Folder Spaces for VS Code

Focused, folder-scoped file navigation for Visual Studio Code.

Folder Spaces adds one or two native tree views to its own Activity Bar container, so you can work inside the folders you care about without the noise of the whole workspace. It is a normal TreeView: you keep native file icons, Git decorations, problem badges, file operations and workspace.fs support.

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Version 0.2.1. Two layouts are supported: Tree (one pane) and Dual (two stacked panes). Read Breaking changes from v1.x before upgrading.

Install

From the VS Code Marketplace (recommended)

1. Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X) and search for Folder Spaces, or open the Marketplace page.
2. Select Install, then reload the window if VS Code asks.

Command line equivalent: code --install-extension edwardsayer.folder-spaces

From a VSIX file: run Extensions: Install from VSIX… from the Command Palette and pick folder-spaces-<version>.vsix.

VSCodium and Cursor users: the extension is not on Open VSX yet, so install the VSIX file for now.

Once installed, open the Folder Spaces icon in the Activity Bar and run Add Folder Space… to choose the first folder to work in.

Why Folder Spaces

VS Code's built-in Explorer always shows the entire workspace. Folder Spaces gives you a focused view of selected folders — and of a second folder at the same time — while keeping everything native.

Tree mode

Tree mode is a single pane. Each configured root is listed as a top-level row, and several roots can be shown side by side.

• The pane title is the container title Folder Spaces; no description is set.
• Every folder row carries two inline buttons: Drill Into Folder and Activate Child Space.
• The title bar holds Collapse All / Expand Level, Filter by Path… / Clear Filter and the … menu (Dual Pane, Sort, Add Folder to Space…, Refresh, Workspace Folders…).

Dual mode

Dual mode stacks two panes:

• Titles follow content: pane1 shows Spaces when it has several roots and no drill-down, otherwise the last path segment; pane2 shows its current folder.
• Selecting a folder in pane1 navigates pane2 into it (selecting a file does not).
• Activate Child Space on a folder row makes that folder pane2's root and opens Dual mode if needed.
• Pane1 and pane2 remember their own view and sort settings.

Files pane view modes

The View Mode button on the Files pane cycles through three modes:

Dual Pane is visibility-aware

Dual Pane / Dual Pane ✓ exist on both panes and reflect what is actually on screen:

• Both panes visible and mode is Dual → the menu shows Dual Pane ✓; activating it closes Files and returns to Tree.
• Either pane is hidden from the container menu → the remaining pane shows an unchecked Dual Pane; activating it unhides and restores the missing pane.
• Collapsing a pane by clicking its title bar is not the same as closing it: the pane stays alive and simply expands again on the next click.

Menus and check marks

Stateful items are shown as paired commands with a trailing ✓ (for example Dual Pane ✓), because VS Code does not render native check marks for extension menus.

The Sort submenu offers Name / Modified / Created, ascending and descending, and each pane keeps its own choice. The container's … menu lists the views (Spaces, Files) and can hide either one.

Filtering

Filter by Path… applies a path-substring filter to the pane and shows a n / m matches counter plus an inline Clear Filter button. Supported glob syntax for include / exclude covers *, **, **/, ? and escaping; brace patterns and character classes are not supported.

Where roots come from

Roots can come from three sources, kept separate on purpose:

1. Workspace roots — available automatically from the current VS Code workspace. They can be hidden and restored from Workspace Folders….
2. codeFolderSpaces.spaces.workspace — project-level list, written to .vscode/settings.json or to the .code-workspace file.
3. codeFolderSpaces.spaces.global — profile-level list in your user settings.json, shown in every window of that profile and marked with 🌐.

Use Mark as Global / Unmark Global on a root to move it between the project list and the global list. Profiles keep separate settings, so other profiles need their own global roots (or Settings Sync).

File operations

• Create, rename, delete, move and drag-and-drop, plus a session-scoped undo for move/rename.
• Disk-modifying commands are gated by Workspace Trust: they stay disabled until the workspace is trusted.
• When files.enableTrash is on, deletes go through the trash for file: URIs; other schemes are refused rather than deleted permanently.
• Live file-system watchers keep the panes up to date, including folders outside the workspace.

Settings

A root entry may be a path string or an object with path, name, icon, showFiles, include and exclude. Paths support ${workspaceFolder}, ${workspaceFolders[N]} and ${userHome}.

{
  "codeFolderSpaces.spaces.workspace": [
    "${workspaceFolder}/src",
    {
      "path": "${workspaceFolder}/docs",
      "name": "Documentation",
      "icon": "book",
      "showFiles": true,
      "exclude": ["archive/**"]
    }
  ],
  "codeFolderSpaces.spaces.global": ["${userHome}/notes"]
}

Common commands

Most pane actions live in the title bar, the … menu, the Sort submenu or the context menu, and are hidden from the Command Palette on purpose.

• Drill Into Folder, Activate Child Space — inline buttons on every folder row in pane1.
• Add Folder to Space… — a single searchable picker with recent folders and a Browse for folder… entry; a typed path is accepted directly.
• Remove Root, Workspace Folders…, Refresh.
• Dual Pane / Dual Pane ✓, Close Pane.
• Collapse All, Expand Level, Filter by Path…, Clear Filter, Return to Parent.
• Toggle View Mode — Files pane: Explorer / File List / Nested File List.
• Mark as Global, Unmark Global.
• Open Workspace, Open Workspace in New Window — inline buttons on .code-workspace rows.

The manifest currently contributes 86 commands; all of them are covered by a command-parity check.

File nesting

File nesting follows VS Code's own explorer.fileNesting.enabled, patterns and expand settings. It applies to sibling files in one directory, each file gets at most one parent, and a path filter disables nesting. Note that explorer.fileNesting.patterns from Global and Workspace scopes are merged with the built-in defaults.

Known limitations

• Pane1 cannot be closed; closing pane2 returns to Tree mode.
• Glob support is a subset (*, **, **/, ?, escaping); src/** does not match the src directory itself.
• Move safety uses lexical path comparison and does not resolve symlinks.
• Virtual workspaces are not supported; remote environments have not been fully validated.
• Pane titles are subject to VS Code's native text-transform: capitalize, which an extension cannot override.

Breaking changes from v1.x

Version 0.1.0 replaces the former multi-pane/preset model with fixed Tree and Dual layouts, removes the old codeFolderSpaces.spaces setting without migrating it, and removes preset controls and several settings. See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.

Development

npm install
npm run check          # typecheck, unit tests, build, project checks and command parity
npm run watch          # esbuild watch
npm run package:vsix   # production bundle + vsce package

Run the extension with F5 (Run Extension) or load it into an isolated window:

npm run vscode:debug -- --extension ./code-folder-spaces

License

MIT — see LICENSE.