diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index dd1870c254..1fd9351641 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ git-annex (6.20180720) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Fix reversion in display of http 404 errors.
   * Added remote.name.annex-speculate-present config that can be used to
     make cache remotes.
+  * Added --accessedwithin matching option.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Tue, 31 Jul 2018 12:14:11 -0400
 
diff --git a/CmdLine/GitAnnex/Options.hs b/CmdLine/GitAnnex/Options.hs
index 97cef88b94..791f499d13 100644
--- a/CmdLine/GitAnnex/Options.hs
+++ b/CmdLine/GitAnnex/Options.hs
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import CmdLine.Usage
 import CmdLine.GlobalSetter
 import qualified Backend
 import qualified Types.Backend as Backend
+import Utility.HumanTime
 
 -- Global options that are accepted by all git-annex sub-commands,
 -- although not always used.
@@ -275,6 +276,12 @@ nonWorkTreeMatchingOptions' =
 		<> help "match files the repository wants to drop"
 		<> hidden
 		)
+	, globalSetter Limit.addAccessedWithin $ option (str >>= parseDuration)
+		( long "accessedwithin"
+		<> metavar paramTime
+		<> help "match files accessed within a time interval"
+		<> hidden
+		)
 	]
 
 -- Options to match files which may not yet be annexed.
@@ -371,7 +378,7 @@ jobsOption =
 
 timeLimitOption :: [GlobalOption]
 timeLimitOption = 
-	[ globalSetter Limit.addTimeLimit $ strOption
+	[ globalSetter Limit.addTimeLimit $ option (str >>= parseDuration)
 		( long "time-limit" <> short 'T' <> metavar paramTime
 		<> help "stop after the specified amount of time"
 		<> hidden
diff --git a/Limit.hs b/Limit.hs
index 5d00e2e688..93b32a89f6 100644
--- a/Limit.hs
+++ b/Limit.hs
@@ -298,21 +298,32 @@ limitMetaData s = case parseMetaDataMatcher s of
 		. S.filter matching
 		. metaDataValues f <$> getCurrentMetaData k
 
-addTimeLimit :: String -> Annex ()
-addTimeLimit s = do
-	let seconds = maybe (giveup "bad time-limit") durationToPOSIXTime $
-		parseDuration s
+addTimeLimit :: Duration -> Annex ()
+addTimeLimit duration = do
 	start <- liftIO getPOSIXTime
-	let cutoff = start + seconds
+	let cutoff = start + durationToPOSIXTime duration
 	addLimit $ Right $ const $ const $ do
 		now <- liftIO getPOSIXTime
 		if now > cutoff
 			then do
-				warning $ "Time limit (" ++ s ++ ") reached!"
+				warning $ "Time limit (" ++ fromDuration duration ++ ") reached!"
 				shutdown True
 				liftIO $ exitWith $ ExitFailure 101
 			else return True
 
+addAccessedWithin :: Duration -> Annex ()
+addAccessedWithin duration = do
+	now <- liftIO getPOSIXTime
+	addLimit $ Right $ const $ checkKey $ check now
+  where
+	check now k = inAnnexCheck k $ \f ->
+		liftIO $ catchDefaultIO False $ do
+			s <- getFileStatus f
+			let accessed = realToFrac (accessTime s)
+			let delta = now - accessed
+			return $ delta <= secs
+	secs = fromIntegral (durationSeconds duration)
+
 lookupFileKey :: FileInfo -> Annex (Maybe Key)
 lookupFileKey = lookupFile . currFile
 
diff --git a/doc/git-annex-matching-options.mdwn b/doc/git-annex-matching-options.mdwn
index 2802fe60bc..81f705f3ad 100644
--- a/doc/git-annex-matching-options.mdwn
+++ b/doc/git-annex-matching-options.mdwn
@@ -145,6 +145,20 @@ in either of two repositories.
   
   Note that this will not match anything when using --all or --unused.
 
+* `--accessedwithin=interval`
+
+  Matches files that were accessed recently, within the specified time
+  interval.
+  
+  The interval can be in the form "5m" or "1h" or "2d" or "1y", or a
+  combination such as "1h5m".
+
+  So for example, `--accessedwithin=1d` matches files that have been
+  accessed within the past day.
+
+  If the OS or filesystem does not support access times, this will not
+  match any files.
+
 * `--not`
 
   Inverts the next matching option. For example, to only act on
diff --git a/doc/tips/local_caching_of_annexed_files.mdwn b/doc/tips/local_caching_of_annexed_files.mdwn
index b7ddb545b9..5c0809933e 100644
--- a/doc/tips/local_caching_of_annexed_files.mdwn
+++ b/doc/tips/local_caching_of_annexed_files.mdwn
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ You'll need git-annex 6.20180802 or newer to follow these instructions.
 ## creating the cache
 
 First let's create a new, empty git-annex repository. It will be put in
-~/.annex-cache in the example, but for best results, it in the same
+~/.annex-cache in the example, but for best results, put it in the same
 filesystem as your other git-annex repositories.
 
-	git init ~/.annex-cache
+	git init --bare ~/.annex-cache
 	cd ~/.annex-cache
 	git annex init
 	git config annex.hardlink true
@@ -79,11 +79,23 @@ enough start.
 
 ## cleaning the cache
 
-XXX find
+You safely can remove content from the cache at any time to free up disk
+space.
+
+To remove everything:
+
+	cd ~/.annex-cache
+	git annex drop --force
+
+To remove files that have not been requested from the cache for the past day:
+
+	cd ~/.annex-cache
+	git annex drop --force --not --accessedwithin=1d
 
 ## automatically populating the cache
 
-XXX
+The assistant can be used to automatically populate the cache with files
+that git-annex downloads into a repository.
 
 ## more caches