backtrail
Continuous file history for folders without git — track every save, view diffs, and restore any version without overwriting your files.
Not a lightweight git. There's no staging, no commits, no branches. You track a folder, and from then on every save, create, delete, and rename becomes a point in that file's history automatically — visible in a panel, diffable, restorable. Built for people who work with files, not repositories.
Features
- Opt-in tracking, per folder. Right-click any folder in the Explorer → Track this folder — or use the + button in the Tracked Folders panel (Backtrail's own icon in the Activity Bar) to pick a folder from anywhere on disk; it gets added to your workspace tree automatically. A folder inside a git repository can't be tracked — if you're already using git there, this isn't for that folder.
- Continuous history panel. Select any file in a tracked folder and its version history shows up in the Backtrail History view in the Explorer sidebar, newest first.
- New/changed badges in the Explorer tree. A file gets an N badge the first time it's captured, or an M badge when it changes again after you've already seen it — like an unread-email flag, not a permanent mark. Opening the file in the editor clears its badge; if it changes again afterward, the M comes back. A folder containing a badged file shows a subtle indicator too.
- Real diffs. Click a text or image version to open it in VS Code's native diff editor. Other binary formats (
.pptx, .xlsx, .mp4, .pdf, …) show a size and timestamp instead — there's no meaningful diff to show for those.
- Non-destructive restore. Right-click any version → Restore this version. It never overwrites your current file — it writes a new file under
restored/, mirroring the original folder structure, so you decide what to do with it.
- Survives renames — even from Finder. Renaming or moving a file outside VS Code (Finder, Explorer,
mv) is invisible to most extensions. Backtrail correlates a delete and a same-content create within a short window so the file's history keeps going instead of restarting.
- Tracked Folders panel. Backtrail's own Activity Bar icon lists every folder you're tracking. Right-click one → Stop Tracking; if it's part of your workspace, you'll be asked whether to also remove it from the Explorer tree.
Requirements
None beyond VS Code itself. Everything runs locally; nothing leaves your machine.
Extension Settings
This extension contributes the following settings:
backtrail.ignoredFolders: Folder names never tracked, at any depth (default: node_modules, .git, dist, build).backtrail.ignoredExtensions: File extensions never tracked, e.g. .log, .tmp (default: none).backtrail.maxFileSizeMB: Files larger than this are never tracked (default: 50).backtrail.retentionDays: Snapshots older than this many days are discarded automatically (default: 45).
Known limitations
- A rename performed outside VS Code is only recognized if the new file appears within a few seconds of the old one being deleted, with identical content. A rename combined with an edit in the same instant may not be recognized as a continuation.
- Snapshots are stored unencrypted in VS Code's global storage for the extension. Don't track folders with secrets you wouldn't want readable on disk.
- Tracking state and history don't sync across machines.
Development
Requires Node 24+ — unit tests run .ts files directly via node --test, relying on native TypeScript type-stripping (no ts-node/tsx).
npm install
npm test # unit tests (node --test) + integration tests (real VS Code host)
npm run package # builds dist/extension.js
Issues and PRs welcome.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
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