PyShrink – Python Projects, Minus the Junk
🚀 PyShrink is a Visual Studio Code extension that helps you clean, shrink, and prepare Python projects for sharing directly from your workspace.
It runs a Python-based cleanup CLI to remove unnecessary files and folders from a cloned copy of your project—keeping the original code completely safe.
PyShrink is ideal for enterprise, internal, and restricted Git environments where teams frequently share code as ZIPs instead of repositories.
Working Demo
Why PyShrink?
- Reduce project size before sharing
- Avoid manual cleanup and repeated zipping
- Keep original projects untouched
- Works without Git or external services
- Designed for corporate and internal workflows
Features
- 🧹 Clean Python projects directly from VS Code
- 🧪 Interactive cleanup mode
- ⚙️ Run cleanup with custom CLI arguments
- 📁 Automatically detects the active workspace folder
- 🔒 Works on a cloned copy (original project is never modified)
- 🖥️ Real-time output via VS Code notifications
Commands (Aligned with package.json)
The following commands are contributed by this extension:
PyShrink: Help
Command ID: pyshrink.help
Displays all the available commands under pyshrink with their usage & example
Executed as:
pyshrink --help
PyShrink: Run with Arguments
Command ID: pyshrink.withArgs
Prompts the user to enter CLI arguments and passes them directly to the PyShrink CLI.
Example input:
--path --req --readme
Executed as:
pyshrink --path PATHNAME --req --readme
PyShrink: Run with optional arguments
Command ID: pyshrink.interactive
Runs PyShrink in interactive mode using default behavior.
Example input:
--path PATHNAME
Executed as:
pyshrink --path PATHNAME
PyShrink: Run without any Arguments
Command ID: pyshrink.fullCleanup
No input, just creates all necessary files & cleans up directory
Example input:
pyshrink
Executed as:
pyshrink --path PATHNAME
Quick Setup (1 Minute)
Install Python 3
- Ensure Python 3.x is installed and accessible via
python
Open your project folder in VS Code
- Use File → Open Folder
- Do not open individual files
Open Comamnd Pallete
- Shortcut: Press CTRL+SHIFT+P
Run PyShrink
- Type PyShrink
- Select the necessary command you need
Requirements
To use PyShrink, the following prerequisites must be met:
Python 3.x installed on the system
python --version
python available in system PATH
- The extension spawns Python using the
python command
A workspace folder opened in VS Code
- The extension does not work with single files
⚠️ The extension does not install Python dependencies automatically. You need to manually tell.
OS-Specific Notes
🪟 Windows
🍎 macOS
🐧 Linux
Expected Project Structure
your-project/
├── main.py
├── config.py
├── src/
├── tests/
├── requirements.txt
└── README.md
Extension Settings
This extension does not add VS Code settings via contributes.configuration.
All behavior is controlled through:
- CLI arguments
config.py inside the project
Common Setup Mistakes
❌ No workspace folder found
- Open the project folder, not a file
❌ Python not found
- Python not in PATH
- Restart VS Code after installing Python
❌ main.py missing
- Ensure the file exists at the workspace root
❌ No visible output
- Check Help → Toggle Developer Tools for logs
Known Issues
- Assumes
python command (not python3)
- Long output may be truncated in notifications
- No progress bar UI
- CLI arguments are not validated
Release Notes
1.0.0
- Initial release
- Interactive cleanup command
- Argument-based execution
- Python subprocess integration
- Workspace auto-detection
Keywords
python, cleanup, project-cleaner, shrink, zip, enterprise, internal-tools, automation, vscode-extension, python-tools
Enjoy using PyShrink 🚀
Author
Nitin Kumar
