Track file changes and require review before proceeding.
Seen It is a VS Code extension that helps developers track which files in their workspace have changed and whether those changes have been reviewed. It provides a built-in code review checklist in the VS Code sidebar, ensuring no modified file goes unexamined before committing, opening a PR, or handing off work.
Features
Automatic change detection — Captures file modifications, creations, deletions, and renames in real time via multiple overlapping VS Code APIs, including in-memory dirty-buffer edits before save.
Dual sidebar tree views — "To Review" and "Reviewed" lists with hierarchical directory structure and checkbox-based bulk operations.
Status bar indicator — Shows Seen It: N to review when there are pending files; click to open the output log.
Bulk action commands — Mark All as Reviewed, Approve All, and Approve Reviewed for quick workflow transitions.
Configurable file filtering — Glob-based exclude/include rules with built-in defaults (.git, node_modules, dist, etc.). Supports user-level and project-level settings.
Persistent state — Review state survives VS Code restarts via workspaceState.
Zero runtime dependencies — Relies only on the VS Code API. The .vsix package stays lightweight.
Usage
Install the extension from a .vsix file or the marketplace.
Open a workspace folder — Seen It activates automatically and starts tracking files.
The sidebar shows two views under the Seen It panel:
To Review — files that have changed but haven't been reviewed yet.
Reviewed — files you've marked as reviewed.
Check/uncheck files (or entire directories) to mark them as reviewed.
Use the Actions panel at the bottom for bulk operations.
The status bar shows how many files are still pending review.
Commands
Command
Description
Seen It: Mark as Reviewed
Mark selected file(s) as reviewed
Seen It: Mark as Unreviewed
Mark selected file(s) as unreviewed
Seen It: Mark All as Reviewed
Mark every tracked file as reviewed
Seen It: Approve All
Clear all review state entirely
Seen It: Approve Reviewed
Remove only reviewed files from tracking
Seen It: Refresh
Manually refresh the file index
Seen It: Show Output Log
Open the diagnostic output channel
Seen It: Run Diagnostic
Dump tracked file inventory for debugging
Configuration
Setting
Type
Default
Description
seenIt.exclude
string[]
[]
Additional glob patterns to exclude from tracking. Merged with built-in defaults.
seenIt.include
string[]
[]
Glob patterns to include despite being excluded. Overrides both built-in and user exclude patterns.
seenIt.showStatusBar
boolean
true
Show the status bar indicator.
seenIt.statusBarAlignment
"left" \| "right"
"left"
Alignment of the status bar item.
seenIt.statusBarPriority
number
100
Position priority of the status bar item.
seenIt.debounceMs
number
50
Debounce delay (ms) before refreshing the tree after a state change.
seenIt.confirmApproveAll
boolean
true
Show a confirmation dialog before executing "Approve All".
Tech Stack
Language: TypeScript (strict mode)
Platform: VS Code Extension API (^1.120.0)
Build: esbuild (ESM, code splitting, minified)
Package manager: pnpm
Development
# Install dependencies
pnpm install
# Build
pnpm run build
# Watch mode
pnpm run watch
# Type check
pnpm run lint
# Package .vsix
pnpm run package
