Thumbview

Because life's too short to thumb-wrestle with the VS Code sidebar.

A 2D, syntax-highlighted minimap grid of your entire VS Code workspace. Keep a thumb on your whole codebase without opening 80 tabs. See every file at once, search across all of them instantly, and jump to any line in one click.

Setup

1. Install the extension and open any workspace folder.
2. Press F4 (or run Thumbview: Open from the Command Palette) to open the grid. Thumbview scans your workspace automatically and requires zero configuration.
3. Optional: open the Thumbview container in the Activity Bar (left edge) to access the Actions & Settings, Directory Navigation, and Ignored Files & Directories panels.

Tune behavior later via File → Preferences → Settings → Thumbview (see Settings Reference).

Core Workflow

• Open the grid: F4. Press it again any time to refocus the tab.
• Jump to a line: left-click any line on any tile and the file opens scrolled exactly there.
• Identify files by shape: each tile is a syntax-highlighted minimap of one file, so you recognize code by its visual fingerprint, not by filename. The colored strip at the top of a tile shows its path.
• Magnify: hold Left CTRL and hover over a tile to preview full-size, readable code lines without opening the file.
• Search everything at once: type in the top search bar to highlight tokens across all visible tiles instantly. Press × or clear the box to reset. Toggle Match Case (Aa), Match Whole Word (ab), or Use Regular Expression (.*) next to the search box — or Alt+C/Alt+W/Alt+X from anywhere in the panel — to refine what counts as a match.
• Close a tile tab: middle-click it or click its ×.

Reading the Grid

• Layouts: thumbview.layoutMode selects "spanning_grid" (default - tall files span multiple vertical cells, so file length is visible at a glance) or "uniform_grid" (one equal cell per file). Switch any time from the top toolbar ⚙ Settings modal, Command Palette (Thumbview: Use Uniform/Spanning Grid Layout), or the sidebar.
• Folder cards: when tiles would shrink below the minimum cell size (thumbview.minCellWidth: 32 / thumbview.minCellHeight: 28 px), files group into clickable folder cards. Click a card to drill into that subfolder; use the breadcrumbs at the top to navigate back.
• Directory Navigation & Ignored Items: click the 📁 Folders & Ignored button in the top toolbar to view shown folders alongside ignored patterns, focus any subdirectory, isolate root files, add custom glob patterns, or unignore items in one click.
• Reflow: run Thumbview: Reflow Layout or click Reflow Grid in the ⚙ Settings modal to re-fit the grid after resizing the panel or window.

Ignoring & Unignoring Files

Keep the grid fast and relevant by hiding noise (dist/, generated code, vendored assets):

• Manage ignores from the top bar: click 📁 Folders & Ignored in the top toolbar to inspect all active ignore patterns side-by-side with active folders, add custom globs with + Add, or remove patterns instantly with ×.
• Ignore a directory: right-click it in Directory Navigation → Ignore Directory (or click its inline eye-closed icon, or click Ignore in 📁 Folders & Ignored).
• Ignore a file: right-click its tile in the grid → Ignore in Thumbview.
• Unignore: click the 👁 icon next to any (hidden) folder in Directory Navigation, or click × in the 📁 Folders & Ignored modal.
• Auto-ignore: any subfolder with more than thumbview.autoIgnoreThreshold files (default 30) is hidden automatically to keep rendering fast. Set it to 0 to disable, or unhide individual folders via 👁. Manual unhides are remembered as exclusions.
• Ignores live in workspace state, so each project keeps its own view.

More Features

• Drag-to-Reorder Grid Slots: click and drag tiles to swap positions or shift reflow across both Uniform and Spanning grid modes, or drop into empty grid slots. Configure default behavior via thumbview.dragReorderMode (swap or shift).
• Isolate a folder: click a folder in the 📁 Folders & Ignored popover or a tile's header strip to dim everything else (opacity 0.15). Click All Workspace Files (Root) or the breadcrumb root to reset. This is the fastest way to scope search and scanning to one area of the codebase.
• Root files only: select Root Directory Files Only in the 📁 Folders & Ignored popover to spotlight top-level files (package.json, README.md, configs) for orienting yourself in an unfamiliar repo.
• Full file operations from the grid: right-click any tile for Open, Open to the Side, Open Preview, Select for Compare / Compare with Selected, Reveal in Explorer, Open Containing Folder, Cut/Copy/Paste paths, Rename, and Delete — no need to switch to the Explorer.

Shortcuts Reference

All shortcuts and interactive settings are available in the in-app ⚙ Settings modal (top-right of the grid).

Settings Reference