Explorer Enhanced

Folder-first navigation for VS Code: a dedicated activity bar container with a Folders tree and a Files webview (name, modified, size, and status columns, codicon toolbar).

Repository: Explorer-Enhanced-For-VsCode

Release notes: CHANGELOG.md

Screenshots

Full View

_{Details layout: Folders tree + Files table (name, modified, size).}

Files Features/Options

TopBar: Search (Name/File content), Navigation, Show/Hide Folders in files view, Select View and Options

Options

Files Views (Icons/List/Details)

Icons: name, size, Git/Problems.

List: name + Git/Problems.

Details: name, modified, size, Git/Problems.

Features

Folders

• Workspace roots and subfolders; optional Show files in tree (from the view title menu or commands).
• Multi-root workspaces: drag-and-drop a workspace folder root onto another root to reorder (same idea as the built-in Explorer); drop on empty tree area moves the folder to the end. Subfolders and files in the tree are not draggable.
• Context actions: new file/folder, refresh, reveal in OS, integrated terminal, copy path, rename, delete, reveal in built-in Explorer.
• Folder expand behavior (see Settings): you can align with the built-in Explorer so a single click only selects a folder (and drives the Files view), while expand/collapse uses the twistie (>) or a double-click on the folder label. This is implemented by syncing workbench.tree.expandMode at workspace scope when you choose that mode in settings (see limitations below).

Files

• Table or icon layout: sortable columns, optional Git status, problems counts, folder sizes, path hint, layout switcher (list / details / icons).
• Folder row selection: a single click on a folder in the listing highlights that row and updates the breadcrumb / path line to that folder’s path. The file listing stays on the folder you had opened; double-click still opens the folder. Selection is cleared when you open another folder, click a file row, or when the active editor sync updates the path hint for a file.
• Keyboard in the listing: F2 (rename) and Delete match the context menu when the Files webview has focus (same target order: selected folder row → active-editor row → last click). After you open a file from the list, focus usually moves to the editor: the extension then registers workbench keybindings so F2 / Delete still rename/delete that file (or the selected folder row if you single-clicked a folder) instead of triggering the editor’s symbol rename (e.g. Markdown headings). Not active while the filter field, a toolbar menu, or the context menu is open.
• Filter by name: on the first row of the Files pane, the search field shares a line with the view/settings toolbar (icons); the path sits on the row below and wraps on long paths. Filtering applies to List, Details, and Icons (case-insensitive substring). Matching substrings in file and folder names are highlighted using theme colors (list.filterValue*, then editor find-match / selection highlight fallbacks). The query is cleared when you open a different folder; Esc or the codicon-close button (visible when the field is not empty) clears the filter. The field uses role="searchbox" for accessibility (type="text" so the clear control renders reliably in the webview).
• Search in file contents: the codicon-file-text toggle switches the same field to a recursive text search under the currently selected folder (debounced). The extension reads candidate files as UTF-8 with sensible exclusions and limits (see src/filePaneContentSearch.ts). While a search runs, you get window progress and a spinner overlay in the webview; the table lists matching files only. The choice is remembered per workspace. When you open a hit, the editor’s native Find bar opens prefilled with the same query (case-insensitive). The Replace row stays collapsed (expand with the widget chevron if needed); use F3 / Shift+F3 to jump between matches. With Select Active File enabled, the Folders tree still follows the open file, but the Files listing stays on your content-search results (the query is not cleared just because the hit lives in a subfolder).
• Column widths (List + Details): Name uses the remaining horizontal space. Modified, Size, and the combined Git / Problems column use fixed pixel widths (drag the header separators). The Git/Problems width is shared between List and Details: resizing in one view applies to the other. Values are stored in workspace state under explorer-enhanced.filePane.detailColWidthsPx (triplet [modifiedPx, sizePx, statusPx]). Min/max bounds are defined once in the extension and passed into the webview at load so the UI and host validation stay aligned.
• Git badges mirror the built-in Explorer where possible: working tree + index, merge/conflict, and incoming (upstream) when behind a tracked branch.
• Symlink / junction rows use dedicated codicons (file-symlink-file, file-symlink-directory) when the entry is a symbolic link or junction (Windows).
• Highlight open files (optional): open editor tabs are indicated by link-colored text (textLinkForeground), not a row background.
• Context menu (Git): on files with pending changes, Git: Stage, Git: Discard Changes, and Git: Unstage call the built-in Git commands (when the Git column data is available).
• Follow .lnk links (Windows, optional setting): opening a .lnk shortcut from Files or related context actions can resolve and open the target instead of the binary shortcut.

Settings

ID	Description
explorer-enhanced.focusOnStart	When true, Explorer Enhanced receives focus every time a window opens or reloads (see Focus on Start). Default: false.
explorer-enhanced.folders.folderExpandInteraction	How Folders tree rows expand. See Folder expand interaction.
explorer-enhanced.files.dateTimeFormat	How Modified is formatted (locale, iso, relative, custom, …).
explorer-enhanced.files.dateTimeCustomPattern	Pattern when format is custom (tokens: YYYY, MM, DD, HH, mm, ss, …).
explorer-enhanced.files.followLnkLinks	On Windows, open Shell Link targets for .lnk files instead of the shortcut file. Default: false.

Additional options (subfolders in list, Git/problems columns, etc.) are exposed from the Files view settings menu and stored in workspace state.

Folder expand interaction

Value	Behavior
inherit (default)	The extension does not change workbench.tree.expandMode. Use your existing VS Code / workspace preference.
doubleClick	Sets workbench.tree.expandMode to doubleClick for the current workspace. Single click on a folder row selects only; the twistie or double-click on the label toggles expand/collapse.
singleClick	Sets workbench.tree.expandMode to singleClick for the workspace (classic tree: one click on the row toggles).

Important

• Applying doubleClick or singleClick updates workspace settings, so other sidebar trees in the same workspace (built-in Explorer, SCM, …) use the same expand mode.
• File nodes in the Folders tree (when “files in tree” is enabled) still open on single click because they use vscode.open. VS Code does not apply tree expand mode to items that define a command.

To configure expand behavior globally without the extension writing the workspace file, set Workbench › Tree: Expand Mode (workbench.tree.expandMode) yourself and keep Folders: Folder Expand Interaction on inherit.

Focus on Start

When explorer-enhanced.focusOnStart is true, the extension switches the sidebar to Explorer Enhanced every time a VS Code window opens or reloads. The extension uses the onStartupFinished activation event and a progressive retry mechanism so the focus command runs after VS Code finishes restoring its own UI.

This is not the same as a native "restore last Activity Bar view" setting — that does not exist in VS Code. This option unconditionally focuses Explorer Enhanced regardless of which view was active before.

Requirements

• VS Code ^1.85.0
• Built-in Git extension (vscode.git) — used for Git decorations in Files and related behavior.

Commands

Use the Command Palette (Explorer Enhanced:) for focus, layout, toggles (subfolders in list, files in folder tree), and folder context actions when invoked from the tree.

Development

npm install
npm run compile

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host (see launch.json / tasks.json). Use Run Extension (disable other extensions) only when you need an isolated console.

npm run lint
npm run package   # VSIX via vsce

Open VSX only (retry without bumping version)

If Deploy Extension built a release but Open VSX failed while the Marketplace step succeeded, do not re-run the full deploy (that would compute a new patch version). Instead:

1. GitHub Actions → Publish Open VSX only → Run workflow and set version to the semver of the existing release (e.g. 1.0.4, no v). The workflow downloads explorer-enhanced-{version}.vsix from that release and runs ovsx publish using OPENVSX_TOKEN.

2. Or locally (after downloading the VSIX from the release page):

   npx ovsx publish -p "$OVSX_PAT" explorer-enhanced-1.0.4.vsix

   On Windows PowerShell, set $env:OVSX_PAT to your Open VSX token (or use -p with the token string — avoid committing it).

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.