TreeMapper

Extends ../CLAUDE.md

Export your codebase for AI/LLM context in one command.

pip install treemapper
treemapper . -o context.yaml   # paste into ChatGPT/Claude

Why TreeMapper?

Unlike tree or find, TreeMapper exports structure + file contents in a format optimized for LLM context windows:

name: myproject
type: directory
children:
  - name: main.py
    type: file
    content: |
      def hello():
          print("Hello, World!")
  - name: utils/
    type: directory
    children:
      - name: helpers.py
        type: file
        content: |
          def add(a, b):
              return a + b

Usage

treemapper .                          # YAML to stdout
treemapper . -o tree.yaml             # save to file
treemapper . -o -                     # explicit stdout output
treemapper . --format json            # JSON format
treemapper . --format text            # plain text with indentation
treemapper . --format md              # Markdown with headings and fenced code blocks
treemapper . --no-content             # structure only (no file contents)
treemapper . --max-depth 3            # limit directory depth
treemapper . --max-file-bytes 10000   # skip files larger than 10KB
treemapper . -i custom.ignore         # custom ignore patterns
treemapper . --no-default-ignores     # disable .gitignore/.treemapperignore (custom -i still works)
treemapper . -v 2                     # verbose output (0=ERROR, 1=WARNING, 2=INFO, 3=DEBUG)
treemapper . -c                       # copy to clipboard (no stdout)
treemapper . -c -o tree.yaml          # copy to clipboard + save to file
treemapper . --tokens                 # show token count (for LLM context planning)
treemapper . --tokens --token-encoding cl100k_base  # use GPT-4 tokenizer
treemapper --version                  # show version

Token Counting

Show token count for LLM context planning with --tokens:

treemapper . --tokens                 # 12,847 tokens (o200k_base)
treemapper . --tokens --copy          # tokens + clipboard

Encodings:

• o200k_base (default) — GPT-4o tokenizer
• o200k_harmony — GPT-4.1/newer models tokenizer
• cl100k_base — GPT-4/GPT-3.5 tokenizer

Token count is displayed on stderr only when connected to a TTY (won't break pipes).

Clipboard Support

Copy output directly to clipboard with -c or --copy:

treemapper . -c                       # copy to clipboard (no stdout)
treemapper . -c -o tree.yaml          # copy to clipboard + save to file

System Requirements:

• macOS: pbcopy (pre-installed)
• Windows: clip (pre-installed)
• Linux/FreeBSD (Wayland): wl-copy (install: sudo apt install wl-clipboard)
• Linux/FreeBSD (X11): xclip or xsel (install: sudo apt install xclip)

Python API

from treemapper import map_directory, to_yaml, to_json, to_text, to_markdown

# Full function signature
tree = map_directory(
    path,                              # directory path (str or Path)
    max_depth=None,                    # limit traversal depth
    no_content=False,                  # exclude file contents
    max_file_bytes=None,               # skip files larger than N bytes
    ignore_file=None,                  # custom ignore file path
    no_default_ignores=False,          # disable .gitignore/.treemapperignore
)

# Examples
tree = map_directory("./myproject")
tree = map_directory("./src", max_depth=2, no_content=True)
tree = map_directory(".", max_file_bytes=50000, ignore_file="custom.ignore")

# Serialize to string
yaml_str = to_yaml(tree)
json_str = to_json(tree)
text_str = to_text(tree)
md_str = to_markdown(tree)  # or to_md(tree)

Ignore Patterns

Respects .gitignore and .treemapperignore automatically. Use --no-default-ignores to include everything.

Features:

• Hierarchical: nested .gitignore/.treemapperignore files work at each directory level
• Negation patterns: !important.log un-ignores a file
• Anchored patterns: /root_only.txt matches only in root, *.log matches everywhere
• Output file is always auto-ignored (prevents recursive inclusion)

Content Placeholders

When file content cannot be read normally, placeholders are used:

• <file too large: N bytes> — file exceeds --max-file-bytes limit
• <binary file: N bytes> — file detected as binary (contains null bytes)
• <unreadable content: not utf-8> — file is not valid UTF-8
• <unreadable content> — file cannot be read (permission denied, I/O error)

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest
pre-commit run --all-files

Testing

Integration tests only - test against real filesystem. No mocking.

Architecture

src/treemapper/
├── cli.py        # argument parsing
├── ignore.py     # gitignore/treemapperignore handling
├── tokens.py     # token counting (optional tiktoken)
├── tree.py       # directory traversal
├── writer.py     # YAML/JSON/text/Markdown output
└── treemapper.py # main entry point

License

Apache 2.0