file tree
• Report size comparison (original vs distilled)
• Confirm only source code remains: client/src/, server/, desktop/, python/, test/, plus essential config files (package.json, tsconfig.json, .gitignore, lint config)

What stays (keep)

• All directories containing application source code: client/src/, server/, desktop/, python/, test/
• Project config: package.json, package-lock.json, tsconfig.json, vite.config.ts, tailwind.config.js, postcss.config.js
• Lint config: eslint.config.mjs, .eslintrc.cjs, ruff.toml, .prettierrc
• .gitignore
• index.html (Vite entry point)
• client/ config files at client root (not in client/src/)

What goes (remove)

• All node_modules/
• All build output (dist/, release/, build/)
• All caches and logs
• All runtime data
• All documentation
• All setup/startup scripts
• All demo data
• All IDE/editor config
• .git/ (user can git init fresh)
• .env.example and similar templates

6. Upload to GitHub as a branch (optional)

If the user wants to push the distilled code to a specific branch on GitHub (not overwriting existing branches), follow this workflow.

Prerequisites:

• Confirm the target repo URL and branch name with the user
• Check that git config --global user.name and git config --global user.email are set. If not, warn the user before proceeding.

Platform note:

• On Windows, use PowerShell for all git commands (git clone, git push, git ls-remote). Do NOT use Bash — Cygwin/MSYS2 can suffer from fork errors.

Steps:

# 1. Clone the target repo to a temp directory
$tempRepo = "<temp-path>"
if (Test-Path $tempRepo) { Remove-Item $tempRepo -Recurse -Force }
git clone <repo-url> $tempRepo

# 2. Create an orphan branch (independent history, won't touch main)
Push-Location $tempRepo
git checkout --orphan <branch-name>
git rm -rf .

# 3. Copy all distilled files into the temp repo
Get-ChildItem -Path "<distilled-path>" -Force | ForEach-Object {
    Copy-Item $_.FullName -Destination (Join-Path $tempRepo $_.Name) -Recurse -Force
}

# 4. Stage, commit, and push
git add -A
git commit -m "Distilled source code"
git push -u origin <branch-name>
Pop-Location

Cleanup:

• Remove the temp repo clone and the distilled directory after a successful push.
• Verify with git ls-remote <repo-url> that the new branch exists and existing branches are untouched.