file-organizer
Organize and rename files based on content analysis. Use when a user asks to sort files into folders, rename files by pattern, organize a messy directory, categorize documents by type or content, deduplicate files, or clean up a downloads folder. Handles smart renaming, content-based sorting, and duplicate detection.
Usage
Getting Started
- Install the skill using the command above
- Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
- Reference the skill in your prompt
- The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically
Example Prompts
- "Process all PDFs in the uploads folder and extract invoice data"
- "Set up a workflow that converts uploaded spreadsheets to formatted reports"
Documentation
Overview
Organize, rename, and categorize files based on content analysis, metadata, and patterns. Handles messy directories by sorting files into logical folder structures, applying consistent naming conventions, and detecting duplicates. Works with any file type.
Instructions
When a user asks to organize files, determine which operation they need:
Task A: Sort files by type into folders
#!/bin/bash
# organize_by_type.sh - Sort files into folders by extension
SOURCE_DIR="${1:-.}"
DRY_RUN="${2:-false}"
declare -A TYPE_MAP=(
# Documents
["pdf"]="Documents/PDF" ["docx"]="Documents/Word" ["doc"]="Documents/Word"
["xlsx"]="Documents/Excel" ["csv"]="Documents/CSV" ["txt"]="Documents/Text"
# Images
["jpg"]="Images" ["jpeg"]="Images" ["png"]="Images"
["gif"]="Images" ["svg"]="Images" ["webp"]="Images"
# Video
["mp4"]="Video" ["mkv"]="Video" ["avi"]="Video" ["mov"]="Video"
# Audio
["mp3"]="Audio" ["wav"]="Audio" ["flac"]="Audio"
# Code
["py"]="Code/Python" ["js"]="Code/JavaScript" ["ts"]="Code/TypeScript"
# Archives
["zip"]="Archives" ["tar"]="Archives" ["gz"]="Archives" ["rar"]="Archives"
)
find "$SOURCE_DIR" -maxdepth 1 -type f | while read -r file; do
ext="${file##*.}"
ext="${ext,,}" # lowercase
dest="${TYPE_MAP[$ext]:-Other}"
if [ "$DRY_RUN" = "true" ]; then
echo "[DRY RUN] $file -> $SOURCE_DIR/$dest/"
else
mkdir -p "$SOURCE_DIR/$dest"
mv "$file" "$SOURCE_DIR/$dest/"
echo "Moved: $(basename "$file") -> $dest/"
fi
done
Task B: Smart rename based on patterns
import os
import re
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime
def rename_by_pattern(directory: str, pattern: str, dry_run: bool = True):
"""
Rename files using pattern substitution.
Patterns: {date}, {n}, {ext}, {name}, {YYYY}, {MM}, {DD}
"""
files = sorted(Path(directory).iterdir())
files = [f for f in files if f.is_file()]
for i, filepath in enumerate(files, 1):
stat = filepath.stat()
mtime = datetime.fromtimestamp(stat.st_mtime)
new_name = pattern
new_name = new_name.replace("{name}", filepath.stem)
new_name = new_name.replace("{ext}", filepath.suffix)
new_name = new_name.replace("{n}", str(i).zfill(3))
new_name = new_name.replace("{date}", mtime.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"))
new_name = new_name.replace("{YYYY}", str(mtime.year))
new_name = new_name.replace("{MM}", str(mtime.month).zfill(2))
new_name = new_name.replace("{DD}", str(mtime.day).zfill(2))
new_path = filepath.parent / new_name
if dry_run:
print(f" {filepath.name} -> {new_name}")
else:
filepath.rename(new_path)
print(f" Renamed: {filepath.name} -> {new_name}")
# Example: rename photos to date-based names
rename_by_pattern("./photos", "{date}_photo_{n}{ext}", dry_run=True)
Task C: Content-based organization using file metadata
import os
import shutil
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime
def organize_by_date(directory: str, date_format: str = "%Y/%Y-%m"):
"""Sort files into year/year-month folders based on modification date."""
for filepath in Path(directory).iterdir():
if not filepath.is_file() or filepath.name.startswith('.'):
continue
mtime = datetime.fromtimestamp(filepath.stat().st_mtime)
dest_dir = Path(directory) / mtime.strftime(date_format)
dest_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
shutil.move(str(filepath), str(dest_dir / filepath.name))
print(f" {filepath.name} -> {dest_dir}/")
def organize_by_size(directory: str):
"""Sort files into small/medium/large folders."""
size_buckets = [
(1_000_000, "small_under_1MB"),
(100_000_000, "medium_1MB_to_100MB"),
(float('inf'), "large_over_100MB")
]
for filepath in Path(directory).iterdir():
if not filepath.is_file():
continue
size = filepath.stat().st_size
for threshold, folder in size_buckets:
if size < threshold:
dest = Path(directory) / folder
dest.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
shutil.move(str(filepath), str(dest / filepath.name))
break
Task D: Find and handle duplicates
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict
def find_duplicates(directory: str, recursive: bool = True) -> dict[str, list[Path]]:
"""Find duplicate files by content hash."""
hash_map = defaultdict(list)
glob_pattern = "**/*" if recursive else "*"
for filepath in Path(directory).glob(glob_pattern):
if not filepath.is_file():
continue
file_hash = hashlib.md5(filepath.read_bytes()).hexdigest()
hash_map[file_hash].append(filepath)
# Return only groups with duplicates
return {h: paths for h, paths in hash_map.items() if len(paths) > 1}
def report_duplicates(directory: str):
dupes = find_duplicates(directory)
total_wasted = 0
for file_hash, paths in dupes.items():
size = paths[0].stat().st_size
wasted = size * (len(paths) - 1)
total_wasted += wasted
print(f"\nDuplicate group ({len(paths)} copies, {size:,} bytes each):")
for p in paths:
print(f" {p}")
print(f"\nTotal duplicates: {sum(len(p)-1 for p in dupes.values())} files")
print(f"Wasted space: {total_wasted / 1_000_000:.1f} MB")
report_duplicates("./documents")
Examples
Example 1: Clean up a messy Downloads folder
User request: "Organize my Downloads folder, it has 500+ mixed files"
# First, preview what will happen (dry run)
bash organize_by_type.sh ~/Downloads true
# If the preview looks good, run for real
bash organize_by_type.sh ~/Downloads false
Result: Files sorted into Documents/, Images/, Video/, Audio/, Code/, Archives/, and Other/.
Example 2: Rename photos with date-based names
User request: "Rename all photos to YYYY-MM-DD format based on when they were taken"
rename_by_pattern(
"./vacation_photos",
"{date}_IMG_{n}.jpg",
dry_run=False
)
# Result: IMG_4521.jpg -> 2025-06-15_IMG_001.jpg
Example 3: Find and report duplicate files
User request: "Find all duplicate files in my project and show how much space they waste"
report_duplicates("/home/user/project")
# Output:
# Duplicate group (3 copies, 245,760 bytes each):
# /home/user/project/assets/logo.png
# /home/user/project/backup/logo.png
# /home/user/project/old/logo.png
#
# Total duplicates: 47 files
# Wasted space: 123.4 MB
Guidelines
- Always run with a dry-run or preview mode first before moving or renaming files.
- Never delete files automatically. Move duplicates to a
_duplicates/staging folder for user review. - Preserve original file timestamps when moving files with
shutil.moveormv -p. - Skip hidden files and system files (starting with
.) by default. - Handle filename collisions by appending a counter:
file.txt,file_1.txt,file_2.txt. - For large directories (10,000+ files), process in batches and show progress.
- Log all operations to a file so they can be reviewed or undone.
- Use content hashing (MD5 or SHA256) for duplicate detection, not just filename matching.
Information
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Author
- terminal-skills
- Category
- Automation
- License
- Apache-2.0