Dust is a command-line tool for analyzing disk usage that reimplements the Unix du utility in Rust with a more intuitive interface.
The problem dust solves is making it easy to understand where disk space is being consumed on a system. Rather than requiring manual sorting and filtering of du output, dust automatically displays the largest subdirectories and files in a ranked list sized to fit your terminal. It recursively descends the directory tree to surface the biggest space consumers without needing additional flags. The tool uses a visual bar representation where colors and shading indicate the hierarchy of folders, showing which subdirectories belong to which parents so you can understand the full context of disk usage at a glance.
Dust suits developers and system administrators who regularly need quick visibility into disk usage patterns. The tool is particularly useful for those who find du's output cumbersome or who want an interactive way to explore directory sizes. The README does not name specific alternatives, so no comparison is made. The tool offers sensible defaults by automatically limiting output to fit terminal height and providing colored output without requiring additional flags. Configuration is available through a config file for users who want to customize behavior like recursion depth or number of items displayed.
The project maintains active engagement with bug reports and feature requests. Development includes regular updates addressing user-reported issues and expanding platform support through multiple package managers. The codebase receives ongoing refinement with improvements to the core disk analysis logic and visual presentation.
