Explorer File Sizes

Tiny, fast badges in the VS Code Explorer showing file sizes. Hover to see exact bytes/MB. Optional recursive folder sizes.

Tip: Prefer Subtle for clean Explorer UI—tooltips without extra badges.

What’s new in 1.0.2

• Refresh All Sizes command (clear cache + refresh decorations).
• External change watcher to keep sizes fresh when files change outside VS Code.
• Folder Badge Mode is now set to showing folder sizes by default.

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Features

1) File size badges (Explorer)

• Full shows a compact 2-character badge next to each file: B, 1K…9K, K, 1M…9M, M, G, T.
• Subtle shows no badge but keeps a rich tooltip on hover (minimal visual noise).
• Off removes all Explorer decorations created by this extension.
• Tooltips Always show exact bytes and MB for files (and last modified date when available).

2) Folder sizes (optional, background compute)

• How it works
  • When Enable Folder Sizes is ON, folders are scanned in the background with a time/entry budget to keep the UI snappy.
  • While the size is being computed, a ⏳ badge appears (configurable via Folder Badge Mode / legacy Folder Hover Indicator).
  • Tooltips show the exact total; ~ + “approx” when a budget stops early.
  • To avoid clashes with other decorations (Problems/SCM/etc.), this extension doesn’t show persistent folder badges by default.
  • On‑demand deep scan: Right‑click a folder → Explorer File Sizes: Show Folder Size (larger budget with progress).
  • Or: Command Palette → “Explorer File Sizes: Show Folder Size” (prompts you to pick a folder if none is selected).

3) Status bar size (active editor)

• Shows the exact size for the currently active file in the Status Bar, even when badges are Off.

4) Exclude globs (minimatch)

• Skip heavy or noisy paths (e.g., **/node_modules/**, **/.git/**, **/dist/**, **/build/**) during folder scans.
• Uses minimatch with:
  • dot: true (matches dot-folders like .git)
  • nocase on Windows
  • Matches both absolute and workspace-relative paths
• Examples:
  • Ignore all node_modules: **/node_modules/**
  • Ignore generated assets: **/dist/**, **/build/**, **/.next/**, **/target/**
  • Ignore logs/temp: **/*.log, **/tmp/**, **/.cache/**

Tune this list per project for faster, more accurate folder sizes.

5) Caching & refresh

• Results are cached for ~15 seconds to keep the Explorer snappy.
• The cache invalidates on file create/delete/rename/save, or when you change any of the extension’s settings.

6) Remote-friendly & safe

• Works in Local, Remote-SSH, WSL, and Containers.
• Reads metadata via the VS Code FileSystem API—no external binaries, no telemetry.

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Commands

• Explorer File Sizes: Show Folder Size Right-click a folder in Explorer → Show Folder Size (deep scan with progress).

• Explorer File Sizes: Refresh All Sizes Command Palette → Refresh All Sizes to clear the cache and refresh all decorations immediately.

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Installation

Requirements: VS Code ≥ 1.90

From Marketplace (recommended)

1. Open the Extensions view (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+X).
2. Search Explorer File Sizes.
3. Click Install.

   For Remote-SSH/WSL/Containers, use Install in… to target the remote.

Install via CLI There are two ways to get the .vsix:

A) Download a prebuilt .vsix

• GitHub Releases: Latest release → download the .vsix asset.
• VS Code Marketplace: Open the extension page and click Download Extension to save a .vsix.

B) Build it yourself

git clone https://github.com/bdoole1/explorer-file-sizes.git
cd explorer-file-sizes
npm ci
npm run compile
npx vsce package   # outputs ./explorer-file-sizes-<version>.vsix

Install the .vsix

• VS Code: Extensions: Install from VSIX... → select the file
• CLI:

# VS Code Stable
code --install-extension ./explorer-file-sizes-<version>.vsix
# VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --install-extension ./explorer-file-sizes-<version>.vsix

Settings (compact)

Setting	Default	Type	Description
explorerFileSizes.badgeMode	full	string (full/subtle/off)	Controls file badges. Full shows 2-char size; Subtle shows tooltip only; Off disables Explorer decorations.
explorerFileSizes.enableFolderSizes	true	boolean	Compute folder sizes in the background; shows ⏳ while scanning (if enabled).
explorerFileSizes.folderBadgeMode	calculating	string (off/calculating/size)	Folder badge behavior: show nothing, show ⏳ while computing, or a 2‑char size on folders.
explorerFileSizes.excludeGlobs	see default	string[]	Globs skipped during folder scans (minimatch). Matches absolute and workspace‑relative paths.

Legacy alias: explorerFileSizes.folderHoverIndicator (calculating/off) is supported as a backward‑compatible alias for folderBadgeMode (only calculating or off).

Quick JSON snippet

{
  "explorerFileSizes.badgeMode": "subtle",
  "explorerFileSizes.enableFolderSizes": true,
  "explorerFileSizes.folderBadgeMode": "calculating",
  "explorerFileSizes.excludeGlobs": [
    "**/node_modules/**",
    "**/.git/**",
    "**/dist/**",
    "**/build/**",
    "**/.cache/**"
  ]
}

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Notes & constraints

• VS Code shows one decoration per item; other providers may mask this extension’s badge/tooltip on that item.
• Budgets (time/entry count) keep the UI responsive; folder tooltips show ~ when that happens.
• Use the Explorer context menu for a guaranteed, deeper folder size.

Privacy

This extension sends no telemetry and makes no network requests. All size calculations happen locally.

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Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.