VirtualTabs – VS Code Extension for Virtual Tabs & Custom File Grouping

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🚀 What is VirtualTabs?

VirtualTabs is a VS Code extension that provides custom "Virtual File Directories" outside of your native file system. Unlike standard directories, VirtualTabs helps you create independent logical file groups based on your current development theme, while also providing AI-Ready Coding Context for quick copying. It is perfectly suited for Monorepo projects or large-scale applications using MVVM or MVC architectures.

⚡ VirtualTabs vs. Native VS Code Tabs

✨ Key Features

Core Capabilities

• 📁 Cross-Directory Grouping — Organize files from anywhere, breaking free from folder constraints
• 🔖 Task-Oriented Bookmarks — Mark specific lines of code within your groups for quick navigation (v0.2.0)
• 📂 Sub-Groups & Nesting — Create hierarchical structures for better organization (v0.3.0)
• 🤖 AI Context Export — One-click copy all files as LLM-ready context (v0.3.0)
• ▶️ Script Execution — Inline run button for .bat and .exe files (v0.3.2)
• 💾 Portable Config — Settings saved to .vscode/virtualTab.json for team sharing (v0.3.2)

⚡ Workflow Boosters

• 📋 Smart Copy Menu — Unified copy options for files and groups (v0.3.0)
• 📁 Directory Drag & Drop — Drag folders to add all files recursively (v0.3.0)
• ✂️ Full Clipboard Operations — Cut/Copy/Paste support for files and groups (v0.3.0)
• ⇵ Group Reordering — Easily move groups up and down via context menu (v0.3.2)
• 📊 Smart Organization — Auto-group by extension, date, or sort by various criteria

⚡ Latest Highlights

v0.3.6 introduces powerful multi-select copy & system improvements:

• 🎯 Multi-select Copy Support (Core Update) — Select multiple files or groups and copy everything at once.
  • One-click copy for: File Names, Relative Paths, and Absolute Paths.
  • Enhanced "Copy Context for AI" handles mixed selections (files + groups + bookmarks) with automatic content deduplication.
• 🎨 Smart Unified Menu — Replaced redundant menus with a single, intelligent copy submenu.
• 🔧 Enhanced Reliability — Implemented robust cycle detection and improved type safety using instanceof checks for smoother performance in large projects.

v0.3.3 enhanced user experience:

• ⚙️ Configurable Confirmations — Toggle delete confirmation dialogs via settings.
• 🌍 Better i18n — Fully localized messages for English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X)
3. Search for VirtualTabs and click Install

First Time Setup

1. Click the VirtualTabs icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
2. Right-click in the panel → Create New Group
3. Drag files into your group
4. Right-click the group → Auto Group by Extension (optional)

Basic Operations

Creating Groups

• Right-click in the VirtualTabs panel → Create New Group
• Name your group (e.g., "AI Context", "Feature: Auth", "Bug Fix #123")
• Right-click any group → Add Sub-Group for nested organization

Adding Files

• Drag & Drop Files: Drag files from Explorer into a group
• Drag & Drop Folders: Drag folders to add all files recursively (v0.3.0)
• Multi-select: Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) and click files, then drag together
• Currently Open: The built-in group auto-syncs with your open tabs

Using Bookmarks (v0.2.0)

1. Right-click any line in the editor → Add Bookmark to VirtualTabs
2. The bookmark appears under the file in the sidebar
3. Click the bookmark to jump to that exact line
4. Right-click the bookmark → Edit Label or Edit Description

AI Context Export (v0.3.0)

1. Right-click a group → Copy... → Copy Context for AI
2. Paste directly into ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM
3. All files are formatted with proper code blocks

Unified Copy Menu:

All copy operations are available in one convenient submenu, with smart behavior for both groups and files.

Smart Features:

• Skips binary files automatically
• Opens in editor if content > 50KB
• Includes all sub-group files recursively

Sorting Files (v0.1.0)

• Right-click a group → Sort Files submenu
• Choose: Name, Path, Extension, or Modified Time
• Toggle ascending/descending order
• Each group remembers its own sort preference

Right-Click Menu Guide

VirtualTabs provides rich context menu options for efficient file and group management:

• Group Operations: Add/Rename/Duplicate, Move Up/Down, Bulk Open/Close, and Auto-Grouping.
• File Operations: Bulk Open/Close (multi-select), Remove from Group, Delete to Trash, and Script Execution (.bat/.exe).
• Copy Menu: Unified submenu for copying names, paths, or full LLM-ready context.
• Bookmarks: Quick navigation, label/description editing, and file management.

[!TIP] Technical Reference: For a complete matrix of command availability across all item types, please see DEVELOPMENT.md.

Multi-Selection Tips:

• Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) and click to select multiple files.
• Right-click any selected file to apply operations to all.
• Or simply right-click any file without pre-selection for quick actions.

🧩 Solving Modern Workflow Pain Points

In MVC/MVVM or large-scale projects, related files are often scattered across deep directory structures, making switching a repetitive chore:

❌ Traditional File Structure:
├── config.json          (Root Config)
├── styles/theme.css     (Style Layer)
├── src/components/      (View Layer)
└── tests/__tests__/     (Testing Layer)

✅ Theme-Based Virtual Directory:
📁 Feature: Theme System
  ├── 📁📚 Configuration
  │   └── config.json
  ├── 📁📚 Style Definitions
  │   └── theme.css
  ├── 📁📚 Components (View Layer)
  │   └── ThemeProvider.tsx
  │     └── 🔖 Line 45: Context setup
  └── 📁📚 Unit Tests (Logic/Testing)
      └── theme.test.ts

🤖 Born for AI Collaboration

In the era of Copilot and LLMs, precise context is the key to high-quality results:

• Curated Selection: Create groups with only the files relevant to your current task.
• One-Click Export: Convert entire groups into AI-friendly Markdown blocks (v0.3.0).
• Reduced Noise: Isolate core logic to help AI focus and prevent hallucinations.
• Persistent Context: Your curated AI prompts and file sets stay ready even after a restart.

"VirtualTabs helps me define the exact boundary of what the AI should see."

🎯 Use Cases

• Monorepo Management: Group related configs and logic across multiple packages.
• Architecture-Oriented Dev: Organize by logic layers (MVC/MVVM) rather than physical disk paths.
• AI Context Curation: Build precise file sets for LLMs to maximize prompt accuracy.
• Code Review (CR): Centralize all changed files for a specific feature for efficient review.
• Micro-Tutorials: Create curated code paths for onboarding or technical reference.

💡 Best Practices

1. Group by Task, Not Folder: Think about what you're working on, not where files live
2. Use Sub-Groups: Organize large groups with nested structure (v0.3.0)
3. Use Bookmarks for Logic Flow: Mark key decision points in your code
4. Create AI Context Groups: Group 5-10 files for focused AI assistance
5. Export Before Prompting: Use "Copy Context for AI" before asking LLMs
6. Review and Refine: Periodically clean up unused groups to stay organized

🌍 Language Support

VirtualTabs automatically switches based on your VS Code locale:

• 🇺🇸 English (en)
• 🇹🇼 Traditional Chinese (zh-tw)
• 🇨🇳 Simplified Chinese (zh-cn)

Change your VS Code locale to switch languages instantly.

❓ FAQ

Q1: I don't see the VirtualTabs panel?

Check:

• The extension is enabled
• Your VS Code version is 1.75+
• VirtualTabs has its own icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)

Q2: How do I create sub-groups?

Right-click any group → Add Sub-Group. You can also drag a group onto another group to nest it.

Q3: How does "Copy Context for AI" work?

It reads all files in the group (including sub-groups), formats them as markdown code blocks, and copies to clipboard. Binary files are automatically skipped.

Q4: Can I share my groups with my team?

Currently, groups are saved in workspaceState (local) or .vscode/virtualTab.json (shareable). v0.3.2 introduced support for .vscode storage!

Q5: Do bookmarks work across file renames?

Yes! Bookmarks track file paths and will update if you rename files within VS Code.

Q6: How do I drag folders into groups?

Simply drag a folder from the Explorer panel onto a group. VirtualTabs will automatically add all files recursively, skipping the directory entry itself.

🔧 Developer Section

Interested in contributing? Check out DEVELOPMENT.md for:

• Environment setup
• Debugging & publishing guide
• Module structure & data flow diagrams
• Common error troubleshooting

🤝 Contributing

We welcome community contributions:

• 🐞 Bug Reports → GitHub Issues
• ✨ Feature Requests and UI suggestions
• 🔧 Code Contributions (fork and submit a PR)
• 🌍 Translations for new languages

🤝 Recommended Companion

🔥 Quick Prompt

The perfect partner for VirtualTabs.

While VirtualTabs organizes your Context (Files), Quick Prompt organizes your Instructions (Prompts).

• VirtualTabs: Defines where the AI should look (File Groups).
• Quick Prompt: Defines what the AI should do (Prompt Management).

Together, they create the ultimate AI-coding workflow.

Get Quick Prompt on VS Code Marketplace | Open VSX Registry

📅 Changelog

✅ v0.3.6 (Latest)

• 🎯 Multi-select Copy Support — All copy commands now support selecting multiple files/groups
• 🎨 Unified Copy Menu — Consolidated 4 duplicate submenus into one smart menu
• 🔧 Enhanced Reliability — Improved type safety with instanceof checks and Set-based cycle detection
• 🐛 Bug Fixes — Fixed command namespace conflicts and bookmark context handling

✅ v0.3.3

• ✅ Configurable confirmation dialogs for delete operations
• ✅ Internationalized confirmation messages (EN/ZH-TW/ZH-CN)
• ✅ Refactored confirmation logic into reusable utility

✅ v0.3.2

• ✅ Inline Run button for scripts (.bat/.exe)
• ✅ Group Reordering (Move Up/Down)
• ✅ Storage moved to .vscode/virtualTab.json
• ✅ Expanded state persistence

✅ v0.3.0

• ✅ Sub-Groups & Nested Structure
• ✅ AI Context Export ("Copy Context for AI")
• ✅ Unified Copy Menu with smart behavior
• ✅ Directory Drag & Drop (recursive file adding)
• ✅ Copy/Paste/Delete operations
• ✅ Multi-select delete for groups and files
• ✅ Enhanced drag & drop with bookmark preservation

✅ v0.2.0

• ✅ Task-Oriented Bookmarks with smart flow
• ✅ Enhanced tree view for bookmarks and files
• ✅ Edit bookmark labels and descriptions

✅ v0.1.0

• ✅ File sorting (name, path, extension, modified time)
• ✅ Auto-group by modification date
• ✅ Per-group sort preferences
• ✅ Full i18n support (EN, ZH-TW, ZH-CN)

📄 License

Licensed under MIT License. Free for personal and commercial use.

Organize smarter, code faster. 🚀