• Fast clean is now the default (maven.clean.fast=true): the plugin stages deletions in .mvn/target/.clean before Maven's build start, dramatically reducing cold-build overhead on large projects.
• New purge-check goal detects and removes orphaned build directories left behind by renamed or removed modules.
• Read-only file deletion is now configurable, and <targetPath> directories are also cleaned up.
• Under the hood: the background cleaner is now session-scoped (fixes races in multi-module builds), the Plexus dependency is replaced with java.nio, and the IT scripts have been ported from BeanShell to Groovy.

Requires Maven 4.x.

🚀 New features and improvements

• fix: MCLEAN-102, session-scoped BackgroundCleaner, batch retry for both fast and non-fast paths (fixes #281, #285) (#347) @gnodet

• feat: make fast clean the default (maven.clean.fast=true) (#362) @gnodet

• feat: use .mvn/target/.clean as default staging directory for fast clean (#358) @gnodet

• feat: add purge-check goal to detect and remove orphaned build directories (#356) @gnodet

• Add IT for MCLEAN-104: clean lifecycle should not attempt dependency resolution (#105) @slawekjaranowski

• Configuration parameter for deleting read-only files (#250) @desruisseaux

• Replace Plexus dependency by more extensive usage of java.nio (#243) @desruisseaux

🐛 Bug Fixes

• fix: fall back to original path when toRealPath() fails (fixes #262) (#344) @gnodet

• fix: clarify that failOnError has no effect in fast mode (fixes #352) (#355) @gnodet

• fix: missing closing brace and javadoc opener in CleanerTest (#357) @gnodet

• Delete also the directories specified in <targetPath> (#276) @desruisseaux

📝 Documentation updates

• Convert the FAQ from FML to Markdown (#336) @slachiewicz
• Add AGENTS.md + SECURITY.md security-model pointer for scanner discoverability (#316) @potiuk

👻 Maintenance

• Remove redundant project.build.sourceEncoding from IT POMs (#349) @gnodet
• Port the IT scripts from BeanShell to Groovy (#341) @slachiewicz
• Migrate the site descriptor to the v2 model (#339) @slachiewicz
• Restore the document metadata dropped when the pages were ported (#335) @slachiewicz
• Port the site documentation from APT to Markdown (#333) @slachiewicz
• Pass siteMvn as a String so the site stage runs on Maven 4 (#331) @slachiewicz
• Build against Maven 4.0.0-rc-6 (#329) @slachiewicz
• Add AGENTS.md + SECURITY.md security-model pointer for scanner discoverability (#316) @potiuk
• Refactor the code of the background thread used in "fast delete" mode (#286) @desruisseaux
• Leverage Maven core methods in replacement of PathSelector class and targetPath resolution (#284) @desruisseaux
• JUnit Jupiter best practices (#279) @slachiewicz
• Replace Selector by a modified copy of the PathSelector class of Maven core. (#266) @desruisseaux
• feat: enable prevent branch protection rules (#268) @sparsick
• Update release-drafter, README and PR template after parent 44 (#247) @slawekjaranowski
• Minor cleaning: dependency, @Override, Paths (#240) @desruisseaux
• re-enable issue notifications (#232) @bmarwell
• Temporarily disable issue notifications for jira-to-github migration (#108) @bmarwell
• Remove unused constructor (#106) @elharo
• Clean up commented code (#103) @elharo

🔧 Build

• Keep Dependabot off SLF4J 2.x and Mockito 5 on the 3.x branch (#363) @slachiewicz
• Disable Jenkins build until Maven 4.0.0-rc-7 is installed on agents (#351) @gnodet
• Restore jenkins build (#248) @slawekjaranowski

📦 Dependency updates

• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.23.0 to 5.24.0 (#359) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.slf4j:slf4j-simple from 2.0.19 to 2.0.20 (#360) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump mavenVersion from 4.0.0-rc-6 to 4.0.0-rc-7 (#350) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 49 to 50 (#342) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.slf4j:slf4j-simple from 2.0.18 to 2.0.19 (#337) @dependabot[bot]
• Build against Maven 4.0.0-rc-6 (#329) @slachiewicz
• Upgrade plugin versions by inheriting the versions from the parent pom.xml (#326) @desruisseaux
• Bump apache/maven-gh-actions-shared/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml from 4 to 5 (#325) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump apache/maven-gh-actions-shared/.github/workflows/stale.yml from 4 to 5 (#319) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump apache/maven-gh-actions-shared/.github/workflows/maven-verify.yml from 4 to 5 (#320) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump apache/maven-gh-actions-shared/.github/workflows/pr-automation.yml from 4 to 5 (#321) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 48 to 49 (#313) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.slf4j:slf4j-simple from 2.0.17 to 2.0.18 (#308) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 47 to 48 (#306) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.21.0 to 5.23.0 (#303) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 46 to 47 (#294) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 45 to 46 (#291) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.20.0 to 5.21.0 (#288) @dependabot[bot]
• Upgrade from Maven 4.0.0-rc-4 to 4.0.0-rc-5. (#283) @desruisseaux
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.19.0 to 5.20.0 (#271) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.18.0 to 5.19.0 (#269) @dependabot[bot]
• Upgrade Maven core dependency to 4.0.0-rc-4. (#265) @desruisseaux
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 44 to 45 (#260) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.17.0 to 5.18.0 (#253) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 5.16.1 to 5.17.0 ([#245](https://gith...

🚀 New features and improvements

• Configuration parameter for deleting read-only files (#252) @desruisseaux

👻 Maintenance

• Bump project to 3.5.0-SNAPSHOT version (#254) @slawekjaranowski
• Update README in 3.x branch (#249) @slawekjaranowski

📦 Dependency updates

• Bump org.apache.maven.resolver:maven-resolver-api from 1.9.22 to 1.9.23 (#251) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-testing from 1.4.0 to 1.5.0 (#244) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 43 to 44 (#237) @dependabot[bot]

🚀 New features and improvements

• release-drafter configuration (#88) @slawekjaranowski
• Add PR Automation (#80) @slawekjaranowski
• [MCLEAN-126] - Replaced old File API with new Path equivalent where possible (#62) @peterdemaeyer
• Add Release Drafter - 3.x (#69) @slawekjaranowski
• [MCLEAN-124] - Replaced JUnit Assumptions with @DisabledOnOs (#64) @peterdemaeyer
• [MCLEAN-124] - Leverage Files.delete(Path) API to provide more accurate reason in case of failure (#60) @peterdemaeyer
• [MCLEAN-110] - Replaced Utils.createSymlink with Java 7 Files.createSymbolicLink (#59) @peterdemaeyer

📦 Dependency updates

• Bump org.apache.maven.resolver:maven-resolver-api from 1.1.1 to 1.9.22 (#78) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump mavenVersion from 3.6.3 to 3.9.9 (#77) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-testing from 1.3.0 to 1.4.0 (#72) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 42 to 43 (#76) @dependabot[bot]

👻 Maintenance

• Update scm tag according to branch (#102) @slawekjaranowski
• PR Automation only on close event (#101) @slawekjaranowski
• [MNGSITE-529] - Rename "Goals" to "Plugin Documentation" (#94) @Bukama
• Fix license/notice (#83) @slawekjaranowski

🚀 New features and improvements

• Publish documentation to LATEST-4.x (#96) @slawekjaranowski
• Upgrade to Maven 4.0.0-rc-2 (#90) @gnodet
• Enable GitHub Issues (#85) @slawekjaranowski
• [MCLEAN-124] - Leverage Files.delete(Path) API to provide more accurate reason in case of failure (#84) @slawekjaranowski
• Add configuration for pre-release in master (#87) @slawekjaranowski
• Use COMPLETE for version-template in release drafter (#82) @slawekjaranowski
• Use resolved versions in release drafter (#81) @slawekjaranowski
• Add PR Automation (#79) @slawekjaranowski
• [MCLEAN-127] - Use Files.createSymbolicLink instead of shelling out (#65) @elharo
• Add Release Drafter (#68) @slawekjaranowski

📦 Dependency updates

• [MCLEAN-130] - Bump com.google.guava:guava from 33.2.1-jre to 33.4.0-jre (#67) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.mockito:mockito-core from 4.11.0 to 5.15.2 (#89) @dependabot[bot]
• [MCLEAN-129] - Bump org.slf4j:slf4j-simple from 2.0.13 to 2.0.16 (#55) @dependabot[bot]
• [MCLEAN-128] - Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 42 to 43 (#52) @dependabot[bot]
• Upgrade to beta-5 (#58) @gnodet

👻 Maintenance

• Override maven.site.path property for 4.x publishing (#99) @slawekjaranowski
• Add header to release-drafter about Maven 4 requirements (#98) @slawekjaranowski
• Add Stale action (#97) @slawekjaranowski
• Simplify GH action (#95) @slawekjaranowski
• [MNGSITE-529] - Rename "Goals" to "Plugin Documentation" (#93) @Bukama
• Add badge for 3.x version (#92) @slawekjaranowski
• Bump maven-site-plugin to 3.21.0 and Skin to 2.0.1 (#71) @slachiewicz
• Disable jenkins build (#70) @slawekjaranowski
• Clean up assertions in CleanMojoTest (#61) @elharo

🔧 Build

• Bump Maven in CI to 4.0 rc2 (#66) @slachiewicz

What's Changed

• [MCLEAN-123] Switch to Maven 4 API and the new api by @gnodet in #20
• Fix license/notice by @gnodet in #48
• Build with JDK 17 and 21 in Jenkins by @gnodet in #49

Full Changelog: maven-clean-plugin-3.4.0...maven-clean-plugin-4.0.0-beta-1

What's Changed

• Bump apache/maven-gh-actions-shared from 3 to 4 by @dependabot in #38
• [MCLEAN-116] Use default Log interface by @Bukama in #37
• [MCLEAN-118] Require Maven 3.6.3 by @slawekjaranowski in #39
• [MCLEAN-106] Switch to junit 5 by @gnodet in #27
• [MCLEAN-119] Bump org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-plugins from 41 to 42 by @dependabot in #44
• Build with Maven 4 by @slawekjaranowski in #45
• [MCLEAN-120] Bump org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-testing from 1.1.0 to 1.3.0 by @dependabot in #40
• [MCLEAN-121] Bump com.google.inject:guice from 4.2.0 to 4.2.3 by @dependabot in #41
• [MCLEAN-122] Cleanup declared dependencies, simplify unit test by @slawekjaranowski in #46

New Contributors

• @Bukama made their first contribution in #37

Full Changelog: maven-clean-plugin-3.3.2...maven-clean-plugin-3.4.0

What's Changed

• Type: fill --> file by @elharo in #28
• [MCLEAN-112] Bump parent to 40 by @slawekjaranowski in #33
• [MCLEAN-113] Downgrade plexus-xml to 3.0.0 by @slawekjaranowski in #34
• Grammar mistake fixed by @Abdullah8006 in #31
• [MCLEAN-111] Fix fast delete feature for filesets by @wilx in #32
• [MCLEAN-114] Refresh download page by @slawekjaranowski in #36

New Contributors

• @elharo made their first contribution in #28
• @slawekjaranowski made their first contribution in #33
• @Abdullah8006 made their first contribution in #31
• @wilx made their first contribution in #32

Full Changelog: maven-clean-plugin-3.3.1...maven-clean-plugin-3.3.2

What's Changed

• [MCLEAN-104] Prevent NPE in fast mode and quiet build by @famod in #23
• [MCLEAN-105] Bump maven-plugins from 38 to 39 by @slachiewicz in #25
• [MCLEAN-93] Support junctions on NTFS by @gnodet in #10
• [MCLEAN-107] Upgrade to plexus-utils 4.0.0 and plexus-xml 4.0.0 by @gnodet in #26

New Contributors

• @famod made their first contribution in #23
• @slachiewicz made their first contribution in #25

Full Changelog: maven-clean-plugin-3.2.0...maven-clean-plugin-3.3.1

What's Changed

• Bump maven-project-info-reports-plugin from 3.1.1 to 3.1.2 by @dependabot in #7
• Bump maven-site-plugin from 3.9.1 to 3.10.0 by @dependabot in #8
• Bump extra-enforcer-rules from 1.4 to 1.5.1 by @dependabot in #9
• [MCLEAN-95] Add a fast clean option by @gnodet in #6

New Contributors

• @gnodet made their first contribution in #6

Full Changelog: maven-clean-plugin-3.1.0...maven-clean-plugin-3.2.0

Full Changelog: https://github.com/apache/maven-clean-plugin/commits/maven-clean-plugin-3.1.0