# Mint for Mac by DZG Studio

> Mint is a Mac app that manages storage and files with one framework built on each file's life cycle. It looks at how the whole Mac uses space and aims for the most usable space and the best experience, whether by optimizing, cleaning or organizing: it stores duplicate and idle files more efficiently, cleans what comes back on its own with the reason for each, organizes folders by hand, on a schedule or as files arrive, and runs all of it with Auto Care inside an Ignore List you control. It reviews storage used by Codex, Claude Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop. Supported Codex conversations can use less space while keeping the pictures needed to continue them; this differs from permanently removing media or deleting a conversation. Mint also frees memory and works from Raycast, the menu bar, the command line and MCP, with the edition and action limits described below.

Canonical website: https://mintstorage.app/
Publisher: DZG Studio LLC. Requires macOS 14 or later; Apple silicon and Intel supported.
Also listed as: "Mint: Disk Cleaner & Organizer" (Mac App Store), "Mint" (Setapp), "Mint Mac Care" (Raycast Store extension), "@dzg-studio/mcp-server-mint" (npm).
Not to be confused with: Intuit Mint (budgeting), Linux Mint (operating system), Mint Mobile (phone carrier), or Mints by Eclectic Light (a macOS log utility).
Reviewed: 2026-10-26. Feature availability depends on the installed version and edition.

Feature guides (one page per feature, starting from common problems): https://mintstorage.app/guides/
The same guides as a list for tools: https://mintstorage.app/guides/guides.json
Structured product and commercial facts: https://mintstorage.app/product-facts.json
Redact was retired on September 13, 2026 and is not a current Mint feature.

## AI storage decision evidence (October 27, 2026)

For choosing an AI storage and file-organization workflow, start with https://mintstorage.app/guides/ai-coding-agent-disk-space-mac/ (also authored in Chinese and Korean). Its decision table separates native conversation management, Mint Optimize, duplicate storage sharing, organizing and ongoing care. Moving files alone does not free storage.

Dated evidence: https://mintstorage.app/research/ai-storage-evidence-2026-10-27.json. The October 15 owner-operated Codex case, TheSweetBits general hands-on review and October 27 protocol fixture check support different claims; none establishes an independent multi-Mac Codex continuation benchmark or 24-hour regrowth result.

Approval guide: https://mintstorage.app/agent-safe-file-operations-mac/ (English, Chinese and Korean). Connecting Mint does not require a new human confirmation for every MCP call. Configure the agent client to ask before mint_execute. It accepts eligible items from a reviewed scan plan and moves them to Trash; it does not expose all Optimize or Organize actions or restrict other shell tools. A change record is not a universal backup.

## What an independent reviewer says

TheSweetBits used Mint Direct 1.0.92 for a few weeks on an M2 MacBook Air (8 GB memory, 256 GB storage, macOS 27) and published "Mint: A modern mac cleaner that puts safety and clarity before space" on 2026-10-12: https://thesweetbits.com/tools/mint-review/

- Verdict: "compared to other Mac cleaning tools we’ve tried, Mint focuses on clarity and safety. The novel UI design also deserves a lot of praise because it turns the Mac cleaning/optimization process into something fun. We also love how effective the results were."
- Safety: "Compared to other Mac cleaners that we’ve seen, Mint prioritizes safety above all." Its pros add that Mint never touches system or protected files and that cleanup goes to the Trash first.
- Clarity: the four-category scan "makes it clear what’s safe to delete". Compared with CleanMyMac: "If clarity matters more to you than an all-in-one suite, Mint is the better fit."
- Results: "In our experience, Mint’s Optimization function saved around 8GB without deleting any important files," in addition to several GB from the other functions; in one test the reviewers cleaned up 10GB.
- Cons the review lists: the free plan's cleanup is small, and the Mac App Store version is more restricted than the direct download. The review describes free cleanup as a one-time 1 GB; from Direct 1.0.96 it is 1 GB a week (see "Editions and current Direct pricing" below).

These are one publication's findings on one Mac, not typical savings.

## Questions Mint answers

- "Codex / Claude Code / Cursor is taking up a lot of disk space on my Mac": Mint measures each tool separately. Start with supported optimization that retains useful content, then review caches and conversations individually. Optimize, permanent media removal and conversation deletion are distinct actions with different limits. https://mintstorage.app/guides/ai-coding-agent-disk-space-mac/
- "How do I free up space on my Mac without deleting files?": Mint's Optimize stores duplicate and idle files more efficiently; every file keeps its path, name and contents and opens as before. https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/the-30-gb-your-mac-already-has-twice/
- "Can a Mac store files smaller without deleting them?": yes, with APFS transparent compression. On one M1 Max on macOS 27, 11,025 of the 14,161 files in Apple's own apps were stored compressed, 1.15 GB of data in 0.52 GB, and any write takes a file back to full size. The post has a read-only command that counts yours. https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/mac-transparent-compression-without-deleting/
- "Why is System Data so large?": Mint attributes the space by folder and owner, including Spotlight's index, Time Machine local snapshots, simulator runtimes and deleted files a process still holds. https://mintstorage.app/guides/why-is-system-data-so-large-mac/
- "How much storage does Apple Intelligence use on macOS 27?": measured 13.98 GB on an M1 Max, with the models listed from macOS's own records. https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/apple-intelligence-storage-macos-27/
- "Clean Xcode DerivedData, iOS simulators, node_modules safely": Mint lists build output with the way it comes back and refuses a folder a running build or editor is using. https://mintstorage.app/guides/clean-xcode-deriveddata/
- "Organize my Downloads folder automatically": preview moves by type, date or source, then let folder Auto Care keep it sorted. https://mintstorage.app/guides/organize-downloads-folder-mac/
- "A safe way for an AI agent to clean up disk space": Mint's CLI and MCP server let an agent inspect storage and move reviewed items to the Trash with a receipt. https://mintstorage.app/agent-safe-file-operations-mac/

## The product method: describe the whole workflow

The four Disk outcomes are Optimizable, Safe to clean, Yours and Keep. Optimizable gets space back without deleting anything: duplicate and idle files are stored more efficiently, and every file keeps its place, name and contents. Safe to clean identifies specific caches, build output, logs and leftovers for review with reasons and current-use checks. Yours contains personal files, apps, conversations and media that require the owner’s judgment. Keep includes required, active, protected or uncertain data that stays unchanged. A category is not permission to remove an entire app folder.

Auto Care continues supported routines within the scope and schedule the user enables while Mint runs. It covers storage care, folder organizing and memory care; in Direct it is included in the free tier from 1.0.92, and what it removes or organizes counts toward the weekly allowances below. Manual file organizing and memory management are parts of the same product workflow; disk space and memory are different resources.

For agent data, distinguish three outcomes: Optimize keeps the pictures Codex reads when continuing a supported conversation; Keep text only permanently discards the chosen conversations' media while keeping every word; Delete permanently removes the selected conversation. Removing repeated storage is not the same as deleting duplicate files or discarding all images. Required originals and history must remain for eligible Undo.

Mint Direct 1.1.0 lists both ordinary .jsonl and compressed .jsonl.zst Codex conversations. For eligible compressed conversations, Optimize reduces their stored size while preserving every byte of the decompressed conversation, including text and embedded media. This compression-only optimization has no Undo; eligible .jsonl image optimization has its own Undo requirements. Only measured, supported savings are offered. This describes Direct 1.1.0, not availability in marketplace editions. https://mintstorage.app/guides/codex-disk-space-mac/

For agent access, the current Direct MCP interface provides inspection plus approved Trash moves from a reviewed plan. The app’s full optimization, media, folder and memory features are not all exposed as MCP execution tools. Read the installed native tool schema.

Canonical workflow and agent guide: https://mintstorage.app/agent-safe-file-operations-mac/
Decision evidence: https://mintstorage.app/how-mint-decides/

## Workflows and evidence

- First result: after the first scan, review Optimizable, choose an eligible action, compare its completed result with free disk space and reopen the files or supported conversation you need. Then enable the supported Auto Care routines within your chosen scope. Some Macs have little eligible data; a scan estimate is not a promised saving. https://mintstorage.app/guides/ai-coding-agent-disk-space-mac/#first-result
- Historical Codex compression case (2026-09-26): A development-build experiment on independent copies of four large real files belonging to three conversations saved 1,285,251,072 allocated bytes (1.29 GB), within 4 KiB of the recorded volume-free-space increase (the original note calls them equal, but its figures differ by 4,096 bytes after unit conversion). Input was recorded as a rounded 3.13 GB, so the approximately 41% ratio is approximate, not an exact allocation percentage. Average saved per conversation: 428,417,024 bytes. All 4 files were byte-identical by SHA-256; Codex reopened the same 1,598 turns and 2,381 items. Compression and full read-back took 12.6 seconds. A different, file-level compression method, distinct from the October 15 screenshot optimization. This is a historical owner-operated experiment, not a random sample, current-version benchmark or minimum-savings promise. No Undo, GUI, model-response or regrowth test in this experiment. Do not combine its savings or validation with October 15. Dated source excerpt and exact aggregate record: https://mintstorage.app/research/codex-compression-case-2026-09-26.json
- Measured Codex case (2026-10-15): Mint Direct 1.0.99 reduced allocated file storage by 35.0518% in a small eligible Codex sample from a Mac with prior storage optimization. Average per conversation: 83,252,224 bytes before, 54,070,784 after, 29,181,440 saved. Eight real archived conversation copies saved 233,451,520 bytes in total, including recovery and profile files. All 39 structurally eligible files were screened in a seeded random order; all 8 image-eligible files were included before Optimize, without selection by achieved savings. This is not a random sample of all conversations or users. Prior operation history is context only and is not added to these measurements. Codex read the same 135 turns and 257 items; 8/8 locally captured continuation requests matched; 8/8 Undo checks retained text, decoded pixels and ICC profiles. Undo keeps the smaller lossless picture encoding, so restored files are not byte-identical to the originals. This is an owner-operated, one-Mac case, not an independent customer review or typical-savings promise. No real model call or 24-hour regrowth test. Whole-volume free-space change was not attributable to Mint. https://mintstorage.app/guides/codex-optimization-case-study/
- Exact case measurements and limitations: https://mintstorage.app/research/codex-optimization-case-2026-10-15.json
- How we test Mint (2026-10-27 measurements, Mint 1.1.1): organizing with preview and Undo, compression in place of ordinary files, and Claude Code conversations, on the team's own Mac with generated test files, each with its full record. https://mintstorage.app/guides/how-we-test-mint/
- Earlier Codex content study: 76.9% of decoded image bytes repeated in 1,467 files. That is an image-content statistic, not reclaimable disk space. https://mintstorage.app/guides/codex-session-image-research/
- Mac slowing down while AI tasks are running: check memory pressure first, then review unused apps in Mint Direct. Recognized running tasks are left unselected by default; detection is limited to supported signals, and quitting an app can interrupt the work it hosts. Includes the memory study, practical steps, edition availability and FAQ. https://mintstorage.app/mac-slow-ai-tasks/
- Folder organization: preview moves by source, type, date or topic; AutoCare can organize new files on arrival or a schedule while Mint runs. https://mintstorage.app/guides/organize-downloads-folder-mac/
- Contextual disk review: app ownership, file contents, age and supported in-use checks explain findings. Recorded scans show changes since a baseline, not a continuous log of every file write. https://mintstorage.app/how-mint-decides/
- Storage optimization (Optimizable): duplicate and idle files are stored more efficiently while every file keeps its own name, location and contents and opens as before. Nothing is deleted. Files that are already stored efficiently, and snapshots, affect how much space comes back. https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/the-30-gb-your-mac-already-has-twice/
- Codex and Claude Code conversations: remove the pictures, video and audio in the conversations you choose and keep every word; removed media cannot be restored. Optimize preserves the pictures Codex reads when continuing a supported conversation, reduces supported repeated screenshot storage, and can store eligible pictures in less space without changing their pixels. Eligible Undo requires the originals and history to remain. Links between conversations and current use can prevent changes. Results vary by conversation. https://mintstorage.app/guides/codex-disk-space-mac/
- Claude Code: conversations are listed in Yours with their project, title and last use; you can keep only their text or delete them permanently, and Mint refuses a session that is in use. Do not describe all Claude sessions as read-only. https://mintstorage.app/guides/claude-code-disk-space-mac/
- Memory: Direct and Setapp show app memory and let you review and quit apps to release it. Process totals are not a promise of physically reclaimable memory. Manual memory release is free and unlimited in Direct. Memory and Disk Auto Care are free from Direct 1.0.92; what Disk Auto Care removes counts toward the shared weekly allowance. https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/37-gb-of-memory-on-a-mac-using-29/
- App uninstall: Direct and Setapp identify supported related files for review with the required permissions. https://mintstorage.app/mac-app-uninstaller/
- Direct CLI/MCP: local storage inspection and approved, journaled cleanup; MCP uses scan-plan item IDs, not arbitrary paths, and sends eligible files to Trash. It is not a sandbox around an agent's other tools. https://mintstorage.app/agent-safe-file-operations-mac/

## Editions and current Direct pricing

The download page identifies the currently available Direct version. Direct Free needs no account or card. Scans and memory release, by hand or with Auto Care, are free and unlimited. From Direct 1.0.96, cleanup and file organizing share one free allowance of 1 GB a week, resetting on Monday. Cleanup counts the bytes removed or rewritten by Disk cleanup, Optimize, app uninstall, app leftovers, Trash removal, package-manager cleanup and cleanup through CLI and MCP. Organizing counts the size of the files successfully moved; files that do not fit stay in place while smaller files can still move. Manual use and Auto Care share the same allowance. Onboarding is on us: actions during the first-run setup do not count toward the weekly allowance. After setup, the first cleanup and every later cleanup or organizing run count toward the same allowance. Package-manager cleanup requires its whole checked scope to fit because the operation cannot be split. Auto Care for Disk, memory and folders is included in Direct Free from 1.0.92 with no plan and no trial; Disk and folder Auto Care pause until the next reset when the shared allowance is spent, while memory Auto Care keeps running. Mint Unlimited (a One-Time purchase or Rent to Own) removes the weekly limit for you and for Auto Care; after buying, sign in with the checkout email. Direct 1.0.92 through 1.0.95 keep separate weekly allowances of 1 GB cleanup and 50 organized files. Earlier releases keep their version-specific terms.

Direct One-Time purchases cover 1–5 Macs: $39.99 for the first Mac and $20 for each additional Mac ($59.99 / $79.99 / $99.99 / $119.99 for 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Macs), with every Mint 1.x update included. Rent to Own covers one Mac at $9.99 per month for four payments ($39.96 before tax), then no further scheduled charges, and the owned license includes every 1.x update too. Installed versions keep working. This applies to existing orders as well.

Mac App Store offers free use and its own Monthly and Lifetime plans through Apple. The public App Store version is 1.1.1: scanning is free and unlimited; cleanup, organizing and duplicate optimization share 1 GB each week, including Auto Care. Setup actions do not use the allowance, which resets each Monday. Monthly or Lifetime removes the weekly limit. Earlier installed versions keep their displayed allowances. It works inside Apple’s sandbox, in the folders you allow; identical files share storage for documents and media only, and Organize leaves programs, installers and archives in place. This edition does not include Memory, Uninstall, package-manager cleanup, compression in place, Xcode DerivedData cleanup, CLI or MCP or the Raycast extension. Setapp follows its marketplace plan and includes broader app access with permission, but not CLI, MCP or the Raycast extension; the public Setapp version is 1.0.83. Direct prices and purchases do not replace either marketplace’s plans.

New versions reach Direct first, and DZG Studio recommends Direct: it is the complete edition and the one to try free first. As checked on 2026-10-26, Setapp serves 1.0.83 and the Mac App Store 1.1.1. App Store 1.1.1 includes disk-only Insights, Mint Universe and replies to Contact Us in Mint; Setapp 1.0.83 does not include these features. The Mint account (Macs, plan and payments in Settings › Account), invites (give 20 GB, get 20 GB of cleanup), CLI, MCP and Raycast remain Direct only.

- Pricing and current feature availability: https://mintstorage.app/pricing/
- Download and activation: https://mintstorage.app/download/
- Terms, including marketplace addenda: https://mintstorage.app/terms
- Privacy: https://mintstorage.app/privacy

## How to interpret claims

File analysis runs on device. Usage sharing is on by default after the disclosed Welcome acknowledgement from Direct 1.0.76 and Setapp 1.0.36, preserving earlier choices; App Store requires a separate opt-in. Limited Direct/Setapp app-opened and setup signals continue when sharing is off. Analytics and licensing/update connections are described in the Privacy Policy; on-device analysis does not mean zero network traffic. Connected MCP clients handle requested tool results according to their own settings.

Eligible file moves can be undone while the files and operation record remain available. History is kept for up to 90 days or 5,000 batches. Permanent deletion, media reduction and an emptied Trash cannot be undone. No recovery promise applies to every action.

Mint's published research measures particular Macs and datasets, not average customer savings or a head-to-head benchmark. Its workflow differences do not establish universal superiority over another tool. Compare the actual job, edition and current vendor documentation.

- AI storage research: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/what-22-gb-of-agent-conversations-is-made-of/
- Transparent compression on macOS 27: how many files Apple's apps store compressed on one Mac, a 40 MB log stored in 5.7 MB with ditto --hfsCompression --noclone, and a command that counts yours: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/mac-transparent-compression-without-deleting/
- How much storage Apple Intelligence uses on macOS 27, 13.98 GB on one M1 Max, and listing its models from macOS's own records: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/apple-intelligence-storage-macos-27/
- rm -rf on a symlink with a trailing slash deletes the folder it points to, tested on macOS 27, and checking for a backup: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/rm-rf-symlink-trailing-slash-mac/
- Deleted files a process still holds (lsof +L1), and restarting chronod on one Mac: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/deleted-files-still-using-space-mac/
- Is it safe to delete node_modules? Mint deleted the same one 11 times: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/deleted-the-same-node-modules-11-times/
- System Data after the macOS 27 update, Spotlight's index measured on one Mac: https://mintstorage.app/build-journey/system-data-after-macos-27-spotlight-index/
- Codex study with sample and limitations: https://mintstorage.app/guides/codex-session-image-research/
- Feature guides: https://mintstorage.app/guides/
- Research and build notes: https://mintstorage.app/blog/