diff --git a/scripts/evict-inactive.js b/scripts/evict-inactive.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..51c7eacdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/evict-inactive.js
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+var nThen = require("nthen");
+
+var Store = require("../storage/file");
+var Pinned = require("./pinned");
+var config = require("../lib/load-config");
+
+// the administrator should have set an 'inactiveTime' in their config
+// if they didn't, just exit.
+if (!config.inactiveTime || typeof(config.inactiveTime) !== "number") { return; }
+
+// files which have not been changed since before this date can be considered inactive
+var inactiveTime = +new Date() - (config.inactiveTime * 24 * 3600 * 1000);
+
+// files which were archived before this date can be considered safe to remove
+var retentionTime = +new Date() - (config.archiveRetentionTime * 24 * 3600 * 1000);
+
+var store;
+var pins;
+var Log;
+nThen(function (w) {
+    // load the store which will be used for iterating over channels
+    // and performing operations like archival and deletion
+    Store.create(config, w(function (_) {
+        store = _;
+    })); // load the list of pinned files so you know which files
+    // should not be archived or deleted
+    Pinned.load(function (err, _) {
+        if (err) {
+            w.abort();
+            return void console.error(err);
+        }
+        pins = _;
+    }, {
+        pinPath: config.pinPath,
+    });
+
+    // load the logging module so that you have a record of which
+    // files were archived or deleted at what time
+    var Logger = require("../lib/log");
+    Logger.create(config, w(function (_) {
+        Log = _;
+    }));
+}).nThen(function (w) {
+    // this block will iterate over archived channels and remove them
+    // if they've been in cold storage for longer than your configured archive time
+
+    // if the admin has not set an 'archiveRetentionTime', this block makes no sense
+    // so just skip it
+    if (typeof(config.archiveRetentionTime) !== "number") { return; }
+
+    // count the number of files which have been removed in this run
+    var removed = 0;
+
+    var handler = function (err, item) {
+        if (err) { return void Log.error('EVICT_ARCHIVED_CHANNEL_ITERATION', err); }
+        // don't mess with files that are freshly stored in cold storage
+        // based on ctime because that's changed when the file is moved...
+        if (+new Date(item.ctime) > retentionTime) { return; }
+
+        // but if it's been stored for the configured time...
+        // expire it
+        store.removeArchivedChannel(item.channel, w(function (err) {
+            if (err) {
+                return void Log.error('EVICT_ARCHIVED_CHANNEL_REMOVAL_ERROR', {
+                    error: err,
+                    channel: item.channel,
+                });
+            }
+            console.log("removed %s from cold storage", item.channel);
+            Log.info('EVICT_ARCHIVED_CHANNEL_REMOVAL', item.channel);
+            removed++;
+        }));
+    };
+
+    // if you hit an error, log it
+    // otherwise, when there are no more channels to process
+    // log some stats about how many were removed
+    var cb = function (err) {
+        if (err) {
+            return Log.error('EVICT_ARCHIVED_FINAL_ERROR', err);
+        }
+        Log.info('EVICT_ARCHIVED_CHANNELS_REMOVED', removed);
+    };
+
+    store.listArchivedChannels(handler, w(cb));
+}).nThen(function (w) {
+    var removed = 0;
+    var channels = 0;
+    var archived = 0;
+
+    var handler = function (err, item) {
+        channels++;
+        if (err) { return void Log.error('EVICT_CHANNEL_ITERATION', err); }
+        // check if the database has any ephemeral channels
+        // if it does it's because of a bug, and they should be removed
+        if (item.channel.length === 34) {
+            return void store.removeChannel(item.channel, w(function (err) {
+                if (err) {
+                    return void Log.error('EVICT_EPHEMERAL_CHANNEL_REMOVAL_ERROR', {
+                        error: err,
+                        channel: item.channel,
+                    });
+                }
+                Log.info('EVICT_EPHEMERAL_CHANNEL_REMOVAL', item.channel);
+            }));
+        }
+
+        // bail out if the channel was modified recently
+        if (+new Date(item.mtime) > inactiveTime) { return; }
+
+        // ignore the channel if it's pinned
+        if (pins[item.channel]) { return; }
+
+        // if the server is configured to retain data, archive the channel
+        if (config.retainData) {
+            store.archiveChannel(item.channel, w(function (err) {
+                if (err) { return void Log.error('EVICT_CHANNEL_ARCHIVAL_ERROR', {
+                    error: err,
+                    channel: item.channel,
+                }); }
+                Log.info('EVICT_CHANNEL_ARCHIVAL', item.channel);
+                archived++;
+            }));
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // otherwise remove it
+        store.removeChannel(item.channel, w(function (err) {
+            if (err) { return void Log.error('EVICT_CHANNEL_REMOVAL_ERROR', {
+                error: err,
+                channel: item.channel,
+            }); }
+            Log.info('EVICT_CHANNEL_REMOVAL', item.channel);
+            removed++;
+        }));
+    };
+
+    var cb = function () {
+        if (config.retainData) {
+            return void Log.info('EVICT_CHANNELS_ARCHIVED', archived);
+        }
+        return void Log.info('EVICT_CHANNELS_REMOVED', removed);
+    };
+
+    store.listChannels(handler, w(cb));
+}).nThen(function () {
+    // the store will keep this script running if you don't shut it down
+    store.shutdown();
+});
+