CopyCat
Automatically export your codebase to a single Markdown file
CopyCat is a VS Code extension that monitors your workspace and automatically generates a consolidated copycat.md file containing all your selected source code files. Perfect for sharing code with AI assistants, documentation, code reviews, or creating snapshots of your project structure.
Features
- Auto-Update: Automatically regenerates the Markdown file when you save, create, delete, or rename files
- Flexible Configuration: Simple
.copycat config file with include/exclude patterns using glob syntax
- Smart File Detection:
- Automatically skips binary files
- Configurable file size limits (default: 100KB)
- Syntax highlighting for 20+ languages
- Performance Optimized:
- Debounced updates (1s delay) to avoid overwhelming your system
- Efficient file scanning with VS Code's native file system API
- Visual Feedback: Status bar indicator shows current operation status
- Multi-root Support: Works seamlessly with VS Code multi-root workspaces
Installation
From Marketplace
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Polar-rp.copy-cat-polar
Getting Started
1. Initialize CopyCat
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run:
CopyCat: Initialize
This creates a .copycat configuration file in your workspace root.
Edit the .copycat file to specify which files to include or exclude:
# CopyCat Config
[INCLUDE]
# Specify folders or files to include
# e.g. src/components/**
# all files in src/components and subfolders will be included
src/**
prisma/schema.prisma
package.json
[IGNORE]
# Specify folders or files to exclude
node_modules/**
.git/**
dist/**
build/**
.env*
**/*.test.ts
**/*.spec.ts
assets/images/**
copycat.md
3. Activates automatically
CopyCat will automatically update copycat.md whenever you:
- Save a file (
Ctrl+S / Cmd+S)
- Create a new file
- Delete a file
- Rename/move a file
Use Cases
- AI Assistance: Quickly share your entire codebase with ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI assistants in a single file
- Documentation: Generate comprehensive code documentation for wikis or knowledge bases
- Code Reviews: Create reviewable snapshots of your project state
- Teaching: Share complete project structures with students or team members
- Archiving: Create portable code snapshots for backup or reference
Configuration Examples
Frontend Project
[INCLUDE]
src/**/*.tsx
src/**/*.ts
src/**/*.css
public/index.html
package.json
[IGNORE]
node_modules/**
build/**
**/*.test.ts
Full-Stack Application
[INCLUDE]
frontend/src/**
backend/src/**
shared/**
prisma/schema.prisma
docker-compose.yml
package.json
[IGNORE]
**/node_modules/**
**/dist/**
**/.env*
**/*.log
Python Project
[INCLUDE]
src/**/*.py
tests/**/*.py
requirements.txt
README.md
[IGNORE]
**/__pycache__/**
**/*.pyc
.venv/**
venv/**
The generated copycat.md file contains:
path/to/file1.ts
```typescript
// Your code here
```
path/to/file2.py
# Your code here
Skipped: Binary file detected
path/to/large-file.json
Skipped: File too large (150.5KB)
## Technical Details
### Supported Languages
TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, C/C++, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, HTML, CSS, SCSS, JSON, YAML, XML, SQL, Bash, Prisma, and more.
### File Size Limits
- Default maximum: **100KB** per file
- Larger files are skipped with a note in the output
### Binary Detection
Files containing null bytes in the first 1KB are automatically detected and skipped as binary files.
### Debouncing
Updates are debounced with a 1-second delay to prevent excessive regeneration during rapid file changes.
## Known Issues
- Status bar may briefly show "Error" status if `.copycat` configuration has invalid glob patterns
- Very large workspaces (1000+ matching files) may take several seconds to process
## Development
### Prerequisites
- Node.js 22.x or higher
- VS Code 1.109.0 or higher
### Build Commands
```bash
npm install # Install dependencies
npm run compile # Build extension
npm run watch # Watch mode for development
npm run test # Run tests
npm run lint # Lint code
Project Structure
copy-cat/
├── src/
│ ├── extension.ts # Main extension entry point
│ ├── copycat/
│ │ ├── config.ts # Configuration parser
│ │ └── generator.ts # Markdown generator
│ └── test/
│ └── extension.test.ts # Test suite
├── .copycat # Example configuration
└── package.json # Extension manifest
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
- Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
- Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
- Open a Pull Request
License
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Acknowledgments
Built with:
Enjoy coding with CopyCat!
If you find this extension useful, please consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub!
