Explorer Filter

A VS Code extension (TypeScript + bun) that hides files from the Explorer. Everything is configured from VS Code's native Settings UI — toggle preset bundles, add custom globs, and let it follow your .gitignore. It applies the result to the built-in files.exclude setting, touching only the keys it adds, so any exclude rules you wrote yourself are preserved.

Features

• Preset bundles for the usual noise — dotfiles, node_modules, build output, logs, VCS, Python, IDE files — each toggled from Settings.
• .gitignore aware — automatically hides ignored directories (files optional).
• One-click toggle in the Explorer toolbar hides or shows everything at once, keeping your selection while it is off.
• Exemptions keep AI agent / config dirs (.claude, .codex, …) visible even with the Dotfiles bundle on.
• Non-destructive — only ever touches the files.exclude keys it added.

Requirements

• bun (package manager + bundler)
• VS Code ^1.90.0
• git on PATH (optional — improves .gitignore accuracy; see below)

Getting started

bun install        # install dev dependencies
bun run compile    # bundle src/ -> dist/extension.js

Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host. The extension activates on startup and applies the filter immediately — all bundles are on by default, and .gitignore directories are hidden too.

Toggle button

The Explorer toolbar shows a single filter button that toggles the filter on and off:

• when the filter is on, the button is a filled funnel ($(filter-filled)) — click it to show the filtered items;
• when the filter is off, it is an outline funnel ($(filter)) — click it to hide them again.

The status bar item on the right does the same thing. The toggle state is remembered per workspace.

Configuring what gets filtered

There is no settings button in the toolbar — what gets hidden is configured entirely from VS Code's Settings UI. Open Settings and search for Explorer Filter (the command Explorer Filter: Open Settings is a shortcut).

Preset bundles (all on by default)

Bundle patterns live in src/presets.ts. To add a bundle, add an entry there and a matching boolean under contributes.configuration in package.json (VS Code requires static settings metadata).

.gitignore integration

By default only ignored directories are hidden (e.g. dist/, node_modules/); ignored files stay visible until you turn on gitignoreIncludeFiles.

How the directory/file split is decided:

• With git (preferred): the extension runs git ls-files -o -i --exclude-standard --directory -z per workspace folder. This honors the full ignore ruleset (nested .gitignore, negations, the global excludes file) and marks directories with a trailing slash, so the split is exact.
• Without git (not a repo / git missing): it falls back to a best-effort parse of the root .gitignore.

The filter re-applies automatically when settings change, when a .gitignore changes, or when workspace folders change. Use Explorer Filter: Reapply Filter to force a refresh.

Exemptions (keep things visible)

files.exclude has no "except" rule, so the Dotfiles bundle can't use a single **/.* and then carve out exceptions. Instead, when Dotfiles is on, the extension lists the dotfiles actually present at each workspace root and emits a **/<name> rule for each — skipping any name in explorerFilter.exclusions. Those names are never added to files.exclude, so they stay visible.

Default exemptions (AI agent / important config dirs): .claude, .codex, .cursor, .github, .vscode. The exemption list also acts as a safety net for the other sources (custom patterns, .gitignore): a pattern whose final segment is an exempt name is dropped.

Because this enumerates the workspace root, a brand-new dotfile/agent dir added after activation may need Explorer Filter: Reapply Filter (or a settings change) to be picked up. With no workspace open, Dotfiles falls back to the broad **/.* rule and exemptions can't apply.

Other settings

Commands

Scripts

Note: VS Code extensions run on Node.js, not the bun runtime. Here bun is the package manager and the bundler (bun build); the extension uses only the vscode and Node APIs.

Project layout

explorer-filter/
├─ .vscode/              # launch + build tasks for F5 debugging
├─ src/
│  ├─ extension.ts       # activate/deactivate + commands
│  ├─ presets.ts         # preset filter bundles (edit me)
│  ├─ filterState.ts     # settings -> files.exclude reconciliation
│  └─ gitignore.ts       # .gitignore -> exclude globs (git + fallback)
├─ package.json          # manifest + settings + scripts
├─ tsconfig.json
└─ .vscodeignore         # what NOT to ship in the .vsix

How it works

files.exclude is a map of glob -> boolean. On every change the extension resolves the active patterns (enabled bundles + custom patterns + .gitignore), records the keys it owns in workspaceState, and rewrites files.exclude — removing only its previously-owned keys first. That keeps your own exclude rules intact while the managed slice stays in sync with your settings.

License

MIT