CtrlZTree brings tree-based undo/redo functionality to VS Code, inspired by the undotree for Vim. Unlike traditional linear undo/redo that loses alternative edit paths, CtrlZTree preserves all your editing history in a branching tree structure.
✨ Features
🌳 Tree-Based History
Branching History: Never lose edit alternatives when you undo and make new changes
Visual Tree View: See your entire editing history as an interactive graph
Smart Navigation: Click any node to instantly jump to that state
🎯 Enhanced Undo/Redo
Custom Undo/Redo: Replaces VS Code's default Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Y with tree-aware operations
Alternative Keybinding: Ctrl+Shift+Z (Cmd+Shift+Z on Mac) also works for redo operations
Smart Empty File Undo: When file is empty and you press Ctrl+Z, automatically jumps to the latest non-empty state
Branch Selection: When multiple redo paths exist, choose which branch to follow
Content Preview: See previews of document states when selecting branches
📊 Interactive Visualization
Real-time Updates: Tree view updates automatically as you edit
Dynamic Editor Switching: Tree view automatically adapts when switching between different editor tabs/files
File-specific Trees: Each open file maintains its own history tree
Seamless Multi-Document Support: Single panel intelligently shows the history for whichever file is currently active
Visual Indicators: Current position highlighted in red, other states in blue
Enhanced Tooltips: Hover over nodes to see concise diff previews showing only changed lines
Smart Content Display: Tooltips show git-style diffs with intelligent truncation for large changes
Floating Diff Button: Click the "📊 View Diff" button below the current active node to see changes
Automatic Cleanup: Previous diff views close automatically when opening a new one
Read-Only Document Handling: Diff views and other read-only documents don't interfere with tree tracking
🚀 How It Works
Automatic History Tracking
CtrlZTree automatically tracks every change you make to your files, building a tree structure where:
Each node represents a unique document state
Each edge connects a parent state to a child state
Branches form when you undo and then make different changes
Run the "CtrlZTree: Visualize History Tree" command
A new panel opens showing your edit history as an interactive graph
Dynamic Updates: Panel automatically switches to show the history tree of whichever file you're currently editing
Current state is prominently displayed at the top level with enhanced styling (larger, bold text and thicker border)
Other states appear in blue with standard styling
Click any node to navigate to that document state
Diff button appears below the current active node (if it has a parent)
For full release notes see CHANGELOG.md. Recent highlights:
0.5.4 (2025-12-08) — Startup activation via onStartupFinished (plus onEditSession and commands) so change tracking and commands are ready as soon as VS Code launches restored editors.
0.5.3 (2025-12-02) — Visualize command auto-resolves a document even before an editor is active; root and baseline always visible with undo back to empty; smarter panel targeting, clean-state detection, and a webview bootstrap handshake.
0.5.2 (2025-12-01) — Root-state undo protection, diff-only node storage with whitespace-aware previews, and smarter whitespace batching (newline flush, 500 ms grouping for spaces/tabs).
