Branch Change Tabs

Open all files that were changed on the current git branch whenever you switch branches (excluding configured branches like main/master).

Note: This extension is not recommended to be used in branches that modifies many (more than 10) files at once.

What it does

• Detects git branch switches in the current repository.
• Diffs the current branch against a base ref (upstream if set; otherwise main/master).
• Opens all changed files, optionally pinning them and optionally closing existing tabs first.
• Skips branches in a configurable exclude list.
• Skips files that match any configured regex.

Configuration

These settings live under branchTabs.*:

• branchTabs.excludedBranches (array, default: ["main","master"])
  • Branch names that should not trigger auto-opening files.
• branchTabs.closeAllBeforeOpen (boolean, default: true)
  • Close all open editors before opening changed files.
• branchTabs.includeModifiedFiles (boolean, default: true)
  • Open files modified relative to the base branch.
• branchTabs.includeNewlyTrackedFiles (boolean, default: true)
  • Open files newly added relative to the base branch.
• branchTabs.pinModifiedFiles (boolean, default: true)
  • Pin modified files when opening.
• branchTabs.pinNewlyTrackedFiles (boolean, default: true)
  • Pin newly added files when opening.
• branchTabs.excludedFiles (array, default: common image/binary patterns and git meta files)
  • Regex strings to exclude files from opening (matched against repo-relative paths).
  • Supports either pattern or /pattern/flags formats.
  • Files ignored by .gitignore are already excluded.
  • Common patterns: \\.png$, \\.jpe?g$, \\.svg$, \\.gif$, \\.pdf$, \\.zip$, \\.gz$, \\.7z$, \\.exe$, \\.dmg$, ^\\.gitignore$
• branchTabs.maxFilesToOpen (number, default: 10)
  • Opens up to this many text files when more are changed.
• branchTabs.textFilesOnly (boolean, default: true)
  • Only open text files and skip binaries.
• branchTabs.excludedDirectories (array, default: [])
  • Regex strings to exclude directories (matched against repo-relative paths).
  • Recommended: ^dist/, ^build/, ^out/, ^coverage/, ^node_modules/, ^\\.turbo/, ^\\.next/
• branchTabs.closePinnedTabsOnBranchChange (boolean, default: false)
  • Closes pinned tabs that were opened by this extension when switching branches.
• branchTabs.closeAllOnExcludedBranch (boolean, default: true)
  • Closes tabs previously opened by the extension when switching to an excluded branch.
• branchTabs.promptOnNewRepository (boolean, default: true)
  • Prompt to enable or disable the extension when a new repository is opened.
• branchTabs.disabledRepositories (array, default: [])
  • List of repository root paths where the extension is disabled.

Commands

• Branch Change Tabs: Open Changed Files
  • Opens the current branch's changed files for the active repository using your configured settings.
• Branch Change Tabs: Close Pinned Tabs in Active Group
  • Closes pinned tabs in the currently active editor group.
• Search Changed Files
  • Filters the explorer view list of changed files by path.
  • Shortcut in the changed-files explorer view: Ctrl+F / Cmd+F (also Super/Meta+F on Linux).
• branchTabs.baseBranch (string, default: "")
  • Optional base branch/ref to diff against. If empty, uses upstream if set; otherwise main/master when available.

Notes

• This extension triggers only on branch change events (not on VS Code startup).
• Output logs are available in the Output panel under Branch Change Tabs.