YAFE - Yep. Another File Explorer.

A modern VS Code file explorer extension that reimagines how you interact with your files. With the introduction of AI assitants in your IDE's, screen realestate is more important that ever.

If you're like me, having a sidebar on both sides of your text editor is beyond obnoxious. YAFE is a quick navigator modal that allows you to navigate your files without the distraction of a sidebar. It appears when you need it, and goes away when you're done.

Features

Quick Navigator Overlay

• Full-screen or modal file explorer for deep navigation
• Fuzzy search for quick file access
• Keyboard-friendly navigation
• File preview functionality

Quick Access Hub

• Favorites: Pin your most important files and folders
• Recent Files: Quickly access recently opened files
• Modified Files: See files you've changed in the current session

Peek Preview Explorer

• Preview files without opening them in the editor
• Support for text files, images, and markdown
• Keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation

Getting Started

1. Install the extension from the VS Code marketplace
2. Use Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+N to toggle the Quick Navigator

Keyboard Shortcuts

Quick Navigator Modal Shortcuts

• /: Focus the search box
• Enter: Select file or navigate into directory
• Escape: Close search box or close modal
• Arrow keys: Navigate file list
  • ↑ or k: Move selection up
  • ↓ or j: Move selection down
  • ← or h: Navigate to parent directory
  • → or l: Open file or navigate into directory
• Ctrl+Enter: Open selected file while focused on search box
• Ctrl+J: Move selection down without changing focus
• Ctrl+K: Move selection up without changing focus

Commands

• YAFE: Toggle Quick Navigator - Open or close the full-screen navigator
• YAFE: Add to Favorites - Add the current file to favorites
• YAFE: Remove from Favorites - Remove a file from favorites
• YAFE: Preview File - Preview a file in the Quick Navigator

Configuration

This extension provides the following settings:

• yafe.recentFileLimit: Number of recent files to display (default: 5)
• yafe.favoriteFileLimit: Maximum number of favorite files (default: 10)

Features in Detail

Quick Navigator Modal

The Quick Navigator provides a full-screen or modal view for deep navigation through your project files. It includes:

• Fuzzy search for finding files quickly across your entire project
• File preview panel that shows content without opening the file
• Breadcrumb navigation for easy directory traversal
• Keyboard-friendly navigation with vim-like shortcuts (h,j,k,l)

Quick Access Hub

The Quick Access Hub provides quick access to your most important files:

• Favorites section for pinned files and folders
• Recent Files section showing recently opened files
• Modified Files section showing files you've changed in the current session

Peek Preview Explorer

The Peek Preview system allows you to preview files without opening them in the editor:

• Preview text files with syntax highlighting
• View images directly in the preview panel
• Render markdown files for easy reading
• Preview JSON and other structured data

Development

Building the Extension

1. Clone the repository
2. Run npm install to install dependencies
3. Run npm run compile to build the extension
4. Press F5 to launch the extension in debug mode

Project Structure

• src/components/modal: Modal navigator components
• src/components/fileTracking: File tracking services
• src/components/preview: Preview rendering components
• src/utils: Utility functions and types

Other

• If you like this extension and want to support future development, you can do so on Venmo.

• If you like this extension and don't want to support future development, that's cool too.

• If you don't like this extension, you can use this link to get me to stop programming all together -> Not Venmo.

License

MIT