File Organization Guide Skill

File Organization Guide

Organize files, find duplicates, and maintain clean folder structures.

When to Use

Downloads folder is chaotic
Can't find files (scattered everywhere)
Duplicate files taking up space
Folder structure doesn't make sense
Starting a new project structure
Cleaning up before archiving

Analysis Commands

# Overview of directory
ls -la [directory]

# Count file types
find [directory] -type f | sed 's/.*\.//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

# Largest files
du -sh [directory]/* | sort -rh | head -20

# Files modified this week
find [directory] -type f -mtime -7

Finding Duplicates

# By hash (exact duplicates)
find [directory] -type f -exec md5sum {} \; | sort | uniq -d

# By name
find [directory] -type f -printf '%f\n' | sort | uniq -d

# By size
find [directory] -type f -printf '%s %p\n' | sort -n | uniq -D -w 10

Organization Patterns

By Type

Downloads/
├── Documents/     # PDF, DOCX, TXT
├── Images/        # JPG, PNG, SVG
├── Videos/        # MP4, MOV
├── Archives/      # ZIP, TAR, DMG
├── Code/          # Projects
└── ToSort/        # Needs decision

By Purpose

Documents/
├── Work/
│   ├── Projects/
│   ├── Reports/
│   └── Archive/
└── Personal/
    ├── Finance/
    ├── Medical/
    └── Archive/

By Date

Photos/
├── 2024/
│   ├── 01-January/
│   ├── 02-February/
│   └── ...
├── 2023/
└── Unsorted/

Organization Workflow

Analyze - Review current structure
Plan - Propose new structure
Confirm - Get user approval
Execute - Move files systematically
Summarize - Report changes

Execution Commands

# Create structure
mkdir -p "path/to/new/folders"

# Move files
mv "old/path/file.pdf" "new/path/file.pdf"

# Batch move by extension
find . -name "*.pdf" -exec mv {} Documents/ \;

Best Practices

Folder Naming

Clear, descriptive names
Avoid spaces (use hyphens)
Use prefixes for ordering: 01-current, 02-archive

File Naming

Include dates: 2024-10-17-meeting-notes.md
Be descriptive
Remove download artifacts: file (1).pdf → file.pdf

When to Archive

Not touched in 6+ months
Completed work for reference
Old versions after migration
Files you're hesitant to delete

Maintenance Schedule

| Frequency | Task | |-----------|------| | Weekly | Sort new downloads | | Monthly | Review/archive projects | | Quarterly | Check for duplicates | | Yearly | Archive old files |

Important Rules

Always confirm before deleting
Log all moves for undo
Preserve modification dates
Stop and ask on unexpected situations

Agent Skills: File Organization Guide

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