repo-to-txt

Export a local Git repository’s structure and source files into one text file. Useful for code reviews, quick sharing, archiving—or pasting into a tool to get a high-level overview of a codebase.

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What it does

• Walks your repo and collects files by extension.
• Writes a Table of Contents (TOC) with relative paths, sizes, and modified times.
• Concatenates file contents in a deterministic order (sorted by path).
• Skips noisy stuff by default (.git/, node_modules/, __pycache__/, etc.).
• Interactive picker (optional) to choose exactly which folders/files to include (Textual 5.x).

Why this instead of a zip? You get a single, readable text file with a compact TOC up top and all the content below—easy to skim, search, diff, or paste where plain text works best.

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Install

Python 3.9+ recommended.

From source:

git clone https://github.com/thenarfer/repo-to-txt.git
cd repo-to-txt
# Base CLI:
pip install -e .

# Add the interactive picker:
pip install -e .[interactive] --use-pep517

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Usage

Basic export (current directory):

repo-to-txt

Explicit path and output:

repo-to-txt /path/to/repo -o all_code.txt

Filter by extension (repeat -e as needed):

repo-to-txt . -o out.txt -e .py -e .md

Exclude directories (repeat --exclude-dir):

repo-to-txt . -o out.txt --exclude-dir build --exclude-dir dist

Interactive picker:

repo-to-txt --interactive . -o out.txt

Show version:

repo-to-txt --version

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Interactive picker

The TUI lets you tailor the export without typing long filters. It’s built on Textual 5.x.

Keys

• ↑/↓ – move

• → – expand directory

• ← – collapse directory

• Space – toggle include

  • on a file: toggles just that file
  • on a folder: toggles the entire subtree

• * – also toggles the entire subtree

• A – select all

• N – select none

• D – re-apply smart defaults

• / – filter by extensions (e.g. py,ts,md)

• Enter – export with current selection

• ? – toggle help

• Q – quit without exporting

Notes • The picker avoids very large files and common binary/lock formats. • Checkboxes are simple ☑/☐; if your terminal can’t render them, the state still works.

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Output format (example)

REPO EXPORTER OUTPUT
====================

TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
src/app.py           | 1024 bytes | modified 2025-08-18T10:30:00
src/utils/strings.py |  768 bytes | modified 2025-08-18T10:05:00
README.md            |  512 bytes | modified 2025-08-18T10:00:00


FILE CONTENTS
-------------
--- File: src/app.py ---
# contents...

--- File: src/utils/strings.py ---
# contents...

--- File: README.md ---
# contents...

• Paths are relative and always use forward slashes.
• The TOC gives you a quick “map” before the full content.

Quick structure preview

If you prefer a tree-style glance before exporting, run the system tree command in your repo (not part of this tool):

tree -a -I '.git|node_modules|__pycache__|dist|build|.venv|venv|env'

The export itself uses the TOC for structure.

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Lightly: pasting into an LLM

If your goal is a “readable dump” for tools that only accept text:

• Use the picker to avoid binaries and trim noise.
• Start with README.md, py/js/ts, config, and a few representative test files.
• Large repos: split by top-level folders and run multiple exports (one file per area).
• The TOC at the top gives a compact overview; many tools can use that to navigate.

That’s it—no special integrations here; just a single, predictable text file.

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Defaults & behavior

• Included extensions (non-interactive): common source/text types (e.g., .py, .js, .ts, .md, .json, .yml, .xml, .sh, …). Use -e to override.
• Excluded directories: .git, node_modules, __pycache__, dist, build, venvs, .pytest_cache, .vscode, etc.
• Excluded by pattern: lockfiles and common binaries/images (e.g., package-lock.json, *.sqlite, images, PDFs).
• Size limits (picker): very large files are skipped by default.
• Selection wins: in interactive mode, the export uses precisely what you selected.

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Development

Install for hacking:

pip install -e .[interactive] --use-pep517

Run tests:

pytest

The suite covers CLI behavior, ordering, selection semantics, filtering, and core TUI logic.

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Troubleshooting

• Picker won’t start: make sure you installed the extras: pip install -e .[interactive] --use-pep517
• Weird glyphs/colors: try a modern terminal and a UTF-8 locale.
• Empty export: check your extension filters or selection; the TOC lists exactly what was found.

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License

MIT. See LICENSE.