Purge Virtual Machine

VerifiedCaution

Completely remove a VM and its configuration. Use to permanently delete a virtual machine and all its data.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevOpsIntermediate
306/2/2026
Claude CodeCodex
#vm#purge#deletion#irreversible#infrastructure

Recommended for

Our review

Completely removes a virtual machine including its disks and machine configuration, irreversibly.

Strengths

  • Total removal of VM and all associated data
  • Relies on a local tool (just) for dependable execution
  • Includes explicit user confirmation to prevent mistakes

Limitations

  • Irreversible action: no recovery possible
  • Requires the 'just' tool to be installed and configured
  • Only works for VMs managed by the 'just list-machines' system
When to use it

Use this skill when you need to permanently delete a VM and free up all its resources.

When not to use it

Do not use it if you only want to stop or recreate the VM; instead, use the destroy command.

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score90/100

The skill executes a powerful command that permanently deletes VMs and data. While it requires explicit user confirmation and warns of irreversibility, the use of Bash for destructive operations and the automatic confirmation bypass warrant caution.

Findings
  • Uses Bash to execute a destructive command (`just purge`) that removes VM and all associated data permanently.
  • Automatically bypasses interactive confirmation with `yes |` after user confirmation.

Examples

Purge a VM named 'test-vm'
Please completely remove the VM named 'test-vm', including all disks and its machine configuration. I understand this cannot be undone.
Delete a development VM permanently
I want to permanently delete my development VM to free up disk space. Please purge it entirely.

name: purge-vm description: Completely remove a VM including its machine config. Use when user wants to permanently delete everything about a VM. allowed-tools: Read, Bash, AskUserQuestion

Purge VM Skill

Completely remove a VM including its disks AND machine configuration. This cannot be undone.

Instructions

Step 1: Get VM Name

Run just list-machines to show existing machine configs. Ask which VM to purge.

Step 2: Confirm Purge

IMPORTANT: Warn the user clearly:

  • The VM will be stopped and removed
  • All VM disks will be deleted
  • All data in /var and /home will be PERMANENTLY LOST
  • The machine config (machines/{name}/) will ALSO be deleted
  • This CANNOT be undone - unlike destroy, there's no way to recreate the VM

Ask for explicit confirmation.

Step 3: Purge

Run:

yes | just purge {NAME}

The yes | is required to bypass the interactive confirmation prompt.

Step 4: Report Results

Confirm the VM and its config were completely removed.

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