Custom folder structure

[VardaPanchal005]

How can I customize the folder structure output to ignore certain files or include only specific file extensions using the Folder Structure Pro VS Code extension?

[ShreyPurohit]

That's a great question @VardaPanchal005! 😊
Here’s how I’ve handled it in the extension 👇
The extension uses a custom GitignoreService internally to support ignoring files and folders — just like a .gitignore file does!

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🔧 How it works:

1. Reads .gitignore from the selected root directory
2. Parses the rules (like node_modules, *.log, etc.)
3. Filters out files/folders from the structure using the ignore package.

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🧠 Internals (Simplified):

// services/gitignore.ts
const gitignorePath = path.join(dirPath, '.gitignore');
const content = await FileSystemService.readFile(gitignorePath);
const rules = content.split('\n').filter(Boolean);
const ig = ignore().add(rules);

if (ig.ignores(relativePath)) {
  continue; // Skip adding this file/folder to output
}

This logic is used inside the core method `StructureService.getStructure()`, which builds the entire folder structure recursively while excluding anything ignored.

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⚙️ Bonus: Add Custom Ignore Patterns via VS Code Settings

You can also define ignore patterns directly inside VS Code settings under:

Settings → Folder Structure Pro → Ignore Patterns

Add glob patterns like:

["*.log", "node_modules", "dist", "build"]

The extension merges these settings with .gitignore entries for maximum flexibility.

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✅ So to customize:

• Just create or edit a .gitignore file in the root folder.
• OR use the folderStructure.ignorePatterns VS Code setting
• Add rules like *.ts, node_modules/, or dist/ depending on what you want to ignore
• The extension will respect these rules while generating output in both Plain Text and JSON format.

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Hope that helps! 💜
Feel free to ask more about the internals!