CopyForLlm+ for VS Code

Copies selected files and folders - their structure and content - to the clipboard, formatted for pasting into Large Language Models (LLMs).

This is the VS Code port of the CopyForLlm+ JetBrains plugin, itself a fork of AykoSc/copyforllm, licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE).

Usage

Right-click files/folders in the Explorer, select Copy for LLM+, and paste into your LLM prompt.

The output includes a file tree representing the selection within the workspace folder and the content of the included files, each preceded by a header comment indicating its path relative to the workspace folder. Selecting items from several folders of a multi-root workspace copies one such block per folder.

Copying only matching files

Right-click one or more folders and choose Copy Matching Files for LLM+. Build the list of what to copy: type an entry and press Enter to add it (it shows up checked), then press Enter with nothing typed to copy. Case doesn't matter:

• .xml - every file whose name ends with it (also works for longer endings like .test.ts)
• xml - the same as .xml, and also a file named exactly xml (so Dockerfile or Makefile work too)
• pom.xml - only files with exactly that name

Only the checked entries are used. Only the matching files found at any depth under the selection are copied, and the tree shows just the paths leading down to them. Your last list comes back pre-checked next time.

Exclusion patterns and the binary-file setting below apply as usual. Excluded folders (e.g. node_modules) and symlinked folders are not searched.

Excluding sensitive files and folders

Right-click a file or folder in the Explorer and choose Exclude from Copy for LLM+. Its workspace-relative path is added to the exclusion patterns; right-clicking it again offers Include in Copy for LLM+ to undo that. If some other pattern - a parent folder, or a name pattern like node_modules - already covers the selection, excluding it changes nothing and says so.

For patterns rather than single items, edit the CopyForLlm+: Excluded Patterns setting (copyForLlm.excludedPatterns) directly (*/? wildcards supported, case-insensitive) - e.g. .env, .env.*, *.pem, node_modules, secrets. Both entry points write to the same list: your user settings, shared by all workspaces, unless the workspace overrides the setting, in which case they write there.

A match - whether it's a single file or a whole folder - always stays visible in the file tree, so the LLM still knows it exists. In the content section it gets a short note that it was skipped (e.g. # (excluded by CopyForLlm+ settings file, content skipped)), but its actual content is never included. For a matched folder this applies to everything inside it too, without descending into and noting every file inside it individually.

.env and node_modules are excluded by default.

Hiding binary files from the tree

CopyForLlm+: Hide Binary Files In Tree (copyForLlm.hideBinaryFilesInTree), on by default, drops binary files from the tree, and any folder left with nothing else to show - the tree stays about the code the LLM can actually read.

This only affects the tree. The content section still names every binary file and notes that its content was skipped.

Differences from the JetBrains plugin

• VS Code has no API for a language's comment syntax, so the header prefix (//, #, --, ...) comes from a table of file extensions; unknown types get #.
• Binary files are recognised by extension, or by a NUL byte in their first 8000 bytes.
• Symlinked folders are listed but not descended into.

Development

npm install
npm run compile

Open this vscode/ folder in VS Code and press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host with the extension loaded. Package it with npx @vscode/vsce package, which produces a .vsix you can install via Extensions > ... > Install from VSIX....