Zip This Folder

A lightweight extension for Visual Studio Code and Antigravity IDE that allows you to easily zip any folder directly from the Explorer sidebar context menu.

Features

• Context Menu Integration: Right-click any folder, root folder, or empty space in the Explorer sidebar and select "Zip this folder".
• Top-Level / Root Folder Zipping: Zip the entire opened workspace folder either by:
  • Clicking the Zip icon $(file-zip) in the Explorer title bar.
  • Right-clicking on empty space inside the Explorer sidebar.
  • Right-clicking the root folder in multi-root workspaces.
• Automatic Excludes & .zipignore: Automatically skips node_modules, .git, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, and *.zip by default. Also respects your project's .gitignore and dedicated .zipignore files!
• Preserves Root Folder: The generated .zip includes the selected folder at the root of the archive (e.g. my-folder.zip contains my-folder/...).
• Same-Directory Output: Automatically saves the .zip archive alongside the target folder (<folder-name>.zip).
• Conflict Handling: If a zip file with the same name already exists, you can choose to overwrite it or automatically save it as a unique file name (e.g. my-folder (1).zip).
• Progress & Cancellation: Displays a live compression progress notification with item counts and allows cancellation at any point.
• Reveal in Explorer: Provides a one-click button upon completion to instantly reveal the generated .zip in your system file explorer.
• Multi-Selection Support: Select multiple folders in the Explorer and zip them in one go.

Usage

• Sub-folders: Right-click any folder in the Explorer sidebar and choose "Zip this folder".
• Top-level / Workspace Root:
  • Click the Zip icon in the Explorer header bar (next to New File / New Folder), or
  • Right-click empty space in the Explorer sidebar and choose "Zip this folder", or
  • Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type Zip this folder.

Ignore Rules & .zipignore

The extension ignores unwanted files and directories using the standard gitignore syntax:

1. Default Excludes: node_modules, .git, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, *.zip, and .zipignore are excluded automatically.
2. .gitignore Support: If a .gitignore exists in the folder or workspace root, its rules are applied automatically.
3. .zipignore Support: Create a .zipignore file in your folder or workspace root with any custom exclusion patterns specific to zipping (e.g. dist/, build/, *.log, .env*).
4. Settings (settings.json):
   • zipThisFolder.useDefaultExcludes (boolean, default: true): Exclude common build & cache directories (node_modules, .git, etc.).
   • zipThisFolder.useGitignore (boolean, default: true): Respect patterns from .gitignore.
   • zipThisFolder.useZipignore (boolean, default: true): Respect patterns from .zipignore.
   • zipThisFolder.additionalExcludes (array, default: []): Custom glob patterns to always exclude (e.g. ["dist", "build", ".venv"]).

Development & Testing

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• npm

One-Click Build (.bat)

You can double-click or run build.bat in the project root to typecheck, bundle, and package the .vsix in one step:

build.bat

Manual Build

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile the extension with esbuild
npm run compile

# Typecheck with TypeScript
npm run check-types

Running Locally

1. Press F5 in VS Code or Antigravity IDE to launch the Extension Development Host.
2. In the new window, open any workspace folder.
3. Right-click on a folder in the sidebar and choose "Zip this folder".

Packaging as a .vsix

npx @vscode/vsce package --no-dependencies

You can then install the .vsix file into VS Code or Antigravity via Extensions: Install from VSIX....