Lifecycle operations

Jolter storage is rebuildable machine state. Use lifecycle commands instead of manual deletion whenever possible.

Repair

jolter repair
jolter repair --yes

Repair runs project synchronization in repair mode. Complete reusable installations are retained. Incomplete runtime, tool, and plugin-tool project requirements are replaced. Use --yes when missing declared project plugins may be installed.

Uninstall exact versions

jolter uninstall node@24.5.0
jolter uninstall pnpm@10.12.1
jolter uninstall eslint@8.57.0

Aliases:

jolter remove node@24.5.0
jolter rm node@24.5.0

Active versions are protected:

jolter uninstall node@24.5.0 --force

--force removes the version and clears global activation when it matches. Project files are not changed.

Prune

Preview:

jolter prune --dry-run

Apply default retention:

jolter prune

Keep two newest complete versions per kind:

jolter prune --keep 2

Prune protects active versions, current project requirements, and retained newest complete versions.

Cache

jolter cache status
jolter cache clean

Cache cleaning removes downloaded artifacts and provider metadata. It does not remove installed versions, shims, project configuration, active selections, or lock files.

Backups

Project declarations belong in source control. JOLTER_HOME is rebuildable. For workstation backup:

stop Jolter operations;
preserve config/active.json only if global defaults matter;
preserve the cache only if offline recovery matters;
treat runtime, tool, and plugin-tool directories as platform-specific executables;
restore only onto a compatible OS and architecture.

After restoration:

jolter setup
jolter doctor

Manual recovery

If manual cleanup is unavoidable:

stop all Jolter processes;
back up JOLTER_HOME;
make the smallest targeted change;
run jolter list;
run jolter setup;
run jolter doctor.

​Repair

​Uninstall exact versions

​Prune

​Cache

​Backups

​Manual recovery