A persistent regex/glob filename filter that lives in the VS Code Explorer sidebar. Fills the gap between Quick Open (modal, fuzzy) and the Search panel (content-only) so you can keep a filtered list of files visible while browsing your workspace.
Features
New Matching Files view in the Explorer sidebar
Click the funnel icon in the Explorer title bar → type a glob → see every matching file as a directory tree rooted at the workspace folder
Single-click any result to open it in a preview tab; the tab is replaced on the next click so you can scan many files without piling up tabs
Auto-prepends **/ when your pattern has no slash, so *.yml "just works" recursively
Respects files.exclude and (configurably) search.exclude — the same files hidden in the Explorer/Search panel stay hidden here
Per-workspace persistence: your last pattern is restored when you reopen the workspace
Refresh and Clear actions on the view title bar
Caps results at 1000 with an inline truncation notice to protect performance on large monorepos
Usage
Open the Explorer sidebar.
Click the funnel icon (🔻) in the Explorer title bar.
Enter a glob pattern, e.g.:
**/*.yml — every YAML file in the workspace
*.ts — every TypeScript file (auto-prepended to **/*.ts)
**/docker-compose*.yml — every docker-compose file
Press Enter. The "Matching Files" section expands with the results.
Click any file to open it.
Extension Settings
Setting
Default
Description
filenameFilter.respectSearchExclude
true
When true, results exclude files matching both files.exclude and search.exclude. Set to false to apply only files.exclude.
Known Limitations
Glob only in this release. Regex support is planned.
No .gitignore integration — files listed in .gitignore are still shown unless they also appear in files.exclude or search.exclude.
No live refresh on file create/delete — use the ↻ action on the view title bar.
No default keybinding for opening the filter. Bind one in the Keyboard Shortcuts UI to the command filenameFilter.setGlob.
