# Cleaning up default build files with replace and delete markers

**URL:** <https://community.interop.io/t/cleaning-up-default-build-files-with-replace-and-delete-markers/580>\
**Category:** io.Connect Desktop\
**Tags:** FAQs\
**Created:** [May 14, 2026, 7:42am UTC](https://community.interop.io/t/cleaning-up-default-build-files-with-replace-and-delete-markers/580 "2026-05-14T07:42:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![toni.petrov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/community.interop.io/toni.petrov/32/17_2.png) [@toni.petrov](https://community.interop.io/u/toni.petrov)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 7:42am UTC](https://community.interop.io/t/cleaning-up-default-build-files-with-replace-and-delete-markers/580/1 "2026-05-14T07:42:10Z")

</div>

## Overview

When you customize **io.Connect Desktop** through the seed project, the contents of `modifications/base/iocd/assets/` are **merged** with the platform component’s default assets. Files you don’t supply remain in the build as the component shipped them.

This is the right behavior since you want the platform’s built-in icons, fonts, splash assets, and system apps to still be there. But it also keeps assets that you might never need:

1. Default files like fonts, background images, and source maps still end up in the bundle even if you use e.g. a custom splash.

2. Built-in system apps can appear even though you haven’t added them. Folders like `app-launchpad`, `webGroups`, and `workspaces` show up in the bundle’s `assets/` directory because they are part of the component install, regardless of what you have in your seed project’s `/apps` folder. The apps/ folder in your project is only for custom app builds, not for controlling which default assets get bundled.

Two marker files solve these

- **`.replace`** — placed inside a directory, tells the CLI to drop the component’s entire default directory first, then copy in only your files.

- **`.delete`** — removes the corresponding file or directory from the build output.

### Add a `.replace` Marker

Let’s take a custom splash app as an example. Create a `.replace` file inside your splash modifications directory.

This tells the CLI to delete the entire default splash directory first and then copy only your files (all other contents of `modifications/base/iocd/assets/splash/`, excluding `.replace` itself). No stray default files will remain.

### Add `.delete` Markers — But Only If You Know What You’re Doing

Create a `.delete` file inside the corresponding directories in your modifications folder.

When `applyModifications` processes these directories, it detects the `.delete` marker and removes the entire corresponding directory from the built `assets/`.

> ### ⚠ Only Remove System Apps You Are Sure You Don’t Need
> 
> The Launchpad, web groups, and Workspaces apps aren’t decoration — they implement platform features. Removing their assets will break those features if they’re enabled in your platform config.
> 
> In particular: **the default platform mode in io.Connect Desktop 10 supports only web groups** , and if web groups are missing the platform won’t start at all. See the [io.Connect Desktop 10.0 breaking changes — platform modes](https://docs.interop.io/desktop/getting-started/changelog/10-0/index.html#breaking_changes-platform_modes) section in the changelog for details.

## See Also

- [Seed Project — Modifications](https://docs.interop.io/desktop/developers/seed-project/index.html#customization-modifications) — full reference for `.json.merge`, `.replace`, and `.delete` mechanics.