> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://aspect.build/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # aspect output-bases > List the Bazel output bases on a machine with their state, Bazel server memory, git branch, workspace and size, with aspect output-bases. `aspect output-bases` lists every Bazel output base on the machine: whose it is, when it was last used, how much memory its Bazel server holds, and how much disk it takes. It changes nothing. ```shell theme={null} aspect output-bases # every base, grouped by state aspect output-bases --sort=size # largest first, with sizes aspect output-bases --measure-sizes # add per-base and shared-cache sizes aspect output-bases --output=json # scriptable output ``` ```text theme={null} $ aspect output-bases INFO: Bazel output user root: ~/Library/Caches/bazel/_bazel_me scanning Bazel output bases… 5 Bazel output bases: 2 live, 1 idle, 1 orphaned, 1 undetermined orphaned: the base's workspace directory no longer exists, e.g. a deleted worktree. `aspect gc` removes one 1h after last use (--orphan-grace-hours=N to change, 0 for immediately). undetermined: nothing in the base names its workspace, so it cannot be orphaned. `aspect gc` removes one 30d after last use (--base-max-idle-days=N to change, 0 to keep), or now with `aspect gc `. 1 Bazel server running, holding 1.2 GB of memory. live — workspace still exists (2): last used bazel server output base repository branch workspace 4m ago 1.2 GB 78693e1e0ae2e0c93e73fdbc67634023 acme/web fix/login ~/src/web/.claude/worktrees/fix-login 2d ago 7be04d4157db78a08f3eefb89b8bc53b acme/web main ~/src/web idle — unused past the maximum idle time (1): last used output base repository branch workspace 45d ago 557089df67d989f705a1cf9794dcb086 acme/api main ~/src/api orphaned — workspace gone (1): last used output base workspace 2d ago 7f18ea0edb2474de1526d9aa847f0ab9 ~/src/web/.claude/worktrees/feat-search undetermined — no workspace recorded in it (1): last used output base workspace 3d ago d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (Bazel run outside any workspace) Run `aspect gc --dry-run` to preview removing the 2 removable Bazel output bases — idle, orphaned; `aspect gc` to remove them. Add --measure-sizes to see how much disk each base holds (walks every base; can take a minute). ``` It ends with what to run next: [`aspect gc`](/docs/cli/tasks/gc) when anything is removable, `--measure-sizes` when sizes were not measured. ## States Each base has a lifecycle state, and the listing groups bases by it. [`aspect gc`](/docs/cli/tasks/gc) removes bases by the same states; the periods below are its defaults. | State | `state` in JSON | Meaning | Removed by `aspect gc` | | - | - | - | - | | live | `live` | Its workspace exists, and it was used within the maximum idle time or a Bazel server is still running in it. | — | | idle | `idle` | Unused past the maximum idle time (30 days). | ✓ | | orphaned | `orphan` | Its workspace directory no longer exists, e.g. a deleted worktree. | ✓ after the grace period (1 hour) | | orphaned within the grace period | `grace` | Orphaned, but used within the last hour. | — | | in a worktree pool | `pooled` | An `aspect worktree` slot, kept so its next lease starts warm. A free slot has no worktree on purpose, so it is not treated as orphaned — unless its directory is gone and its pool has no record of it. | ✓ once idle, when it is listed as idle | | undetermined | `unknown` | Nothing in the base records its workspace. | ✓ once idle, when it is listed as idle | | left from an interrupted gc | `trash` | A `.gc-trash-` directory an earlier `gc` could not finish removing. | ✓ | ## Columns | Column | | | - | - | | last used | When a Bazel server last started or ran a command in the base. | | size | Disk the base holds. Only with `--measure-sizes` or `--sort=size`. | | bazel server | Resident memory of the base's running Bazel server; blank when none is running. | | output base | The base's directory name, an md5 of its workspace path. | | repository, branch | The git repository and branch the workspace is checked out on, read from `.git`. For a pool slot, the repository is the pool and the branch column says what the slot holds — `leased · fix/login · ` or `free · last main`, with `· owner gone` after the branch when the owning clone is no longer at its path, plain `free` for a slot that has held nothing, and blank for a slot its pool has no record of — clipped to 40 columns. | | workspace | The workspace path. | A column with no value for any base in a group is left out of that group. ## Sorting `--sort` orders the bases within each state: | `--sort` | Order | | - | - | | `last-used` (default) | Most recently used first. | | `size` | Largest first. Measures sizes. | | `workspace`, `repository`, `branch` | Alphabetical, blanks last. | ## Sizes Sizes are opt-in: `--measure-sizes` takes a `du` of every base, which can take a minute on a machine with tens of gigabytes of them. It adds a size to each state's count and each listed base, and a table of the Bazel caches shared between bases: the download cache, the repository contents cache and install bases. ```text theme={null} $ aspect output-bases --sort=size … 5 Bazel output bases, 7.9 GB: 2 live (4.6 GB), 1 idle (1.1 GB), 1 orphaned (2.2 GB), 1 undetermined (12 MB) … live — workspace still exists (2): last used size bazel server output base repository branch workspace 2d ago 2.8 GB 7be04d4157db78a08f3eefb89b8bc53b acme/web main ~/src/web 4m ago 1.8 GB 1.2 GB 78693e1e0ae2e0c93e73fdbc67634023 acme/web fix/login ~/src/web/.claude/worktrees/fix-login … Bazel shared caches: cache/repos/v1/content_addressable 3.9 GB (pruned by `aspect gc` after 30d unused; --download-cache-max-idle-days=N to change, 0 to keep) cache/repos/v1/contents 2.1 GB (collected by Bazel while a server sits idle) install 706 MB (collected by Bazel's --experimental_install_base_gc_max_age) Run `aspect gc --dry-run` to preview removing the 2 removable Bazel output bases (3.3 GB) — idle, orphaned; `aspect gc` to remove them. ``` ## JSON `--output=json` writes one document to stdout. Its top-level keys are `schema_version`, `sort`, `policy`, `counts`, `servers` (`running` and `rss_kb`), `output_bases`, and, with sizes measured, `kb` and `caches` (`download_cache_kb`, `repo_contents_cache_kb` and `install_bases_kb`). `output_bases` is ordered by state, and each entry carries its `state` (the values in the table above), `path`, `workspace`, `last_used_ms`, and, when known, `repository`, `branch`, `pid`, `server_rss_kb` and `kb`. `counts` and `kb` key the states as `live`, `idle`, `orphaned`, `orphaned_within_grace`, `pooled`, `undetermined` and `trash`. ## Flags | Flag | Default | | | - | - | - | | `--sort` | `last-used` | `last-used`, `size`, `workspace`, `repository` or `branch`. | | `--measure-sizes` | `false` | Measure every base and the shared caches. | | `--output-user-root` | rc, then platform default | The output user root to list. | | `--output` | `text` | `text` or `json`. | This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.