rmd makes a cleaned copy of a file and removes the embedded metadata that ExifTool can write. It is intended for the simple terminal workflow: type rmd , drag one or more files into the terminal, and press Enter.

$ rmd ~/Downloads/photo.jpg
Cleaned: /Users/me/Downloads/photo.jpg -> /Users/me/Downloads/photo.cleaned.jpg

Original files are never changed unless you explicitly use --in-place.

rmd requires Python 3.9+ and ExifTool.

# macOS
brew install exiftool pipx

pipx install rmd

Until the package is published, install directly from GitHub instead:

pipx install git+https://github.com/fschrhunt/rmd.git@metadata-cli

Or, from a checkout:

python3 -m pip install .

# Drag a file into your terminal after typing `rmd `
rmd photo.jpg

# Clean several files
rmd photo.jpg clip.mp4 document.pdf

# Preview work without writing files
rmd --dry-run photo.jpg

# Traverse a folder
rmd --recursive ./to-share

# Replace originals only after a successful cleanup
rmd --in-place photo.jpg

Use rmd --help for all options.

rmd delegates metadata removal to ExifTool (-all=). This covers many image, video, audio, PDF, and document formats. ExifTool determines whether a particular format can be rewritten; rmd reports a failure and leaves the original alone when it cannot.

Not every privacy risk is file metadata. In particular, rmd does not redact visible text, faces, GPS coordinates printed in an image, document revision content, hidden layers, embedded files, web-page scripts, or tracking information inside the file's actual content. Review a cleaned result before sharing sensitive material.

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v

MIT