RebuildRadar
A Visual Studio Code extension that uses git to analyze incoming commits and estimate how much of your C++ project will need to rebuild. It runs git fetch and git diff-tree under the hood, parses #include dependencies, detects project modules/libraries, and gives you a clear picture of rebuild impact before you pull.
Note: This extension is entirely git-based. It requires a git repository and uses remote tracking branches to detect incoming changes — no build system invocation is needed.
Features
- Git-powered commit analysis — fetches remote refs and inspects incoming commits via
git diff-tree to identify changed C++ files, with no build required.
- Overall rebuild percentage — a single number summarizing the total estimated rebuild impact across all incoming commits.
- Module / library detection — automatically identifies project modules via
.vcxproj/.sln, *.Build.cs, CMakeLists.txt, or directory structure.
- Activity-bar sidebar — a dedicated tree view showing configuration, summary, modules, commits, and affected files.
- Detailed HTML report — a full webview report with per-commit breakdown and module badges.
- Explorer context menus — right-click folders to include/exclude from scanning, or right-click
.sln/.vcxproj files to set them as the project file.
- Caching & auto-scan — dependency graph is cached and incrementally updated; optionally runs on startup.
Getting Started
From Source
git clone <repository-url>
cd ue-change-impact-estimator
npm install
Open the folder in VS Code and press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host.
From VSIX
npm run package # produces a .vsix file
code --install-extension rebuild-radar-*.vsix
Usage
- Open a git-tracked workspace containing a C++ project.
- Click the RebuildRadar icon in the Activity Bar (or run
RebuildRadar: Analyze from the command palette).
- The extension runs
git fetch, compares remote branches, builds a dependency graph, and shows results in the sidebar.
- Expand commits to see affected files; expand the Modules section to see per-library impact.
- Click RebuildRadar: Show Report in the view title bar for a full HTML report.
Configuration
All settings live under rebuildRadar.* and are also visible in the sidebar's Configuration node.
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
rebuildRadar.projectFile |
"" |
Path to a .sln or .vcxproj file (relative to workspace root). Scopes the build file set for accurate percentages. |
rebuildRadar.autoScan |
true |
Automatically run impact analysis when VS Code starts. |
rebuildRadar.includePaths |
[] |
Directories to scan for C++ files. Empty = entire workspace. |
rebuildRadar.excludePaths |
[] |
Directories to skip during scanning. |
rebuildRadar.moduleDetection |
"auto" |
Module detection strategy: auto, vcxproj, unreal, cmake, directory, or none. |
How It Works
The entire workflow is built on git — no compiler or build system is invoked.
- Fetch — runs
git fetch to get the latest remote refs.
- Diff — uses
git log and git diff-tree to identify C++ files changed in incoming commits that haven't been merged yet.
- Dependency Graph — iterative BFS scan of the workspace, parsing
#include "..." directives to build a full reverse-dependency map (pure file-system + regex, no build needed).
- Impact Calculation — for each changed file, walk its reverse-dependency chain to find all files that would need rebuilding.
- Module Grouping — map affected files to their owning module/library and summarize per-module impact.
Supported Project Types
| Type |
Detection |
How |
| Visual Studio |
.sln / .vcxproj |
Set rebuildRadar.projectFile to your solution |
| Unreal Engine |
*.Build.cs |
Auto-detected or use moduleDetection: "unreal" |
| CMake |
CMakeLists.txt |
Finds add_library / add_executable targets |
| Generic C++ |
Directory structure |
Falls back to top-level subdirectories of Source/ or src/ |
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Fork the repository, create a feature branch, and open a pull request.
License
MIT — see LICENSE for details.
