Easy Projects Manager

One list of your projects, and each one opens on the right side of WSL or Windows.

Forked from Project Manager by Alessandro Fragnani.

Easy Projects Manager keeps saved favorites and auto-detected repositories (Git, VS Code, Mercurial, SVN or any folder) in one place. Press Shift+Alt+P, pick a project, choose this window or a new one. A project stored under \\wsl.localhost\<distro>\... opens as a real WSL remote window instead of a slow UNC folder, and any project can be reopened on the other side with Open in WSL or Open in Windows.

Highlights

• One grouped list. Favorites first, then Git, VSCode, Mercurial, SVN and Any, each under its own separator.
• You choose the window. Every open from the list or the Side Bar asks Open in This Window or Open in New Window.
• WSL-aware. WSL paths open as WSL remote windows, WSL repositories are auto-detected, and security.allowedUNCHosts is set up for you.
• Favorites you can shape. Tags, custom icons, rename, change the path, disable or delete, all from the Side Bar.
• Familiar storage. Favorites live in a plain projects.json you can still edit by hand.

Contents

• Quick start
• Open a project
• Organize favorites
• Auto-detect repositories
• WSL and Windows
• Side Bar, Status Bar and What's New
• Commands
• Settings reference
• Troubleshooting
• Extension API
• Credits & origin
• License

Quick start

1. Install Easy Projects Manager (exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager) from the Extensions view.

2. Save a favorite. Open a folder or workspace and run Easy Projects Manager: Save Project. Accept the suggested name, and optionally use the buttons in the input box to add tags or pick an icon.

3. Point it at your repositories. Add base folders to your user settings.json:

   // settings.json
   "easyManagerProjects.git.baseFolders": [
       "C:\\Projects",
       "\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\me\\repos"
   ]
   

4. Open something. Press Shift+Alt+P (Cmd+Alt+P on macOS), or use the Easy Projects Manager view in the Activity Bar.

Backslashes differ between the two editors. In settings.json each backslash is escaped, so a WSL folder is written "\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\home\\me\\repos". In the Settings UI you type the real path with single backslashes: \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\me\repos. Doubled backslashes in the Settings UI find nothing, and no error is shown.

Open a project

How the list is built

With easyManagerProjects.groupList set to true (the default) the list shows one section per kind, in this order:

1. Favorites, with their custom icon, a folder icon, or a remote icon for remote paths
2. Git
3. VSCode
4. Mercurial
5. SVN
6. Any

Within each section projects follow easyManagerProjects.sortList (Saved, Name, Path or Recent). Set groupList to false for a single flat list without separators.

Typing matches the name and the path (for example wsl.localhost or repos\api). Set filterOnFullPath to false to match names only. The current project is hidden from the list unless you turn off removeCurrentProjectFromList, and with git.showBranchName set to onlyInCommandPalette or always each Git project shows its current branch.

Keyboard navigation

While the list is open the inProjectManagerList context is set, so you can bind your own keys:

{
    "key": "ctrl+j",
    "command": "workbench.action.quickOpenSelectNext",
    "when": "inProjectManagerList && (isWindows || isLinux)"
},
{
    "key": "ctrl+shift+j",
    "command": "workbench.action.quickOpenSelectPrevious",
    "when": "inProjectManagerList && (isWindows || isLinux)"
}

Organize favorites

Save

Save Project stores the current folder or workspace. The name box has two buttons: one to select tags, one to select an icon (any codicon). Saving a name that already exists offers to update it. Projects from the auto-detected views can be promoted with Add to Favorites in their context menu.

Edit from the Side Bar

Right-click a favorite:

All projects also offer Add to Workspace and Reveal in Explorer / Reveal in Finder / Reveal in File Manager, depending on your OS.

Tags

Tags available for selection come from easyManagerProjects.tags (default Personal, Work). Switch the Favorites view between View as List and View as Tags from its title bar, and use Filter Projects by Tag to show only some tags in both the view and the list. tags.collapseItems controls whether tag groups start expanded or collapsed.

Edit projects.json by hand

Edit Projects opens the file behind the favorites:

[
    {
        "name": "Bookmarks",
        "rootPath": "$home\\Documents\\GitHub\\vscode-bookmarks",
        "tags": [ "Personal", "VS Code" ],
        "icon": "rocket",
        "enabled": true,
        "profile": "VSCode"
    }
]

• ~ and $home expand to your home folder.
• icon is a codicon id; leave it out for the default folder icon.
• profile opens the project with that VS Code profile.
• Set easyManagerProjects.projectsLocation to keep the file in another folder, for example one shared between Stable and Insiders.

If the file is not valid JSON the extension says so and offers Open File so you can fix it.

Auto-detect repositories

Each kind has its own settings and, once it has base folders, its own Side Bar view:

For each kind:

• baseFolders lists folders or glob patterns to scan. Windows paths, WSL UNC paths, ~ and $home all work.
• ignoredFolders lists folders or glob patterns to skip.
• maxDepthRecursion limits how deep the scan goes (default 4; any value below 1 means no limit).

"easyManagerProjects.git.baseFolders": [
    "C:\\Projects",
    "D:\\Work\\client-*",
    "$home\\personal"
],
"easyManagerProjects.git.ignoredFolders": [ "node_modules", "out", "fork*" ],
"easyManagerProjects.git.maxDepthRecursion": 4

Related switches: supportSymlinksOnBaseFolders follows symlinks, ignoreProjectsWithinProjects skips nested projects, any.excludeBaseFoldersFromResults leaves the base folders themselves out of the Any list, and cacheProjectsBetweenSessions avoids a full rescan at every start. Run Refresh Projects (or the per-kind refresh button in each view) after changing folders on disk.

WSL and Windows

WSL paths open as WSL windows

Any favorite or detected project under \\wsl.localhost\<distro>\... or \\wsl$\<distro>\... opens as vscode-remote://wsl+<distro>/.... You get a WSL remote window with Linux tools and fast file access, not a local window browsing a network share.

Open in WSL / Open in Windows

On Windows, every project in the Side Bar has two extra context menu entries:

The default distribution is the one marked * in wsl -l -v; change it with wsl --set-default <distro>. If none is found, the project is not opened and a message explains why. Only WSL projects can be opened in Windows.

The default automount root /mnt/ is assumed; a custom root in /etc/wsl.conf is not supported.

Allowed UNC hosts are handled for you

VS Code refuses UNC hosts that are not listed in security.allowedUNCHosts, and it does so silently: a WSL base folder simply returns no projects. On Windows, when any baseFolders entry points at \\wsl.localhost\... or \\wsl$\..., the extension adds the missing host (wsl.localhost and/or wsl$) to that setting and offers Reload Window. The setting is application-scoped, so it is written to the Default profile's settings. If a reload is not enough, restart VS Code.

Side Bar, Status Bar and What's New

• Side Bar. The Easy Projects Manager view has Favorites plus one view per configured kind. Each view has buttons to list its projects, refresh (auto-detected views) and open the related settings. The Favorites title bar adds Save Project, Edit Projects, the list/tags toggle, Filter Projects by Tag, and a View & Sort menu (Sort by Saved, Name, Path or Recent).

• Current project highlight. The open project is highlighted; pick your own color:

  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
      "easyManagerProjects.sideBar.currentProjectHighlightForeground": "#e13015"
  }
  

• Status Bar. Shows the current project name (showProjectNameInStatusBar); click it to open the project list.

• What's New. Easy Projects Manager: What's New shows the latest changes, the release timeline of this fork, and shortcuts to open a project, save one or set Git base folders. It follows your VS Code theme.

Commands

Settings reference

All settings start with easyManagerProjects..

List and windows

Tags

Auto-detection

Per kind (git, vscode, hg, svn, any):

General:

Troubleshooting

WSL repositories are not detected

1. Check the backslashes. settings.json needs "\\\\wsl.localhost\\Ubuntu\\..."; the Settings UI needs \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\....
2. Check security.allowedUNCHosts. It must contain wsl.localhost (or wsl$, whichever your paths use) in the Default profile's settings.json. The extension adds it for you; a copy only in a custom profile is not enough.
3. Restart VS Code after the host is added. A window reload sometimes is not.
4. Make sure WSL is running, for example by opening a WSL terminal, so \\wsl.localhost is reachable.
5. Raise maxDepthRecursion if your repositories sit more than 4 levels below the base folder.
6. Run Easy Projects Manager: Refresh Projects.

Coming from the original Project Manager

• Favorites are stored separately. Copy projects.json from the original extension's global storage folder (alefragnani.project-manager) into this one's (exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager), or point easyManagerProjects.projectsLocation at the folder that already holds it.
• Earlier local build. If you installed a build with the ID exeldtarkus.easy-manager-projects or exeltarkus.easy-manager-projects, copy projects.json from that extension's global storage folder into the exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager folder, then uninstall the old build.
• Settings are renamed. Replace the projectManager. prefix with easyManagerProjects. in your settings.json.
• Remote extension kind. Do not set remote.extensionKind to workspace for exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager. The extension has to run on the local (Windows) side to switch between WSL and Windows, so running it inside the remote turns those features off. Favorites for Containers, SSH, WSL or Codespaces still work from the local side and open the remote when picked.

Extension API

Other extensions can save projects through the public API. Declare the dependency:

"extensionDependencies": [
    "exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager"
]

Then use the exports:

import { ProjectManagerPublicApi } from './api/projectManager/api';

async function useProjectManagerApi() {
    const projectManagerApi = <ProjectManagerPublicApi>vscode.extensions.getExtension('exeltarkus.easy-projects-manager')?.exports;

    await projectManagerApi.saveProject("My Project", "/path/to/project", ["work"], "Default");
}

The contract is in api/api.d.ts. See also the VS Code extensions API.

Credits & origin

Easy Projects Manager is a fork of Project Manager 13.1.1 by Alessandro Fragnani. The core of this extension (saved projects, auto-detection, tags, the Side Bar, the Status Bar and the API) is his work, and all credit for it goes to him. This fork adds WSL and Windows switching and the changes listed in CHANGELOG.md, which also keeps the history of the original project.

If the original helps you, consider supporting it with Easy Projects Manager: Support the Original Project Manager.

License

GPL-3.0 with VS Code Extension Host API Exception © Alessandro Fragnani (original Project Manager). Fork maintained by exeldtarkus.