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 — keeping your spatial awareness intact even in complex workspaces. It also provides AI-Ready Coding Context for quick copying. Perfectly suited for Monorepo projects or large-scale applications using MVVM or MVC architectures.

⚡ VirtualTabs vs. Native VS Code Tabs

🧩 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

Why does VirtualTabs exist? Read the philosophy → presented at COSCUP 2026

🚀 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 from Explorer into your group.

✨ 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.
• Sub-Groups & Nesting — Create hierarchical structures for better organization.
• AI Context Export — One-click copy all files as LLM-ready context.
• Portable Config — Settings saved to .vscode/virtualTab.json for team sharing.
• AI Agent Integration (MCP) — Connect AI agents (Cursor, Claude, etc.) to manage groups programmatically.
• Agent Skill Support — Install the canonical virtualtabs skill using the current procedure in the MCP Setup Guide.
• Multi-Root Workspace Scopes — Keep groups separated per workspace folder in multi-root projects.
• Auto Reveal & Sync — Automatically focus active files and sync with native editor groups.
• Send to... — Quickly send selected files or groups to pre-configured destinations.
• File Reordering — Custom manual ordering via Drag & Drop or keyboard shortcuts.

⚡ Workflow Boosters

• Smart Copy Menu — Unified copy options for names, paths, and total file content.
• Directory Drag & Drop — Drag folders to add files recursively while skipping hidden directories.
• Clipboard Operations — Full Cut/Copy/Paste support for files and groups.
• Smart Organization — Auto-group by extension, date, or sort by various criteria.

📖 User Guide

📁 Group Management

• Create/Rename: Right-click panel or groups to manage.
• Multi-root scopes: In a multi-root workspace, each detected project appears as its own section. Use the inline Add Group button on the scope header to create groups; the panel title + button is intentionally hidden in multi-root mode to keep group creation scoped to the correct project. In single-root mode the panel title button is still present.
• Sub-Groups: Right-click a group → Add Sub-Group (or drag one group into another).
• Auto-Sync: The built-in "Open Editors" group automatically tracks your native tabs.
• Drag & Drop:
  • Files: Drag files from Explorer into groups.
  • Folders: Drag folders to recursively add files inside; directories whose names start with . are skipped, while dotfiles such as .gitignore are still included.
  • Multi-select: Hold Ctrl/Cmd to drag multiple files at once.

🔖 Task-Oriented Bookmarks

1. Right-click any line of code → Add Bookmark to VirtualTabs.
2. The bookmark appears nested under the file in your group.
3. Click to jump instantly to that exact line.
4. Edit label/description to document why this line is important.

🤖 AI Context Export

A power feature for LLM workflows.

1. Setup a group with all relevant files for your current task.
2. Right-click the group → Copy... → Copy Context for AI.
3. Paste into ChatGPT/Claude.
   • Smart: Binary files are skipped; large files (>50KB) are flagged for review.
   • Clean: All code is formatted in markdown blocks with file paths.

🤖 Smart AI Agent Integration (MCP)

VirtualTabs provides full AI agent integration via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Let your AI assistant (Cursor, Antigravity, Kiro, etc.) manage your workspace groups programmatically.

• 🔌 Standardized Tools: Provides MCP tools for managing groups and exploring the project. See the MCP server reference for the current capability catalog.
• 🛡️ Safety Mode: Uses the canonical VirtualTabs Agent Skill to guide safe tool use and fallbacks.
• ⚙️ Setup: Follow the MCP Setup Guide for current client configuration and Agent Skill installation paths.

💡 Best Practices

1. Group by Task, Not Folder: Think about the feature you're working on.
2. Use Bookmarks for Logic Flow: Mark key decision points in your code.
3. Curate AI Context: Group only necessary files (5-10) to maximize LLM accuracy and reduce token noise.
4. Share with Team: Commit each project's .vscode/virtualTab.json to share curated project views.

❓ FAQ

Q: I don't see the VirtualTabs panel?
Check if the extension is enabled and if you are using VS Code 1.75+. Look for the VirtualTabs icon in the Activity Bar.

Q: How does "Copy Context for AI" work?
It reads all files in the group, formats them as markdown code blocks, and copies them to the clipboard.

Q: Can I reorder groups manually?
Yes, right-click any group and use the Move Up/Down commands.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome community contributions! Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, which links to the development and testing guides required for a pull request.

• 🐞 Bug Reports/Feature Requests

🔥 Recommended Companions

🔥 Quick Prompt

The perfect partner for VirtualTabs.

VirtualTabs keeps your workspace organized. Quick Prompt keeps your thoughts organized inside the IDE.

• VirtualTabs: group files by task — across any directory, persisted across sessions
• Quick Prompt: capture ideas and queue next tasks while your agent runs — without switching windows

Together, they reduce the cognitive overhead of AI-assisted development.

Get Quick Prompt on VS Code Marketplace | Open VSX Registry

🔁 Edo Tensei

For when the AI session itself needs to move, not just your files.

VirtualTabs solves where am I in the workspace. Edo Tensei solves what happens when your AI quota runs out or you switch IDEs mid-task — it extracts local session history and packages it into a handoff prompt so the next agent can pick up where the last one left off.

Get Edo Tensei on VS Code Marketplace | Open VSX Registry

📅 Changelog

👉 See CHANGELOG.md for full release history.

❤️ Support

If you find this extension helpful, please consider supporting the development!

License: MIT

Organize smarter, code faster. 🚀