ForgeFlow - Unified Explorer, Projects, and Git Workflow for VS Code

ForgeFlow is a VS Code extension that replaces the built-in Explorer and project manager with a unified workflow, adds PowerShell execution profiles, provides a dashboard panel for project health and activity, and integrates with the PowerForge CLI for build/publish pipelines.

🧭 Quick Links

• Configuration
• Architecture
• Onboarding
• Development
• Support
• Changelog

🛠️ Build Status

📦 Project Information

Coverage reports are generated in CI as artifacts and can be uploaded to Codecov.

Marketplace summary

ForgeFlow is published under the EvotecServices Visual Studio Marketplace publisher. The first Marketplace builds are expected to ship as pre-release builds while the extension is validated against day-to-day repositories.

Requirements:

• VS Code 1.107.0 or newer
• Node.js is only required for development or building from source
• PowerShell 7+ is recommended for PowerShell execution profiles
• Windows is required for elevated external PowerShell sessions

No telemetry is collected. Any dashboard tokens are stored with VS Code secret storage and stay on the local machine.

Screenshots

What it's all about

ForgeFlow keeps project discovery, git hygiene, PowerShell automation, and a lightweight dashboard in one place so you can work from a single view instead of bouncing between multiple panels.

Views at a glance

Layout modes:

• Compact: all views in the left sidebar.
• Expanded: Files/Projects/Git move to the panel for a wide layout.

Capabilities by area

Files & Workspace

• Favorites (global + workspace pinned)
• Multi-select copy/cut/paste/rename/delete
• Open in terminal, open in browser, open in Visual Studio (Windows)

Projects

• Auto discovery by scan roots (or workspace folders)
• Entry points (scripts, tasks.json, pinned commands)
• Tags, favorites, and quick switching

Run & PowerShell

• Integrated, external, and elevated PowerShell (Windows)
• Profiles with defaults + per-project overrides
• Run history and run presets
• Run-by-file (opt-in) for .cs via csproj/sln and .cs scripts (dotnet 10+)

Git hygiene

• Branch groups: gone / merged / stale / no-upstream / ahead-behind
• One-click prune/clean for selected repo or all repos

Dashboard

• Repo health scoring (README/license/CI/tests/dependency freshness)
• Activity snapshot with package metadata

Editor tools

• Toggle Quotes (Ctrl+') with per-language chars
• Unicode substitutions lint + format with quick-fix actions

Quality of life

• Live filters with presets (workspace/global scope)
• Shared state across windows
• No telemetry

First-run setup

1. Open a folder or configure scan roots: ForgeFlow: Configure Project Scan Roots
2. (Optional) Add PowerShell profiles: ForgeFlow: Add PowerShell Profile (or Manage PowerShell Profiles)
3. (Optional) Configure dashboard tokens: ForgeFlow: Configure Dashboard Tokens

Quick Start

1. npm install
2. npm run compile
3. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host

Commands

Open the Command Palette and type ForgeFlow. Key groups:

Files

• Open / Open to the Side / Rename / Delete / New File / New Folder
• Copy Path / Copy Relative Path / Copy / Cut / Paste
• Pin to Favorites / Pin to Workspace / Favorites View Mode

Projects

• Configure Scan Roots / Refresh / Switch Project / Open in New Window
• Set Tags / Rename Tag / Entry Points / Run Project / Run Preset

Run & PowerShell

• Run / Run (Choose Profile) / Run Integrated / Run External / Run as Admin
• Run History / Save Preset / Clear History / Reset External Session
• Set Default PowerShell Profile / Add PowerShell Profile / Manage PowerShell Profiles

Git

• Select Project / Refresh / Prune Remotes / Delete Merged or Gone Branches
• Configure Project Overrides / Preview Clean Project / Clean Project

Dashboard

• Open / Refresh / Configure Tokens

Browser

• Open in Browser / Open in Browser (Choose) / Set Preferred Browser

PowerForge

• Plan Pipeline / Run Pipeline
• DotNet Publish / DotNet Publish (Plan) / DotNet Publish (Validate)
• PowerForge Manager view (edit pipeline/publish metadata + run commands)

Layout & filters

• Toggle Layout (Compact / Expanded)
• Focus/Clear filter + Save/Apply/Delete filter presets (Files/Projects/Git/Dashboard)

Configuration

See docs/configuration.md for all settings.

Dashboard Tokens

ForgeFlow uses VS Code's GitHub authentication when available. For GitLab and Azure DevOps (and as a GitHub fallback), configure tokens via:

• ForgeFlow: Configure Dashboard Tokens

Identity Scan Options

• forgeflow.projects.identityScanDepth controls how deep we look for psd1/csproj/Directory.Build.props.
• forgeflow.projects.identityPreferredFolders sets preferred folder names for ranking.
• forgeflow.projects.scanIgnoreFolders lets you add folder names to skip during project discovery; ForgeFlow also skips cleanup containers such as _cleanup, _tmp, and _worktree_archives, while .worktrees remains discoverable.

Install in VS Code Insiders (live usage)

WSL → Windows Insiders one-liner:

1. npm run install:insiders
2. Reload window.

Windows PowerShell one-liner:

1. npm run install:insiders:ps
2. Reload window.

Automatic daily install (Windows):

1. npm run install:insiders:auto
2. Reload window after the first run.

Defaults: runs on logon and daily at 09:00. To customize:

• Logon only: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/auto-install-insiders.ps1 -DisableDaily
• Daily only (custom time): powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/auto-install-insiders.ps1 -DisableLogon -DailyAt 18:30
• Remove: npm run install:insiders:auto:remove

Manual steps (if you prefer):

1. npm run compile
2. npm run package
3. Install the VSIX into Insiders:
   • Command line: code-insiders --install-extension dist/forgeflow-0.1.0.vsix --force
   • Or Extensions view → “…” → Install from VSIX…
4. Reload window.

Tip: re-run step 2 + 3 after changes (use --force to overwrite).

Dev link install (no VSIX rebuild)

This creates a symlink/junction from your repo into the VS Code extensions folder so Insiders loads ForgeFlow directly.

Windows (Insiders):

1. npm run compile
2. npm run dev:install:insiders
3. Reload window

macOS/Linux (Insiders):

1. npm run compile
2. ./scripts/dev-install.sh
3. Reload window

Re-run npm run compile after changes, then reload VS Code.

Shortcuts

• Alt+B → Open current file in browser (extensions configurable via forgeflow.browser.fileExtensions)
• Shift+Alt+B → Choose browser
• Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F / Cmd+Shift+Alt+F → Focus ForgeFlow filter for the current view
• Ctrl+' / Cmd+' → Toggle Quotes (ForgeFlow)

Notes

• Windows-only elevation is supported via external PowerShell. On non-Windows platforms, elevation is disabled.

License

MIT