Code Explorer Pro

Recursive, fast, and streamed reference search for VS Code workspaces. Results populate a dedicated tree view so you can keep context while exploring where a symbol/text appears across your project.

Repository: https://github.com/migratesky/vscode-code-explorer-pro

Features

• One-shot or streamed search for any text across your workspace.
• Groups results by file in a "References" tree under the Explorer.
• Inline symbols extraction from each matching line; expand a symbol to find its references.
• Click-to-open any result; cursor jumps to the exact match location.
• Prioritizes the active file so first results appear where you are working.
• Configurable include/exclude globs, excluded extensions, line/file limits, timeout, match mode, and logging.
• Per-file logging (optional) and progress logs to the "Code Explorer Pro" output channel.

Requirements

• VS Code: ^1.89.0

Getting Started

1. Open a folder/workspace in VS Code.
2. Place your cursor on a word or select text.
3. Run the command: "Find Recursive References".
   • Command ID: code-explorer-pro.findRecursiveReferences
   • Default keybinding: Ctrl+Shift+Space (macOS: Ctrl+Shift+Space)
4. Results stream into the Explorer view named "References". Click to open; expand inline symbols to continue exploring.

If no selection/word is detected, you will be prompted to enter free text.

Commands

• code-explorer-pro.findRecursiveReferences — Find references for selected text/word or an input string.
• code-explorer-pro.openLocation — Open a result location in an editor (internal).
• code-explorer-pro.expandSymbol — Expand a symbol node to find its references.
• code-explorer-pro._getTreeRoots — Internal (testing).
• code-explorer-pro._expandAndSummarize — Internal (testing).

View

• Explorer view ID: codeExplorerProReferences
• Display name: "References"

Settings

All settings live under the codeExplorerPro namespace.

• codeExplorerPro.includeGlob (string, default "**/*")
  • Glob of files to include when scanning.
• codeExplorerPro.excludeGlob (string)
  • Glob of files/folders to exclude. Default excludes common build and cache folders.
• codeExplorerPro.excludeFileExtensions (string[])
  • File extensions to skip (e.g., jar, zip, exe, class, etc.).
• codeExplorerPro.maxFiles (number, default 50000)
  • Maximum files to scan per search.
• codeExplorerPro.maxLinesPerFile (number, default 10000)
  • Maximum lines scanned per file.
• codeExplorerPro.maxSearchMs (number, default 15000)
  • Abort search after this many milliseconds. Partial results are returned.
• codeExplorerPro.progressEvery (number, default 50)
  • Log progress every N files.
• codeExplorerPro.verboseLogging (boolean, default false)
  • Log per-file summaries even when there are 0 hits.
• codeExplorerPro.matchMode ("text" | "word", default "text")
  • Raw substring match or word-boundary match.

Example settings.json snippet:

{
  "codeExplorerPro.includeGlob": "**/*",
  "codeExplorerPro.excludeGlob": "**/{node_modules,dist,out,build,.git,.venv,venv,.tox,.cache}/**",
  "codeExplorerPro.excludeFileExtensions": ["jar", "war", "zip", "tar", "gz", "bz2", "7z", "rar", "iso", "dmg", "exe", "msi", "app", "pkg", "deb", "rpm", "apk", "ipa", "xpi", "class"],
  "codeExplorerPro.maxFiles": 50000,
  "codeExplorerPro.maxLinesPerFile": 10000,
  "codeExplorerPro.maxSearchMs": 15000,
  "codeExplorerPro.progressEvery": 50,
  "codeExplorerPro.verboseLogging": false,
  "codeExplorerPro.matchMode": "text"
}

Tips

• Use matchMode: "word" to avoid partial matches (e.g., match cat but not concatenate).
• The active file is scanned first; keep focus in relevant files to see early results there.
• Tune includeGlob/excludeGlob and excludeFileExtensions to reduce noise and speed up searches.

Keybinding conflicts (macOS)

Ctrl+Shift+Space can sometimes be used by system or other apps. If it conflicts:

• VS Code: open Keyboard Shortcuts and change the binding for "Find Recursive References".
• macOS: System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts to adjust any conflicting global shortcut.

Development

• Build once: npm run compile
• Watch build: npm run watch
• Lint: npm run lint
• Run tests (integration): npm test
• Run unit tests: npm run test:unit

Troubleshooting

• Check the "Code Explorer Pro" output channel for detailed logs.
• Increase maxSearchMs for large repositories.
• Enable verboseLogging to see per-file scan summaries.

License

See the repository for license information.