CodeGroup - File Organizer

Organize scattered files into named groups – like bookmarks for your codebase.

⚡ What It Does

• 📁 Create custom file groups – Group related files from any folder into named collections
• 🎨 Customize with colors & icons – 120+ icons, hex colors, badges visible in tabs & explorer
• 🖱️ Drag & drop everything – Files, folders, groups, subgroups – all draggable

🚀 Quick Start

1. Open CodeGroup in the Explorer sidebar
2. Click + to create a new group
3. Drag files from Explorer into your group
4. Done! Click a file to open it, or "Open All" to open the entire group

✨ Features

📁 Groups & Subgroups

• Create named groups to organize related files
• Create subgroups for hierarchical organization (e.g., "Backend" → "API", "Database")
• Add files from any folder in your workspace
• Multi-select support: add multiple files at once

🎨 Customization

• 120+ icons: folder, rocket, flame, star, key, database, and more
• Colors: extended theme palette plus any custom hex color (e.g., #FF5733)
• Badges: Custom 1-2 character badge for file decorations
• Descriptions: Add notes with Markdown support
• Group Editor: Update the main settings for a group in one editor panel instead of stepping through separate prompts
• Presets: Apply one-click Frontend, Backend, Scripts, Docs, or Research styling presets inside the editor

🖱️ Drag & Drop

• Drag files from Explorer into groups
• Drag tabs into groups
• Drag groups into Copilot Chat to attach multiple files at once
• Drag a group into the editor to open its files instantly
• Drag groups onto other groups to create subgroups
• Drag subgroups to empty space to move them back to root
• Reorder files within groups

⚡ Quick Actions

• Open All: Open all files in a group (including subgroups) with improved speed
• Close All: Close only files from a specific group
• Quick Open: Search every grouped file from one picker, with recently opened CodeGroup files pinned at the top
• Quick Actions Section: Create, import, search, or auto-build groups from a persistent section at the bottom of the tree
• Pin groups: Keep important groups at the top (📌)
• Expand/Collapse All: Quick navigation in title bar

✨ Smart Groups & Sharing

• Create Smart Groups: Auto-group the workspace by project areas like frontend, backend, docs, tests, scripts, and source core
• Language-based Grouping: Generate groups from language families like TypeScript, JavaScript, styles, docs, config, media, and more
• Shareable Group JSON: Export a whole group tree as JSON, copy it to the clipboard, and import it in another workspace later
• More Group Actions: The group context menu stays lean, while a single action hub exposes rename, duplicate, move, sort, export, and other advanced operations

⚙️ Working Sets

• Create from Open Editors: Turn your currently open tabs into a group instantly
• Create from Git Changes: Capture your uncommitted work as a review or bugfix group
• Start from a generated working set, then rename or refine it like any other group

🔄 Smart File Tracking

• Auto-handles file renames – files stay in groups with updated names
• Auto-removes deleted files from groups
• "Clean Up Missing Files" command for manual cleanup
• Auto-cleanup prompt on startup

💾 Git-Friendly Storage

• Groups saved to .vscode/file-groups.json
• Share group configs with your team via Git
• Relative paths for cross-machine compatibility
• Creator attribution – see who set up each group

🌐 Global Groups

• Create global groups available across all your projects
• Stored in AppData (global storage), not tied to any workspace
• Perfect for common utilities, documentation, or frequently accessed files
• Toggle visibility per project – hide global groups in specific workspaces
• Visual indicator (🌐) to distinguish global from local groups
• Moving any group (drag or context command) relocates the entire tree to the target storage so files and child groups never split between configs.
• Global groups now behave exactly like local groups – same context menus, drag operations, open/close, and decoration behavior while keeping path handling (absolute vs. relative) consistent.
• Right-click an empty area in the File Groups view to create a new root group without selecting an existing node.

📋 Commands

All commands available via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

📸 Screenshots

Main View

Context Menu

💾 Storage Format

Groups are saved to .vscode/file-groups.json:

{
  "version": 2,
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": "abc123",
      "name": "Authentication",
      "icon": "key",
      "color": "#3498DB",
      "shortDescription": "Login endpoints",
      "files": [
        { "path": "src/auth/login.ts", "name": "login.ts" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

📦 Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or higher

🐛 Known Issues

None at this time. Please report issues on GitHub.

📝 Release Notes

See CHANGELOG.md for full release history.

1.3.0

• Added persistent Quick Actions under the tree so create/import/smart-group flows stay visible even after you already have groups
• Added Smart Groups for project areas and language families
• Added shareable group export/import via JSON
• Added editor presets and extra color options for faster setup
• Reduced the group context menu and moved advanced actions into one More Group Actions... hub

1.1.2

• Added drag and drop from groups to Copilot Chat, including multiple files in one drop
• Improved Open All Files speed significantly
• Dragging a group into the editor now opens all group files instantly

1.2.0

• Added Quick Open from Groups to search grouped files by filename, group name, notes, or path
• Recently opened CodeGroup files now float to the top for faster repeat navigation
• Missing files opened from CodeGroup now offer cleanup immediately instead of failing silently

1.1.1

• File items now show up to the last 2 parent folders next to filename for easier disambiguation (for example, repeated route.ts files)
• Full path on hover remains unchanged

1.1.0

• Added global groups available across projects
• Added quick create group action from empty area context menu

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

• 🐛 Report a bug
• 💡 Request a feature
• 🔧 Submit a PR

📄 License

MIT License

⭐ If you find this extension useful, please leave a review on the VS Code Marketplace!