Project Copy
Project Copy is a VS Code extension for copying what you pick in the Explorer to the clipboard. It stays simple: ignore the files you do not want, keep the content as-is, and copy it in plaintext, Markdown, or XML.
Features
- Context-aware Explorer actions
- Structure-only copy action for folders
- Root actions available from the File Explorer title menu
- Root copy available from the Command Palette and keyboard shortcut
- Respects the workspace-root
.gitignore when enabled
- One custom ignore list for project-level filtering, including dotfiles by default
- Optional project tree in workspace and folder output
- Optional content-only exclusions for files you want listed but not pasted
- Binary, encoding, and large-file safeguards
How To Use
In the Explorer, right-click:
- A folder: choose
Copy Contents, Copy Structure, or Hide Contents from Copy
- A file: choose
Copy Contents or Hide Contents from Copy
- Multiple selected items in the same workspace folder: choose
Copy Contents or Hide Contents from Copy
Blank Explorer space is not used as a Project Copy action surface.
Use the File Explorer title menu for the workspace root:
Copy Workspace ContentsCopy Workspace StructureHide Workspace Contents from Copy
Use the Command Palette or the keyboard shortcut for the workspace-root Copy Workspace Contents action.
After copying, the notification tells you what was copied.
Copy File Contents and Copy Selected Items stay focused on the selected content and do not prepend the workspace tree, even when projectCopy.includeProjectTree is enabled.
Settings
| Setting |
Description |
Default |
projectCopy.ignoreGitIgnore |
Skip files and folders matched by your root .gitignore. |
true |
projectCopy.ignorePatterns |
Skip files and folders that match these patterns. |
[".*", "node_modules", "out", "out/**", "dist", "dist/**", "coverage", "coverage/**", "package-lock.json", "pnpm-lock.yaml", "yarn.lock", "*.log"] |
projectCopy.maxDepth |
Limits only the tree preview depth. It does not limit which files are copied. |
5 |
projectCopy.outputFormat |
Choose the copy format. |
"markdown" |
projectCopy.maxFileSize |
If a file is bigger than this, show a size note instead of its contents. |
1048576 |
projectCopy.includeProjectTree |
Add the folder tree before the copied files. |
true |
projectCopy.excludeContentPatterns |
Keep matching files in the tree, but hide their contents in copied output. |
[] |
How Filtering Works
projectCopy.ignorePatterns: excludes matching files/folders entirely from both tree and copied content. The default includes .*, so dotfiles are skipped unless you change this setting.projectCopy.ignoreGitIgnore: when enabled, root .gitignore rules are also excluded from both tree and copied content.projectCopy.excludeContentPatterns: keeps matching files listed in the tree, but replaces their copied body with a placeholder.
Examples:
- Ignore fully:
node_modules/**
- Hide content only:
**/*.png
- Hide an entire folder's file bodies but keep paths listed:
src/secrets/**
Example .vscode/settings.json:
{
"projectCopy.ignoreGitIgnore": true,
"projectCopy.ignorePatterns": [
".*",
"node_modules",
"out",
"out/**",
"dist",
"dist/**",
"coverage",
"coverage/**",
"package-lock.json",
"pnpm-lock.yaml",
"yarn.lock",
"*.log",
"src/generated/**"
],
"projectCopy.excludeContentPatterns": [
"**/*.png",
"**/*.svg"
]
}
Development
npm run compile
npm run lint
npm test
Core modules:
ConfigurationServiceFileProcessorProjectTreeGeneratorOutputFormatterIgnoreUtils
projectCopy.ignorePatterns and projectCopy.excludeContentPatterns are resource-scoped, so you can put them in .vscode/settings.json for a specific project or workspace folder.
This extension is based on an MIT-licensed project and uses its own VS Code extension identity.
