/buildtree

Instant Directory Tree Builder

Primary LanguageGoMIT LicenseMIT

buildtree - Instant Directory Tree Builder

Buildtree is a lightning-fast CLI tool that creates directory structures from text-based tree diagrams. Perfect for developers, educators, and anyone who needs to quickly materialize directory examples provided by LLMs, documentation, or tutorials.

custom_login/
├── custom_login.info.yml
├── custom_login.services.yml
├── src/
│   ├── Routing/
│   │   └── RouteSubscriber.php
│   └── Controller/
│       └── LoginController.php

→ Converts to actual file structure with one command!

Features

  • Instant creation of complex directory structures
  • Zero dependencies - single binary
  • Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Handles Unicode tree characters (├─, └─, │)
  • Automatically detects files vs directories

Installation

go install github.com/neomen/buildtree/cmd/buildtree@latest

Quick install (Linux/macOS)

# Using curl
curl -sSL https://github.com/neomen/buildtree/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

# Or using wget
wget -q -O - https://github.com/neomen/buildtree/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

Manual installation

  1. Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page
  2. Extract the archive: 
    tar xzf buildtree_<os>_<arch>.tar.gz
  3. Move the binary to your PATH: 
    # Linux/macOS
sudo mv buildtree /usr/local/bin/

# Windows
# Move buildtree.exe to a directory in your PATH

Usage

Basic Example

buildtree "project/
├── src/
│   └── main.go
└── go.mod"

Creates:

project/
├── src
│   └── main.go
└── go.mod

From Clipboard (Linux/macOS)

pbpaste | buildtree -

From File

buildtree -i structure.txt

Multi-level Project

buildtree "web-app/
├── public/
│   ├── index.html
│   └── assets/
│       ├── style.css
│       └── app.js
├── server/
│   └── main.py
└── README.md"

Real-world LLM Example

buildtree "docker-project/
├── Dockerfile
├── .dockerignore
├── src/
│   └── app.py
├── requirements.txt
└── config/
    └── settings.yaml"

Exporting Project Structure for LLM Context

Buildtree now includes a powerful feature that allows you to export your entire project structure with file contents to a single file, perfect for providing context to Large Language Models (LLMs).

Key Features

  • Complete project context: Export all files with their paths and contents in a structured format
  • Smart filtering: Include only relevant files by extension with --filter
  • Size control: Limit file size with --max-size (default: 100kb)
  • Ignore patterns: Skip directories like .git and node_modules by default
  • Hidden files: Control inclusion of hidden files with --include-hidden

Usage

buildtree -s OUTPUT_FILE [DIRECTORY] [OPTIONS]

This example will collect the contents of all files with the *.go, *.txt, *.md extension and combine them into a single file with relative paths.

buildtree -s export-structure.txt ./project-dir -f go,txt,md -I vendor

Use Cases

  • Quickly test LLM-generated file structures
  • Create educational examples for documentation
  • Reproduce project layouts during debugging
  • Salvage directory structures from corrupted systems
  • Automate project scaffolding in CI/CD pipelines

Contribution

Contributions welcome! Please submit PRs for:

  • Improved Unicode handling
  • Windows clipboard integration
  • Syntax extensions (file content hints)
  • More robust error handling

Stop manually creating directories - let BuildTree materialize your file structures with magical speed!