AI Handoff

Select multiple files in VS Code and instantly generate a clean, structured handoff — directory tree + file contents — ready to paste into any AI chat. Works fully offline.

Why?

You're working in VS Code, you want to ask Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini for help with a few related files, and copy-pasting them one by one is painful. AI Handoff lets you tick a few files and get a properly formatted bundle:

<directory_structure>
my-project/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts
│   └── auth/
│       └── login.ts
</directory_structure>

<file path="src/index.ts">
[file contents]
</file>

<file path="src/auth/login.ts">
[file contents]
</file>

Paste it into any AI chat. Done.

Features

• 📁 Two selection methods — right-click in the Explorer (multi-select with Ctrl/Cmd) or use the dedicated sidebar with checkboxes
• 🎯 AI-optimized output — XML format by default (parses cleanly in any LLM), with Markdown and plain text as alternatives
• 🌲 Directory tree included — shows the structure of selected files and their parent paths
• 🧹 Smart filtering — auto-skips node_modules, .git, dist, build folders, and binary files; respects .gitignore
• 🔍 Transparent skips — see exactly what was filtered out, with one-click override
• 📊 Stats at a glance — file count, total size in KB, estimated token count
• 💾 Selection memory — auto-restore last selection, or save named selection sets ("Auth module", "API layer")
• 📋 Flexible output — copy to clipboard, save to file, or open in a new editor tab
• 🔌 Fully offline — no network calls, no API keys, your code stays on your machine
• ⚙️ Configurable — line numbers, file size limits, ignore patterns, format, and more

Installation

From Marketplace

1. Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
2. Search for AI Handoff
3. Click Install

From .vsix

code --install-extension ai-handoff-0.1.0.vsix

Usage

Quick path: right-click

1. Select one or more files / folders in the Explorer (Ctrl/Cmd-click for multi-select)
2. Right-click → AI Handoff: Generate from selection
3. Pick a destination (clipboard / file / new tab)
4. Paste into your favorite AI chat

Power path: sidebar

1. Click the AI Handoff icon in the activity bar
2. Tick the files and folders you want
3. (Optional) Toggle on custom instructions and add a prompt
4. Click Generate Handoff

Configuration

All settings live under aiHandoff.*:

Output formats

XML (default — best for AI)

<file path="src/index.ts">
const greet = (name: string) => `Hello, ${name}`;
</file>

Markdown

### `src/index.ts`

```typescript
const greet = (name: string) => `Hello, ${name}`;
```

Plain text

--- src/index.ts ---
const greet = (name: string) => `Hello, ${name}`;

Privacy

AI Handoff runs entirely on your machine. Nothing is sent over the network. No telemetry, no API calls, no analytics.

Contributing

PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT