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# output.cleanDistPath

- **Type:**

```ts
type CleanDistPath = boolean | 'auto' | CleanDistPathObject;
```

- **Default:** `'auto'`

Configure whether to clean all files in the output directory before the build starts. The output directory is the [output.distPath.root](/config/output/dist-path.md) directory.

## Default behavior

The default value of `output.cleanDistPath` is `'auto'`:

- In development mode, if [dev.writeToDisk](/config/dev/write-to-disk.md) is `false`, Rsbuild will not perform cleanup.
- In any mode, if [output.distPath.root](/config/output/dist-path.md) is an external directory or equals the project root directory, Rsbuild will not perform cleanup to avoid accidentally deleting files from other directories.

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  output: {
    distPath: {
      root: '../../some-dir',
    },
  },
};
```

## Forced switch

Set `cleanDistPath` to `true` to force enable it, or `false` to force disable it.

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  output: {
    cleanDistPath: true,
  },
};
```

## Conditional

To clean files only in production mode and not in development mode, configure it as:

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  output: {
    cleanDistPath: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
  },
};
```

## Options

`output.cleanDistPath` supports configuration as an object to achieve more granular control.

### enable

- **Type:** `boolean | 'auto'`
- **Default:** `'auto'`

Whether to clean up all files in the output directory before the build starts.

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  output: {
    // Equivalent to `cleanDistPath: true`
    cleanDistPath: {
      enable: true,
    },
  },
};
```

### keep

- **Type:** `RegExp[]`
- **Default:** `undefined`

Specify the files to keep in the output directory. If the file's absolute path matches the regular expression in `keep`, the file will not be removed.

For example, to keep the `dist/foo.json` file:

```ts title="rsbuild.config.ts"
export default {
  output: {
    cleanDistPath: {
      keep: [/dist\/foo.json/],
    },
  },
};
```