PUBLIC-INBOX-PURGE(1)

📦
version 2.0.0~20230714git590023f · 6 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 public-inbox-purge — bestie's guide to yeeting messages out of history 💖

okay so this is the public-inbox-purge page from the public-inbox user manual, and bestie, we're gonna talk about it. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

public-inbox-purge — erase messages from a public inbox and its history 🗑️💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

# requires ~/.public-inbox/config
public-inbox-purge --all </path/to/message-to-purge

# for testing with unconfigured inboxes:
public-inbox-purge $INBOX_DIR </path/to/message-to-purge

like, you feed it the message you want gone on stdin, and it goes poof. no cap. ✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So public-inbox-purge lets you remove entire messages in a given inbox from history. the way that it ✨deletes✨.

But ngl, it is only intended as a last resort 😭 because it will cause discontiguous git history and it will draw more attention to the sensitive data in mirrors. it's giving "the opposite of subtle." 💀

If you're just trying to get rid of spam, public-inbox-learn(1) is preferable, because it preserves contiguous git history. much cleaner vibe 🧚

If you want to edit sensitive info out of messages instead, consider public-inbox-edit(1) instead — but keep in mind it still leads to discontiguous git history. yeah. 🙈

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --all — purge the message in all inboxes configured in ~/.public-inbox/config. this is an alternative to specifying individual inboxes directories on the command-line. one flag, every inbox, slay 👑

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • PI_CONFIG — the default config file, normally "~/.public-inbox/config". see public-inbox-config(5). iykyk 💜

⚠️ LIMITATIONS ⚠️

okay this is the important part, bestie, read it fr fr:

🚨 Running this in parallel with public-inbox-xcpdb(1) or "public-inbox-index --reindex" can lead to errors or purged data remaining indexed. do not do this. seriously. 💀
  • Incremental public-inbox-index(1) (without "--reindex") is fine. 👍
  • Keep in mind this is a last resort, because it will be disruptive to anyone using git(1) to mirror the inbox being purged. main character energy, but for chaos. 😭

📬 CONTACT 📬

Feedback welcome via plain-text mail to <mailto:meta@public-inbox.org> 💌

The mail archives are hosted at <https://public-inbox.org/meta/> and <http://4uok3hntl7oi7b4uf4rtfwefqeexfzil2w6kgk2jn5z2f764irre7byd.onion/meta/> 🌐

Copyright 2019-2021 all contributors <mailto:meta@public-inbox.org> 🎀

License: AGPL-3.0+ <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt> 📜

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

public-inbox-edit(1), public-inbox-learn(1)

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 this came out of the public-inbox.git tree, dated 1993-10-02 (yes really, iconic date, don't ask 🌟), and it's page PUBLIC-INBOX-PURGE(1) of the public-inbox user manual. go forth and purge responsibly, and remember: last resort means LAST resort 💅✨🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from