mise cache clear removes installed http: tools because installs are symlinks into cache (feature request: --keep-installed + docs clarification)

[sassdavid]

Summary

When a tool is installed via the http: backend, mise stores the downloaded artifact under the cache directory (e.g. ~/.cache/mise/http-tarballs/...) and the “install” path under ~/.local/share/mise/installs/... is a symlink into that cache.

As a result, running mise cache clear can delete the underlying cached artifact and leave the installed tool as a dangling symlink, breaking the tool until it is reinstalled.

This is surprising because cache clear sounds like it should only remove transient caches, not remove “installed” tools.

Why this matters

• It’s easy to run mise cache clear while troubleshooting unrelated issues.
• The command can unintentionally break http: tools even though they appear “installed”.
• Some docs encourage clearing/deleting ~/.cache/mise, which is misleading when http: installs are backed by the cache.

Reproduction steps

1. Install an http: tool (example: claude).

   mise use -g claude@latest

2. Verify the executable works.

   claude --version

3. Inspect the install directory.

   ls -la ~/.local/share/mise/installs/claude

   You’ll see something like:

   • <version> -> ~/.cache/mise/http-tarballs/<hash>

4. Clear the cache.

   mise cache clear

5. Try to run the tool again.

   claude --version

   Observed: tool no longer runs (dangling symlink / missing binary). Reinstall is required.

Expected behavior

One of the following:

1. Add a safety option such as:

   • mise cache clear --keep-installed

     • Do not delete cache entries referenced by active installs (e.g., symlinks under ~/.local/share/mise/installs/**).

   • Or: make safe behavior default and require --force to remove cache entries backing active installs.

2. Or, clarify docs and CLI messaging:

   • mise cache clear help text warns that for http: tools, installs may live in cache and will be removed.
   • Directory/cache docs explicitly call out that deleting ~/.cache/mise can remove http: tool installs.

Actual behavior

• mise cache clear deletes the cache storage that http: installs point to.
• Installed tool becomes unusable until reinstalled.

Proposed implementation idea (high level)

• Before deleting cache entries, detect whether they are referenced by any symlink inside ~/.local/share/mise/installs/**.

• If --keep-installed is set (or by default), skip those referenced cache paths.

• Optionally print a summary like:

  • “Skipped 1 cache entry because it is referenced by an active install: @”

[jdx]

I think the right behavior should be that mise is able to refetch missing http installs automatically rather than avoiding deleting the cache files

[Guria]

Same disease class, different victim: the mise generate bootstrap wrapper defaults its pinned binary into ${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/mise/mise-$VERSION, so cache clean/cache clear deletes the runtime itself and the next invocation re-downloads it. Filed with a data-dir-default proposal in #12245 — a shared fix (keep-installed semantics or moving non-cache state out of the cache dir) would cover both.