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Cortex Workstation Usage Guide

Cortex Workstation is a comprehensive, production-grade system maintenance suite and advanced file manager built with Python, PySide6 (Qt6), and high-performance native engines.

🚀 Launching Cortex Workstation

1. Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Launch the full premium interface with sidebar navigation, 139 system maintenance and power tool pages, and the embedded Nexus File Manager:

# Recommended launcher
python run_gui.py

# Or via the package module
python -m cortex_unified.ui.premium.app

2. Command Line Interface (CLI)

Cortex Workstation provides safe, high-speed CLI commands for automated scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and headless environments:

# Forensic and System Tools CLI (cortex-workstation)
cortex-workstation --help
# or via module:
python -m cortex_unified.cli --help

# Safe dry-run scan of empty files and directories
cortex-workstation clean-empty

# Perform actual cleanup
cortex-workstation clean-empty --delete

# Move items to system trash
cortex-workstation clean-empty --trash

# Optimization Engine CLI (cortex)
cortex --help
# or via module:
python -m cortex_unified.engine --help

# Category disk scan
cortex scan

🧭 Main Interface Overview

The GUI consists of four main functional tiers: 1. Title Bar Row: Windows 11 frameless title bar with integrated folder tabs (+ new tab, close, middle-click), window drag space, and native window controls (-, □, ✕). 2. Sidebar Navigation: Collapsible (Ctrl+H) categorized navigation housing 139 system care and diagnostics tools: - Command Center: Dashboard, PC Health Check, Quick Scan, System Overview. - Cleanup & Storage: Cleanup Hub, Junk Files, Large Files, Empty Files, Temp Files, Browser Deep Cleaner, WinSxS Store (24H2 Staged Packages), WUDO Delivery Optimization, Developer Package Caches, App Residual Hunter, Old & Inactive Files Finder. - Performance & Gaming: Game Mode & FPS Booster, RAM Optimizer, Standby Memory Purger, DirectStorage Acceleration, CPU Power Plans, Startup Optimizer, Process Studio, Disk Benchmark. - Privacy & Security: Windows Privacy Blocker, Telemetry Sanitizer, AI & Recall Sanitizer, Bad Extensions & EXIF Studio, Secure File Shredder, Secret/API Key Scanner, Restart Manager File Unlocker. - System Maintenance & OS: Windows Update Repair, VSS Snapshot Manager, VSS Subsystem Health, Device Driver Manager, Context Menu Cleaner, Registry Deep Scan, Environment Variables. - Network & Diagnostics: Network Security Audit, LAN Device Discovery, WAN & UPnP Gateway Auditor, Active Connections, TCP/IP Tuning, Hosts File Shield, DNS Speed Benchmark. - Files & Nexus Explorer: Nexus File Manager, Batch File Renamer, File Hash & Checksum Matrix, Directory Diff, File Splitter/Joiner, ADS Manager, Binary Differ, PAR2 Parity Recovery. 3. Content Workspace: High-performance lazy-loaded tool pages with smooth scrolling and animations. 4. Status Bar & Notifications: Real-time engine health, local offline suggester notifications, and resource telemetry.

🛠️ Specialized Studios & Feature Integrations

1. Gaming Session & FPS Booster (gamemode)

  • Switches Windows power plan to Ultimate / High Performance.
  • Suspends or lowers CPU priority of background services.
  • Trims working set memory of non-essential processes before launching games.

2. Delivery Optimization (WUDO) Cleaner (delivery)

  • Scans and safely purges Windows Update Delivery Optimization peer caches (C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DeliveryOptimization).
  • Safely coordinates DoSvc service state during cache purges.

3. WAN & UPnP Gateway Auditor (wanaudit)

  • Discovers local UPnP/IGD router gateways.
  • Audits open external WAN ports and active NAT port forward mappings.
  • Evaluates exposure risks on administrative services (SSH, Telnet, RDP, Web GUI).

4. Old & Inactive Files Finder (oldfiles)

  • Discovers files untouched for 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365+ days.
  • Smart system exclusions prevent touching essential OS dependencies.

5. Uninstalled App Residual Hunter (residuals)

  • Cross-references installed application registries with AppData and ProgramData directories.
  • Identifies orphaned cache and configuration folders from uninstalled applications.

6. Bad Extensions & EXIF Studio (badfiles)

  • Detects magic-byte spoofing (e.g. executables masked with .jpg extensions).
  • Finds invalid or illegal file names.
  • Scrubs sensitive camera and GPS location EXIF metadata from photos.

7. Advanced Process & Threat Studio (procstudio)

  • Live process monitoring with CPU, memory (MB), and path details.
  • Filter search and safe process termination actions.

8. Interactive Sunburst & TreeMap Visualizations

  • In Disk Space Scanner (diskanalyzer), export full interactive Plotly Sunburst and TreeMap HTML diagrams directly to disk.

9. Project Cache Auto-Discovery

  • In Package Managers (packages), auto-discover project build directories (node_modules, target, .venv, etc.) across all mounted fixed drives with a single click.

📦 Available CLI Commands

Command Description
clean-empty Find and remove empty files and folders (default dry-run)
find-large-files Locate large files consuming significant disk space
find-duplicates Multi-phase duplicate detection (size -> partial hash -> full BLAKE3)
clean-temp Clean temporary system, user, and application caches
clean-shaders Audit and purge DirectX and GPU vendor shader caches
clean-ai Audit and clean Windows 11 Copilot and Recall telemetry caches
trim-ssd Trigger NVMe SSD wear-leveling deallocation
vss-health Inspect Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) writers and shadow states
analyze-disk Generate disk usage breakdowns and interactive TreeMaps
docker-cleanup Remove dangling images, stopped containers, and unused volumes
package-cleanup Clean pip, npm, yarn, cargo, and build caches
heuristics-scan Detect leftover registry keys and orphan application folders
list-startup-items Inspect and manage Windows startup entries
analyze-processes Monitor memory, CPU, and handle usage per process
secure-delete Multi-pass secure file eraser with verification
restore Restore files from safe backup manifests
scan-broken-links Identify and repair invalid shortcuts and symlinks
verify-checksums Verify integrity manifests (.sha256, .md5, .sfv)
generate-report Generate comprehensive system diagnostics report

⚙️ CLI Flags & Options

Action Mode

  • --dry-run (default): Preview changes without touching files.
  • --delete: Permanently delete detected files.
  • --trash: Move items to the Recycle Bin / Trash.
  • --yes: Bypass confirmation prompts for headless automation.

Filtering

  • --pattern GLOB: Filter matching filenames (e.g. *.tmp, *.cache).
  • --older-than DAYS: Only match files older than N days.
  • --exclude-pattern PATTERN: Exclude specific directories or extensions.

Performance & Safety

  • --threads N: Parallel scanning threads (defaults to logical CPU count).
  • --config PATH: Custom YAML configuration file path.
  • --verbose: Detailed debug logging output.
  • --log-file PATH: Log output destination.