promptpack-for-code

A command-line tool that bundles your code files into a single text or XML file, optimized for AI code review and analysis. It helps developers prepare their codebase for productive conversations with AI language models by combining multiple source files into a well-formatted context.

Installation

pip install promptpack-for-code

Usage

You can use the tool with its full name promptpack-for-code or with the convenient short aliases: ppc or packcode.

Basic usage with a single directory:

ppc /path/to/your/code

Process multiple directories:

ppc dir1 dir2 dir3

Specify root directory for tree structure and full relative paths:

ppc /path/to/specific/folder -r /path/to/project/root

Specify output file path (default is output.xml):

ppc /path/to/src -o /path/to/output/result.xml

Generate text output instead of XML (XML is now the default):

ppc /path/to/src --format text

Use full XML tags instead of compact format:

ppc /path/to/src --no-compact-xml

Ignore specific patterns:

ppc /path/to/src --ignore "*.log" "*.tmp"

Show progress bar during processing:

ppc /path/to/src --progress

Force overwrite existing output file:

ppc /path/to/src -f

Features

• Combines multiple source files from one or more directories into a single output file
• Generates a tree-like directory structure based on the specified root
• Preserves file structure with full relative paths from the root directory
• Supports both XML (default) and plain text output formats
• XML format has both compact and full-tag modes for different use cases
• Built-in ignore patterns for common files (e.g., .git, __pycache__, etc.)
• Customizable output file path
• Optional progress bar for large projects
• Easy to integrate with various AI chat platforms
• Multiple command aliases: promptpack-for-code, ppc, and packcode

Output Formats

Text Format

The generated text output file contains:

1. A tree-like representation of your project structure (based on the root directory)
2. The contents of all files in the specified directories, with paths relative to the root

Example text output:

Project Directory Structure:
==========================
project-name
├── src
│   ├── main.py
│   └── utils
│       └── helper.py
└── tests
    └── test_main.py

File Contents from Selected Directories:
===================================

====
File: src/main.py
----
[file content here]

XML Format

The generated XML output file provides a structured representation with:

1. A hierarchical view of your project directory structure
2. The contents of all specified files, with paths relative to the root

Compact XML (Default)

By default, the tool produces compact XML with minimal tags and no indentation to reduce file size. It includes a legend comment at the beginning of the file explaining all tags:

<!--
XML Tag Legend:
- p: project (root element)
- n: name (project name)
- s: structure (directory structure)
- d: directory
- f: file
- c: contents (file contents section)
- p attribute: path of file or directory
- s inside directory: skipped directory
- e: error
-->
<p><n>project-name</n><s><d p="src"><f p="main.py"/><d p="utils"><f p="helper.py"/></d></d><d p="tests"><f p="test_main.py"/></d></s><c><f p="src/main.py">[file content here]</f></c></p>

Full XML (with --no-compact-xml option)

For better readability, you can use the --no-compact-xml option to get full tags with proper indentation:

<project>
  <name>project-name</name>
  <structure>
    <directory path="src">
      <file path="main.py" />
      <directory path="utils">
        <file path="helper.py" />
      </directory>
    </directory>
    <directory path="tests">
      <file path="test_main.py" />
    </directory>
  </structure>
  <contents>
    <file path="src/main.py">
      <content>
        [file content here]
      </content>
    </file>
    <!-- Other file contents -->
  </contents>
</project>

The XML format offers better structure and is easier to parse programmatically, making it ideal for automated analysis or integration with other tools.

Command Aliases

For convenience, this tool provides three command aliases:

• promptpack-for-code: The full name
• ppc: Short alias for quicker typing
• packcode: Alternative alias

All commands provide identical functionality:

# These all do the same thing (generate compact XML by default):
promptpack-for-code /path/to/src
ppc /path/to/src
packcode /path/to/src

# These all generate text output:
promptpack-for-code /path/to/src --format text
ppc /path/to/src --format text
packcode /path/to/src --format text

Development

To contribute to this project:

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/changyy/py-promptpack-for-code.git
cd py-promptpack-for-code

2. Install in development mode:

pip install -e .

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• tqdm (for progress bar support)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details