BackupBee
Versioned backups on every save, plus a snapshot of every file you open. A quiet safety net for your work in VS Code.
BackupBee keeps a history of each file you edit and preserves the original contents of anything you open, so a bad save or an accidental close never costs you work.
Dashboard
Open it from the Command Palette (BackupBee: Open Dashboard), with Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B (Cmd+Shift+Alt+B on macOS), or by clicking the status bar item.
| Tab |
What you'll find |
| Overview |
Totals, protection switches, recently opened files |
| Session capture |
Files captured this session and past sessions |
| Backup history |
Every saved version of the active file |
| Settings |
Appearance, retention, storage locations, cleanup |
Themes
The dashboard ships with two themes. Obsidian is dark graphite with brass accents. Porcelain is the light counterpart. Choose Auto to follow your VS Code color theme, or pick one in Settings > Appearance.
Features
| Feature |
Description |
| Auto-backup on save |
A versioned copy is created each time you save |
| Session file capture |
Every file you open is snapshotted, even if you never save it |
| Smart deduplication |
Unchanged files are skipped using a content hash |
| Restore with highlighting |
Changes between your file and a backup are marked in the editor |
| Configurable storage |
Keep backups in the workspace or any folder you choose |
| Retention control |
Keep the latest N versions per file (default 10) |
| Status bar |
Live counts of backups and captured files |
Commands
| Command |
Shortcut |
Description |
BackupBee: Open Dashboard |
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+B |
Open the dashboard |
BackupBee: Backup Current File Now |
Ctrl+Shift+B |
Back up the active file immediately |
BackupBee: Restore File from Backup |
|
Choose a restore point for the active file |
BackupBee: Toggle Auto-Backup On/Off |
|
Turn save-triggered backups on or off |
BackupBee: Toggle Session File Capture On/Off |
|
Turn open-file capture on or off |
BackupBee: Set Backup Root Directory |
|
Choose where backups are stored |
BackupBee: View Session Captured Files |
|
Jump to the Session capture tab |
BackupBee: Finalize & Clean All Backups |
|
Delete all backup files |
Settings
{
// Create a versioned backup on save
"backupbee.enabled": true,
// Snapshot every file you open
"backupbee.sessionCaptureEnabled": true,
// Backup root (empty uses the workspace root)
"backupbee.backupRootDir": "",
// Session capture folder (empty uses <backupRoot>/_bee_session/)
"backupbee.sessionCaptureDir": "",
// Versions to keep per file
"backupbee.maxBackupsPerFile": 10,
// Files to leave out of backups
"backupbee.excludePatterns": [
"**/node_modules/**",
"**/.git/**",
"**/.bee_backups/**",
"**/_bee_session/**"
],
// Show BackupBee in the status bar
"backupbee.showStatusBar": true,
// Show a notification for every backup
"backupbee.notifyOnBackup": false,
// Dashboard theme: "auto", "dark" or "light"
"backupbee.dashboardTheme": "auto"
}
Folder structure
your-workspace/
├── .bee_backups/ versioned backups
│ └── src_index_ts/
│ ├── index_2026-05-20T10-30-00_auto.ts
│ └── index_2026-05-20T11-00-00_manual.ts
│
└── _bee_session/ session captures
└── 2026-05-20T09-00/ one folder per session
└── src_index_ts/
└── index_opened.ts
Development
git clone https://github.com/Imudaypamu/backupbee2.git
cd backupbee2
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host
License
GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.
