3,103 stars · MIT · v3.3.0 (2024-11-25), confirmed by ungh; code pushed 2026-08-10 · Track this in Scout
It sorts, renames and moves files according to rules you write in a small text file.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
organize is a command-line tool written in Python. Rules are written in a YAML file: each one has locations to look in, filters that decide which files match, and actions such as move, rename, copy or delete. It has a simulation mode that prints every action without carrying any of them out.
What it is good for. Any folder that grows faster than anyone tidies it: a downloads folder, a scanner's output folder, a shared drive where everything lands in the root. It is also the honest answer to a recurring chore that is too small to justify writing a script for.
- The simulation mode means you can see the full list of moves before anything happens, which makes a mistake cheap.
- Filters can read the inside of a file, not only its name — the text of a PDF, the date a photograph was taken, a file's size.
- MIT licence, and code last landed on 10 August 2026.
- The last tagged release is v3.3.0, dated 25 November 2024, twenty-two months ago, while code keeps landing. That is a publishing habit rather than a health problem, but it means the released version is well behind the repository.
- Its actions include deleting and moving files, so a wrong rule is destructive. Run the simulation first, every time.
- 3,103 stars. That is just above the line this report calls a hidden gem, and it still means fewer answers on the internet than a household name would have.
ayoisaiah/f22,432 stars, covered in Edition 30; it renames in place very safely but does not sort files into folders by rules.
Track this in Scout- qarmin/czkawka
32,839 stars, finds duplicates, empty folders and similar images; it cleans rather than files.
Track this in Scout - jhspetersson/fselect
4,467 stars, finds files using SQL-like queries; it answers questions about a folder rather than reorganising it.
Track this in Scout
python3 -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate pip install organize-tool organize new # writes a starter config file organize sim # shows what WOULD happen, changes nothing organize run # does it
