concat-all

A simple CLI tool to recursively concatenate all files of a certain extension in a directory into a single file.

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Features

• Concatenate all files with specified extension(s) in a directory tree
• Supports multiple extensions at once (e.g., .py,.txt)
• Optionally respects .gitignore rules, including negated patterns (e.g., !important_file.txt), to skip or include files and folders
• Adds a comment header before each file's content in the output
• Flexible output file naming and location
• Dry-run mode to preview changes
• Exclude specific files or directories using glob patterns
• Limit directory recursion depth
• Cross-platform and Python 3.9+ compatible

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Installation

Clone the repository and install locally:

git clone https://github.com/mwmuni/concat-all.git
cd concat-all
python -m pip install .

Or use your preferred Python packaging tool.

uvx concat-all

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Requirements

• Python >= 3.9

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Usage

Command Line Interface

concat-all <file_extensions> [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description	Example
<file_extensions>	Comma-separated list of file extensions (without or with dot). Use * for all files.	py,txt or *.md or *

Options

Option	Description	Default
--dir-path, -d	Directory to search recursively.	Current working directory
--output-file, -o	Output file name (can include {file_extension} placeholder).	dump_{file_extension}.txt
--output-file-dir, -D	Directory to save the output file.	Current working directory
--comment-prefix, -c	Prefix for comment headers before each file's content.	//
--gitignore, -i	Respect .gitignore rules when selecting files.	Disabled
--filename-suffix	Suffix to append to the output file name. Supports {timestamp} and {unixtime} placeholders.	Disabled
--dry-run, -n	List files to be processed and the final output file path without writing any files.	Disabled
--exclude <patterns>	Comma-separated list of glob patterns to exclude files/directories (e.g., "*.log,temp/*"). Applied after .gitignore.	None
--max-depth <depth>	Maximum recursion depth. 0 for current directory, 1 for current + direct children, etc.	-1 (unlimited)
--force	Allow overwriting an existing output file.	Disabled
--append	Append to an existing output file (instead of overwriting).	Disabled
--verbose	Print files that are ignored/excluded/skipped.	Disabled
--strict	Fail on unreadable/binary files instead of skipping them.	Disabled
--encoding <name>	Encoding used to read input files.	utf-8-sig
--errors <mode>	Encoding error handler.	strict
--max-bytes <n>	Stop after writing at least N bytes to the output.	-1 (unlimited)
--max-files <n>	Stop after concatenating N files.	-1 (unlimited)
--include-tree	Append a list of included files to the output.	Disabled

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Examples

Concatenate all .py files in the current directory and subdirectories:

concat-all py

Concatenate .py and .txt files, saving output to a specific directory:

concat-all py,txt -D ./output_dir

Concatenate all files regardless of extension:

concat-all * -o all_files.txt

Concatenate .md files, respecting .gitignore:

concat-all md --gitignore

Change the comment prefix to #:

concat-all py -c "#"

Concatenate all .py files with a timestamp appended to the output file name:

concat-all py -o result.txt --filename_suffix "_{timestamp}"

Perform a dry run to see which .java files would be concatenated:

concat-all java --dry-run

Concatenate .ts files, excluding all files in node_modules and any *.test.ts files:

concat-all ts --exclude "node_modules/*,*.test.ts"

Concatenate .log files only from the current directory (no subdirectories):

concat-all log --max-depth 0

Concatenate .cfg files from the current directory and its direct children, respecting .gitignore:

concat-all cfg --max-depth 1 --gitignore

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How it works

• Recursively walks the specified directory up to --max-depth if provided.
• Filters files by extension(s) or includes all files with *.
• Optionally skips files/directories matching .gitignore patterns (supports negated patterns).
• Skips files/directories matching user-provided --exclude glob patterns.
• If not in --dry-run mode, concatenates file contents into a single output file.
• Adds a comment header before each file's content indicating its path (in actual output).
• In --dry-run mode, lists files that would be processed and the intended output file.

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Programmatic Usage

You can also use concat-all as a Python module:

from concat_all import concat_files

concat_files(
    dir_path="path/to/dir",
    file_extensions="py,txt",
    output_file="./output/dump_{file_extension}.txt",
    comment_prefix="//",
    use_gitignore=True,
    force=False,
    append=False
)

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Notes

• The output file name supports the placeholder {file_extension} which will be replaced with the concatenated extensions or 'all' if using *.
• The tool skips binary files or files it cannot read.
• The output file itself is automatically excluded from concatenation.

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License

MIT License

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Author

Matthew Muller

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Version

0.1.0

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Enjoy! 😊