Tab Manager

A VS Code extension that brings grouping, filtering, and sorting to open tabs — and adds a second, filter-aware file tree in the Explorer sidebar.

Highlights

• Tab view in the activity bar with user-defined groups, multi-select close, and sort
• Extended Explorer in the Explorer sidebar with inline New File / New Folder, a live file-system watcher, and a deleted-file ghost view
• Projects in the Explorer sidebar with saved project shortcuts that open in a new VS Code window
• Shared filter state: one click toggles Modified / Untracked / Deleted / Errors / Open-Tabs-Only across both views
• Shared sort state: by name (asc/desc) × by file extension, combinable
• Performance: URI caches, WeakMap memoization, and debounced events keep the tree responsive during git checkout, mass saves, and rapid filter toggles

Features

Tab view (activity bar)

• Lists every open tab across all editor groups (split views)
• Groups — create named groups, drop tabs into them via Add to Group..., rename/delete freely. Tabs not in any group live under an Ungrouped section. With no groups defined, tabs are shown as a flat list
• Multi-select — Ctrl/Cmd + click or Shift + click, then Close Selected Tabs
• Open behavior — clicking a tab reveals the existing tab in its original editor group, including VS Code internal pages such as Welcome and Extensions
• Tab kinds supported — text, text diff, notebook, notebook diff, custom editor, webview, terminal, and other already-open editor tabs

Extended Explorer (Explorer sidebar)

• View title shows the workspace name (or the .code-workspace filename for multi-root)
• Tree root — a single-folder workspace shows its contents directly (like built-in Explorer); a multi-root workspace shows each folder as a root node
• Inline New File / New Folder — a placeholder item appears inside the target folder and updates live as you type in the input box
• Deleted files appear as ghost entries (greyed out, deleted label) when the Deleted filter is on
• Refresh forces a git status rescan on every repository before refreshing
• Optional metadata shows file size and line count next to file names
• Cut / Copy / Paste works across the OS clipboard — paste files copied in Finder, File Explorer, or another VS Code window, and files you copy here can be pasted into those apps too (Ctrl/Cmd+X, Ctrl/Cmd+C, Ctrl/Cmd+V)
• Context menu: Open / Open to Side / Reveal in File Explorer / Open in Integrated Terminal / Cut / Copy / Paste / Copy Path / Copy Relative Path / Compare This File with Branch / Rename / Delete / New File / New Folder
• Title bar: New File, New Folder, Refresh, metadata toggles, filter buttons, sort options

Projects (Explorer sidebar)

• Saved project folders and .code-workspace files are listed in a separate Explorer section
• Clicking a project opens it in a new VS Code window
• Use the title-bar actions to add a folder or add the current workspace
• Use the context menu to remove a saved project from the list

Filters

• Only one filter is active at a time; clicking the active filter turns it off
• Active filter is shown in each view's description (Filter: Modified)
• Modified and Errors are inline title-bar buttons; other filters live in the overflow ... menu

Sort

• By name: Ascending / Descending / Off (radio)
• By type (file extension): on/off toggle
• Both can be on together — tabs/files group by extension first, then by name
• Directories always come first in the Explorer (like built-in)

Installation

From a .vsix file

code --install-extension tab-manager-0.1.0.vsix

Or, in VS Code: Extensions panel → ... menu → Install from VSIX....

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85.0 or higher
• The built-in vscode.git extension (bundled with VS Code) is required for git-based filters. Without git, the Errors and Open Tabs Only filters still work.

Commands

All commands are discoverable in the Command Palette under Tab Manager: / Extended Explorer: prefixes.

Groups — New Group, Rename Group, Delete Group, Add to Group..., Remove from Group

Tabs — Close Tab, Close Selected Tabs, Open Tab

Filters — Show Modified Only, Show Untracked Only, Show Deleted Only, Show Errors Only, Show Open Tabs Only, Show Unsaved Only, Show Read-only Only, Show PR Comments Only, Show PR Files Only, Clear Filter

Sort — Sort by Name (Ascending), Sort by Name (Descending), No Name Sort, Sort by Type

Explorer — New File..., New Folder..., Expand All, Refresh Explorer, Show File Size, Show Line Count, Compare This File with Branch..., Rename..., Delete, Cut, Copy, Paste, Copy Path, Copy Relative Path, Reveal in File Explorer, Open in Integrated Terminal, Open to the Side

Projects — Add Project Folder..., Add Current Workspace to Projects, Open Project in New Window, Remove Project

Known limitations

• VS Code does not expose an API for inline editing in tree views. New File / New Folder uses a top-positioned input box synced live with a placeholder item in the tree — the closest approximation to the built-in Explorer's inline input
• The built-in Explorer cannot be replaced or removed programmatically. The Extended Explorer is contributed alongside it with "order": 0 so it tends to appear first; if it does not, drag the section header above the built-in Explorer once and VS Code remembers the order
• The Errors filter reflects only diagnostics that language servers have already produced — refreshing cannot force language servers to scan unopened files
• Tabs are focused by editor group/index. If a tab was closed before the tree refreshes, it may no longer be available to reveal
• OS-clipboard file paste relies on platform tools (osascript on macOS, PowerShell on Windows, wl-paste/xclip on Linux). Where those are unavailable the internal Cut / Copy / Paste still works, but exchanging files with Finder / Explorer / other windows may not

Development

npm install
npm run compile    # typecheck + bundle with esbuild
npm run watch      # incremental rebuild on save

Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host with the extension loaded.

Project layout

src/
  extension.ts          # activation, command wiring, context-key sync
  groupStore.ts         # persisted state: groups, sort, filter
  filterSource.ts       # git + diagnostics + open-tab URI source (Set cache + 50ms debounce)
  explorerProvider.ts   # hierarchical workspace tree with filter, pending-item, and dir cache
  explorerCommands.ts   # new/rename/delete/reveal/etc., inline-create UX
  projectProvider.ts    # saved projects tree, global project store, and project commands
  tabProvider.ts        # open-tabs tree, groups, sort (debounced refresh)
  tabUtils.ts           # tab key/category/uri helpers (WeakMap-cached)
  util.ts               # debounce helper
media/
  icon.png              # 128×128 marketplace icon (transparent background)
  icon.svg              # source for icon.png
  tab-icon.svg          # monochrome activity-bar icon

Performance notes

• FilterSource caches Set<string> per filter mode — matches() is O(1) instead of linear scan over git changes
• ExplorerProvider caches readDirectory results per folder; filter/sort changes reuse the cache, only file-system events invalidate entries
• WeakMap caches in tabUtils memoize resourceUriFor / tabKey / tabTypeKey / tabTypeCategory per vscode.Tab instance
• Events from git / diagnostics / fs / tabs are debounced (30–80 ms) so rapid bursts (e.g., git checkout, npm install) collapse into a single refresh

Packaging & publishing

@vscode/vsce is already installed locally as a devDependency.

Before first publish, replace the placeholder values in package.json:

1. publisher — "local" → your marketplace publisher ID (create one at https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage)
2. repository.url, bugs.url, homepage — replace REPLACE_ME with your GitHub (or GitLab/etc.) username
3. Bump version for every publish

Then:

npm run vsce:package       # produces tab-manager-<version>.vsix
npx vsce login <publisher>
npm run vsce:publish

What ends up in the .vsix

Controlled by .vscodeignore. The packaged archive only contains:

• dist/extension.js — the bundled extension
• media/icon.png, media/tab-icon.svg
• package.json, README.md, LICENSE

Source files, node_modules, source maps, and local dev artifacts (.vscode/, .claude/, .lh/, .zoek*) are excluded.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md in the extension package.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.