Folder Tidy

What you'll need

• Claude Code installed and signed in (see the main setup page).
• Python 3 (already on Mac and most Linux). Check with python3 --version.
• A messy folder. We'll use ~/Downloads as the example.

Setup walkthrough

1. Make a project folder and step into it:

   mkdir -p ~/projects/folder-tidy && cd ~/projects/folder-tidy
   git init

2. Start Claude Code:

   claude

3. Paste the prompt below as your first message. Claude will write tidy.py and a tiny README.
4. Try it on a copy first. Make a throwaway folder so you can't break anything you care about:

   mkdir -p ~/tidy-test
   cp ~/Downloads/* ~/tidy-test/ 2>/dev/null
   python3 tidy.py ~/tidy-test --dry-run

   Read the output. If it looks right, drop --dry-run and run it again.
5. Commit when it works:

   git add . && git commit -m "first working tidy"

The prompt

Copy this and paste it into Claude Code as your first message.

I want a single Python script called tidy.py that sorts files in a folder into
subfolders by type. Keep it small — one file, standard library only, no
dependencies to install.

Usage:
  python3 tidy.py <folder>            # actually move files
  python3 tidy.py <folder> --dry-run  # print what would move, change nothing

Behavior:
- Group by file extension into these subfolders, created on demand:
    Images/   (.jpg .jpeg .png .gif .heic .webp)
    Videos/   (.mp4 .mov .mkv .webm)
    Audio/    (.mp3 .m4a .wav .flac)
    Docs/     (.pdf .docx .xlsx .pptx .txt .md .csv)
    Archives/ (.zip .tar .gz .7z .dmg)
    Code/     (.py .js .ts .html .css .json .sh)
    Other/    (everything else)
- Only touch files in the top level of the folder. Don't recurse.
- Skip hidden files (leading dot) and skip the subfolders you created.
- If the destination already has a file with the same name, append " (1)",
  " (2)", etc.

Then write a short README.md with: what it does, how to run it, and the
dry-run warning ("always dry-run first").

Before you write anything, tell me in two sentences what you're about to do.
Then write the files. Don't ask me a long list of questions — keep it tight.

When something goes wrong

• python3: command not found — install Python from python.org or your package manager. Close and reopen the terminal.
• Claude moved files you didn't want moved — that's why we ran --dry-run first. If it happened anyway, ask Claude to write an undo.py that reverses the last run. Better: keep dry-run as your default for a while.
• A file refused to move — likely permissions or it's open in another app. Ask Claude what the error means.

Tips

• Don't add features yet. Resist "make it also rename screenshots" or "and also organize by date." Future projects do that. The point of this one is to feel the whole loop, fast.
• Get comfortable hitting /clear after this. Each new project starts fresh.