find Command Reference for CI Scripts

find recursively locates files by name, type, time, or size and can run a command on each.

find drives cleanup, batch processing, and cache pruning in pipelines. Its syntax uses expressions rather than flags, and the -exec terminator catches everyone at least once.

Common flags/usage

• -name / -iname: match (case-insensitive) by glob
• -type f|d|l: file, directory, or symlink
• -mtime / -size: filter by age / size
• -exec cmd {} \;: run cmd per match (\+ batches them)
• -print0: null-delimited output for xargs -0
• -prune: skip a directory subtree

Example

find . -name '*.tmp' -type f -delete
find dist -type f -print0 | xargs -0 gzip -9
find "${HOME}/.cache" -type f -mtime +7 -delete

In CI

"find: missing argument to -exec" means you forgot the escaped \; (or {} +) terminator. "paths must precede expression" means the directory came after a test; put it first. Use -print0 with xargs -0 so filenames with spaces or newlines do not break the pipeline. BSD/macOS find differs from GNU on -mtime and -regex.

Key takeaways

• Every -exec needs a \; or {} + terminator or find errors out.
• Pair -print0 with xargs -0 to handle filenames containing spaces.
• Put the search path before any test expression.

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