1.4.0

[Version 1.4.0] - 2026-06-12

New Features

• Interactive configuration tree: Select configuration files from a numbered, tree‑style menu that shows optional descriptions. The .py extension is automatically appended when you specify a config name on the command line, and configs are displayed without the .py suffix for clarity.
• Preset project directory: Use the new INPUT_DIR option in your configuration to define a default project folder, so you can skip the folder selection step when you always export the same project.
• Re‑export loop: After an export finishes, you can immediately re‑run it with the same config (hot‑reloading any edits to the config file from disk) or switch to a different configuration by entering its number, all without restarting the tool.
• Progress bar: A real‑time progress bar now appears during file scanning, showing you exactly how many files have been processed.
• Extended statistics: The post‑export summary has been expanded to include counts of skipped files (binary/unreadable, too large, excluded by rules), a table of the top 10 file extensions, and a list of the 5 largest included files.
• Priority file ordering: Control the order of files in your export with the new PRIORITY_PATTERNS and LOW_PRIORITY_PATTERNS configuration options, so critical files always appear first.
• Update notifications: The tool can now check for new releases on GitHub at startup and notify you if a newer version is available. This behavior can be turned off in app_config.py.

Improvements

• The entire console interface has been upgraded from Colorama to the Rich library, providing more polished formatting, improved tree rendering, and smoother progress display.
• A clear notice is now shown when MAX_FILE_SIZE_MB is set to 0 (unlimited), confirming that no file‑size filtering is active.

Bug Fixes

• Empty directories are now correctly displayed in the project tree and statistics when SHOW_EMPTY_DIRS is enabled.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when the GUI folder picker was unavailable and an internal variable was left uninitialized.
• Removed incorrectly formatted composite entries from the default BLACKLIST_EXTENSIONS set that could cause filtering to behave unexpectedly.
• The MAX_DEPTH setting is now properly validated; values less than -1 are rejected with a helpful error message instead of being silently accepted.

Full Changelog: Compare v1.3.0…v1.4.0

1.3.0

[Version 1.3.0] - 2026-05-09

New Features

• Extensionless file whitelist: You can now include files without extensions (like Dockerfile, Makefile, LICENSE) by listing them in the new ALLOWED_EXTENSIONLESS_FILES setting. The default is an empty set for full backward compatibility.
• .gitignore integration: Enable the new USE_GITIGNORE option (on by default) to automatically respect your project’s .gitignore rules. Supports *, **, / and negation ! patterns, applied on top of existing blacklists.
• Multiple configuration profiles: Place any number of .py configuration files inside the configs/ directory. Use the new --config argument to select one, or choose interactively when running the tool.
• Improved output naming: The export filename now includes the active configuration name and always gets a sequential number, making it easier to manage multiple exports.
• Directory traversal depth limit: Configure MAX_DEPTH to control how deep the tool scans your project. Set -1 for unlimited depth, or 0 to process only the selected directory.
• Console fallback for directory selection: If a graphical folder picker isn’t available, the tool automatically provides a text-based alternative for choosing a directory.
• Expanded language detection: Added mappings for many more file extensions and improved fallback – if an extension isn’t recognised, it is shown as the language name.
• Enhanced export statistics: The post-export summary now shows:
  • A hierarchical file tree matching the project structure.
  • Token count with percentage of a 128K context limit.
  • Color-coded elapsed time and token usage thresholds.
  • File and folder counters with icons, and directory names highlighted in blue.
  • Dynamic file size formatting (auto-switches between KB and MB).

Improvements

• Faster filename generation: Optimised the method that finds the next available export number, reducing filesystem calls from linear scans to a single directory lookup.
• Reduced disk I/O: When file output is disabled, the tool no longer performs unnecessary filename uniqueness checks, saving time and resources.
• Safer configuration handling: The tool now applies overrides in memory instead of modifying your config file at runtime, eliminating race conditions and the risk of formatting corruption.
• Simpler execution flow: Removed the internal restart loop, making the tool’s behavior more predictable and responsive.

Bug Fixes

• Statistics now correctly reflect the final exported output instead of intermediate processing chunks, ensuring accurate character counts.
• Keyboard interrupts (Ctrl+C) are now handled gracefully instead of leaving the terminal in an inconsistent state.
• Missing internal imports that could cause crashes under certain configurations have been resolved.
• Clipboard copying now correctly delivers the content as a list of command arguments, fixing failures on some systems.
• Improved error handling for file operations (reading, writing, stat calls) and configuration directory access, reducing unexpected crashes.

Full Changelog: v1.2.0...v1.3.0

1.2.0

Version 1.2.0

New Features

• Added a restart option after completing an export, allowing users to perform another export without restarting the application. Configuration is reloaded each time to reflect any external changes.
• Included the root directory name in the project structure view for better context when exporting.
• Introduced a separate OUTPUT_DIR configuration setting to specify where exported files are saved, independent of the filename.
• Added a clipboard safety limit with a configurable maximum character count. Users will now see a warning when the export size exceeds the limit before copying to the clipboard.
• Enhanced the terminal interface with colored console output for improved readability of success messages, warnings, errors, and prompts.
• Added the ability to show empty directories and include empty files in the export, controlled by new configuration settings.

Improvements

• Improved cross-platform clipboard support with more robust error handling and fallback logic.
• Simplified and modernized internal file handling by adopting pathlib for safer and more readable path operations.
• Consolidated configuration usage across the application, making the logic for detecting and filtering files more straightforward.
• Stricter configuration validation now ensures required settings are present and correctly typed, eliminating silent fallbacks that could lead to unexpected behavior.
• Updated default limits: maximum file size for export increased from 1 MB to 5 MB, and the clipboard character limit increased from 10,000 to 500,000.
• Expanded the default list of ignored directories and file extensions to exclude more common build artifacts and cache files.
• Updated the README with detailed installation instructions, new configuration options, and a clear overview of all interactive features.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the application could fail to write the output file if the specified directory did not exist. The tool now automatically creates any missing parent directories.
• Removed unused options related to output formatting and syntax highlighting to reduce confusion and streamline the configuration.

Technical Notes

• Python version requirement has been updated to 3.10 or higher.
• Added colorama as a dependency for cross-platform colored terminal output.
• Configuration file (config.py) is now strictly required; the application will exit with an error if it is missing or incomplete.

Full Changelog: v1.1.0...v1.2.0

1.1.0

Version 1.1.0

New Features

• Added project structure generation in tree form, making it easier to visualize and share directory layouts
• Introduced options to export both the project structure and file contents in a single operation
• Added post-export statistics showing the number of directories and files processed

Improvements

• Completely restructured the codebase into a clean, modular package layout for better maintainability and extensibility
• Significantly enhanced overall code quality with full PEP 8 compliance, comprehensive type hints, modernized imports, and improved docstrings
• Improved configuration loading with proper error handling and sensible default values
• Reorganized and simplified configuration settings for better readability and logical grouping
• Updated output file paths to save exports in a dedicated outputs/ directory for better organization

This release focuses on major code quality improvements and valuable new export-related functionality.

Version 1.0.0 — First stable release

Version 1.0.0

First stable release of Code Export For AI — a tool to export an entire code project into a single file, ready to paste into ChatGPT/Claude.

What it does:
Recursively collects files, wraps them in code blocks with paths, ignores noise, and saves to file/clipboard.

Why:
To quickly feed the full project context to AI for code review, debugging, or refactoring — no manual copying.

Run:
python code_export_for_AI.py or specify folder -d "path".