🌳 tree-md-generator (make-tree)

(Programming Language – Node.js / TypeScript)

A simple yet powerful CLI tool that generates a clean, GitHub-style project directory tree and automatically injects it into your README.md. Designed for developers who want to keep their documentation clean, consistent, and always up to date.

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🚀 Key Features

• Auto-Update README: Intelligently finds and tags in your README.md and updates the content between them.
• Smart Configuration: Set your defaults (like depth, ignore, etc.) using a .treerc.json file.
• Flexible Ignore System: Ignore files and folders using a .treeignore file that supports glob patterns (just like .gitignore).
• Watch Mode: Run make-tree --watch to automatically update your tree every time you add or remove a file.
• Custom Output: Print to the terminal (default), update your README.md (--update), or save to any file (--output).
• Full ESM/CJS Support: Built with modern TypeScript and compiled to both ES Module and CommonJS formats.

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📦 Installation

You can install this tool globally to use it in any of your projects:

npm install -g tree-md-generator

(Note: The name in your package.json is tree-md-generator, which will be the package name on NPM).

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📖 Usage

Once installed, you can run the make-tree command from any project directory.

make-tree [options]

CLI Options

Option	Alias	Description
--depth <n>	-d	Limits the tree's scan depth (e.g., 2).
--ignore <patterns>	-i	A comma-separated list of glob patterns to ignore (e.g., "dist,*.log").
--update	-u	Automatically updates the README.md file between tags.
--output <file>	-o	Saves the tree output to a specific file (e.g., tree.txt).
--root <name>	-r	Adds a custom root name to the top line of the tree (e.g., ".").
--watch	-w	Stays running and watches for file changes, updating automatically.
--version	-v	Displays the tool's version.
--help	-h	Displays the help message.

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⚙️ Configuration

You can configure make-tree using two special files in your project's root directory.

1. .treeignore (For Ignoring Files)

This file works exactly like a .gitignore. Use it to list all files or folders you do not want to show in the tree.

Create a file named .treeignore in your project root.

.treeignore Template:

# Comments are ignored
# Ignore common folders
node_modules
dist
.git
.vscode
.next
logs

# Ignore specific files
.env
package-lock.json

# Ignore using glob patterns (minimatch)
*.log
*.tmp

The tool also ignores some common folders by default, like .git and node_modules, but adding them here is good practice.

2. .treerc.json (For Saving Options)

This file is very useful for saving your default CLI options. Instead of typing make-tree --depth 2 --update every time, you can save it here.

Create a file named .treerc.json in your project root.

.treerc.json Template:

{
  "depth": 2,
  "root": "my-project",
  "ignore": ["docs", ".github", "*.md"],
  "update": true,
  "watch": false
}

Configuration Priority

The tool merges settings in the following order of priority (number 1 always wins):

1. CLI Options (e.g., make-tree --depth 3)
2. Options in .treerc.json (e.g., "depth": 2)
3. Program Defaults

Example: If your .treerc.json has "depth": 2, but you run make-tree --depth 4, then depth 4 will be used. If you just run make-tree, then depth 2 will be used.

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✨ Usage Examples

1. Printing to the Terminal

Just run the base command. This will print the tree to your console.

make-tree

2. Updating README.md

Add these tags to your README.md file:

`<!-- TREE:START -->`
`<!-- TREE:END -->`

Then, run the command with the --update flag:

make-tree --update

The tool will find the tags and automatically update the content between them.

3. Using .treerc.json

You want to always update the README with a depth of 2 and ignore the docs folder.

Your .treerc.json file:

{
  "depth": 2,
  "update": true,
  "ignore": ["docs"]
}

Now, you only need to run:

make-tree

...and the tool will automatically run as if you had typed make-tree --depth 2 --update --ignore "docs".

4. Saving to a File

You want to create a TREE.txt file with a depth of 1.

make-tree --output TREE.txt --depth 1

5. Watch Mode

You are actively developing and want your README.md to always be up-to-date. (Assuming your .treerc.json already contains "update": true).

make-tree --watch

👀 Watching for file changes... (Press Ctrl+C to stop)

Now, every time you add, delete, or rename a file, your README.md will be updated automatically.

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Documentation & Policies

For detailed information on project management, security, and conduct, please refer to the following documents:

• Code of Conduct – CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• Security Guidelines – SECURITY.md
• Version Control Policy – VERSION_CONTROL.md
• Changelog – CHANGELOG.md

🤝 Contributing

Please refer to the Version Control Policy for detailed instructions on contributing: VERSION_CONTROL.md.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.