📦 Codebase Packer

Transform your entire codebase into clean, AI‑ready prompts in seconds.

VS Code extension that packages your project files into neatly formatted prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini,Copilot, Grok, Deepseek, Mistral, Qwen and other LLMs.

🔖 Table of contents

• Key features
• Quick start
• Interface
• Sample generated output
  • Project structure (example)
  • Files content (collapsible)
• Configuration
• Commands
• Use cases
• Technical architecture
• Development & testing
• Release notes
• FAQ
• Contributing
• License & support

✨ Key Features

• Interactive file selection: Checkbox-enabled file tree with hierarchical parent/child selection
• Smart filtering: Automatically ignores system folders, build outputs, binaries, generated locks, and secrets
• Empty-folder awareness: Shows empty folders with an explicit (empty) marker
• Token & size estimation: Real-time file sizes, line counts and estimated tokens to manage AI context
• Professional prompt output: Clean Markdown (or optional XML) with directory trees, metadata headers and language-aware code blocks
• Multiple export options: Copy to clipboard, download as file with timestamp, or preview in editor
• Quick toolbar actions: Refresh, Select All, and Deselect All buttons in the File Selection panel toolbar
• Enhanced error handling: Validates files exist, handles cancellations gracefully, and provides detailed feedback
• Full project structure view: Optional toggle to show complete directory tree with selected/unselected markers

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Open your project folder in VS Code
3. Click the 📦 Codebase Packer icon in the Activity Bar (sidebar)
4. Select files using the checkbox tree in the File Selection panel
5. Use toolbar buttons (🔄 Refresh, ✅ Select All, ❌ Deselect All) for quick actions
6. Export your prompt:
   • 📋 Copy Prompt — Copy to clipboard for AI chat
   • 💾 Download Codebase — Save as timestamped file (project-name-packed-2025-11-06.md)
   • 👁️ Preview Prompt — View in editor before exporting
   • 🌳 Copy Tree Only — Export directory structure only

🖥️ Interface

File Selection Panel

• Checkbox-enabled tree with partial/checked/unchecked states for hierarchical selection
• Toolbar buttons for quick access:
  • 🔄 Refresh — Reload the file tree
  • ✅ Select All — Check all files instantly
  • ❌ Deselect All — Uncheck all files instantly
• Expand/collapse directories to explore your project structure
• Visual indicators for file status and folder types

Actions & Summary Panel

• Live statistics:
  • Selected file count
  • Total size (KB/MB)
  • Estimated token count for LLM context
• Export actions:
  • 📋 Copy Prompt — Copy to clipboard for immediate use
  • 💾 Download Codebase — Save as timestamped Markdown file
  • 👁️ Preview Prompt — View output in editor before exporting
  • 🌳 Copy Tree Only — Export directory structure without file contents
• Quick selection:
  • ✅ Select All — Check all files
  • ❌ Deselect All — Clear all selections
• Configuration toggle:
  • Show full project structure — Display complete directory tree with ✓/✗ markers for selected/unselected files

📄 Sample Generated Output

Below is a GitHub-friendly example of the prompt output. This example uses a project root named nextshop and demonstrates how empty folders and ignored upload folders are displayed.

Note: the directory tree uses the following markers: ✓ = included, ✗ = excluded, 📁 = folder (ignored or non-text files).

🌳 Project Structure

nextshop/
├── 📂 src/ ✓
│   ├── 📂 components/ ✓
│   │   ├── Header.tsx ✓
│   │   ├── ProductCard.tsx ✓
│   │   └── CartSummary.tsx ✓
│   ├── 📂 pages/ ✓
│   │   ├── index.tsx ✓
│   │   ├── products.tsx ✓
│   │   └── api/ ✓
│   │       ├── products.ts ✓
│   │       └── checkout.ts ✓
│   ├── 📂 hooks/ ✓
│   │   └── useCart.ts ✓
│   ├── 📂 styles/ ✓
│   │   ├── globals.css ✓
│   │   └── theme.css ✓
│   └── 📂 utils/ ✓
│       ├── formatPrice.ts ✓
│       └── fetcher.ts ✓
├── 📂 public/ 📁 (contains non-text or ignored files) ✗
│   ├── 📂 images/ 📁 (ignored) ✗
│   └── 📂 uploads/ 📁 (ignored) ✗
├── 📂 tests/ ✓
│   ├── components.test.tsx ✓
│   └── utils.test.ts ✓
├── 📂 scripts/ (empty) ✗
├── next.config.js ✓
├── package.json ✓
├── tsconfig.json ✓
└── README.md ✓

📄 Files Content

import React from "react";
import Link from "next/link";

export const Header: React.FC = () => {
  return (
    <header className="site-header">
      <nav>
        <ul className="nav-list">
          <li>
            <Link href="/">Home</Link>
          </li>
          <li>
            <Link href="/products">Products</Link>
          </li>
          <li>
            <Link href="/cart">Cart</Link>
          </li>
        </ul>
      </nav>
    </header>
  );
};

import React from "react";
import { formatPrice } from "../utils/formatPrice";

type ProductCardProps = {
  name: string;
  price: number;
  imageUrl: string;
};

export const ProductCard: React.FC<ProductCardProps> = ({
  name,
  price,
  imageUrl,
}) => (
  <div className="product-card">
    <img src={imageUrl} alt={name} />
    <h3>{name}</h3>
    <p>{formatPrice(price)}</p>
    <button>Add to Cart</button>
  </div>
);

{
  "name": "nextshop",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "test": "jest"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "next": "14.0.0",
    "react": "18.2.0",
    "react-dom": "18.2.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.3.0",
    "jest": "^29.0.0"
  }
}

⚙️ Configuration

Settings are exposed through VS Code Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + ,) under Codebase Packer:

• codebasePromptPacker.maxFileSize — Default: 1048576 (1MB)
• codebasePromptPacker.includeFileStats — Default: true
• codebasePromptPacker.estimateTokens — Default: true
• codebasePromptPacker.outputFormat — Default: markdown (markdown or xml)
• codebasePromptPacker.ignorePatterns — Default: [] (array of glob patterns)

Example

{
  "codebasePromptPacker.maxFileSize": 2097152,
  "codebasePromptPacker.includeFileStats": true,
  "codebasePromptPacker.estimateTokens": true,
  "codebasePromptPacker.outputFormat": "markdown",
  "codebasePromptPacker.ignorePatterns": [
    "**/tests/**",
    "**/*.test.*",
    "**/coverage/**",
    "**/*.log"
  ]
}

📋 Commands

Main Commands (Command Palette)

• Pack Codebase for LLM Prompt... — Open the sidebar and start the packing workflow
• Configure Prompt Packer — Open extension settings

Export Commands

• Copy Packed Prompt — Copy selected files to clipboard
• Download Packed Prompt — Save as timestamped file (e.g., project-packed-2025-11-06.md)
• Preview Packed Prompt — View output in editor tab before exporting
• Copy Directory Tree Only — Copy structure without file contents

Selection Commands

• Refresh File List — Re-scan workspace for files
• Select All — Check all files in the tree
• Deselect All — Uncheck all files
• Show Full Project Structure — Toggle complete directory tree view

Toolbar Actions (File Selection Panel)

• 🔄 Refresh — Reload file tree
• ✅ Select All — Quick select all files
• ❌ Deselect All — Quick deselect all files

🎯 Use Cases

• Code review — Provide full project context to an AI reviewer.
• Documentation — Auto-generate docs or explain architecture.
• Debugging — Give full app context for better debugging suggestions.
• Refactoring & migration — Plan architecture changes with full visibility.

🏗️ Technical Architecture

src/
├── extension.ts
├── CodebaseTreeProvider.ts
├── FileTreeItem.ts
└── ActionPanelViewProvider.ts

Core classes: CodebaseCopier, CodebaseTreeProvider, FileTreeItem, ActionPanelViewProvider.

🔧 Development & Testing

Prerequisites: VS Code >= 1.90.0, Node.js >= 18

Build & run

npm install
npm run compile
npm run watch
# Press F5 inside VS Code to launch Extension Development Host

🚀 Release Notes

v1.1.0 (Current) — Enhanced Export & Toolbar

• ✅ Download feature with timestamped filenames (project-packed-2025-11-06.md)
• ✅ Toolbar buttons in File Selection panel (Refresh, Select All, Deselect All)
• ✅ Enhanced error handling with file validation and detailed error messages
• ✅ Post-save actions — Option to open downloaded file immediately
• ✅ Improved user feedback with icons (✅⚠️❌) and detailed statistics
• ✅ Multiple file formats for download (.md, .txt, all files)
• ✅ Cancellation support at all stages of processing
• ✅ File existence validation before processing with user warnings

v1.0.0 — Initial Release

• Interactive sidebar with checkbox tree
• Real-time statistics and token estimates
• Smart file filtering and preview
• Copy to clipboard functionality

❓ FAQ

Q: Can I download the packed prompt as a file?

A: Yes! Click 💾 Download Codebase in the Actions panel. The file will be saved with a timestamped name (e.g., myproject-packed-2025-11-06.md). You can choose to open it immediately after saving.

Q: How do I quickly select or deselect all files?

A: Use the toolbar buttons (✅ Select All or ❌ Deselect All) at the top of the File Selection panel, or use the same buttons in the Actions & Summary panel.

Q: Can the extension include empty folders?

A: Yes — empty folders are detected and displayed with an (empty) marker in the directory tree. They are included in the structure view.

Q: Are binary files included?

A: No — binary files (images, archives, videos, executables) are automatically filtered out and marked as 📁 (contains non-text or ignored files) in the tree.

Q: What happens if files are deleted after I select them?

A: The extension validates file existence before processing. If files are missing, you'll see a warning message showing how many files are missing, and processing continues with the remaining valid files.

Q: Can I cancel the export process?

A: Yes! All export operations (Copy, Download, Preview) support cancellation. Just click the "Cancel" button on the progress notification.

Q: How do I see the complete project structure including unselected files?

A: Enable the "Show full project structure" checkbox in the Actions & Summary panel. The directory tree will show all files with ✓ (selected) and ✗ (unselected) markers.

Q: What file formats are supported for download?

A: You can save as Markdown (.md), Text (.txt), or any file format. The default is Markdown with proper syntax highlighting for code blocks.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome — open issues and PRs on GitHub. Please include reproducible steps and small focused changes.

📜 License & Support

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

If this project helps you, consider supporting the author:

💡 Made by a student developer from Sri Lanka, passionate about open‑source and AI tools — building in public to inspire and empower others.

Generated on: 2025-11-06