A command-line tool to combine files from a directory into a single file for LLM processing, with flexible filtering options.
- Combines multiple text files into one output file
- Can process a remote git repository in a temporary directory
- Supports configuration via CLI options and config files (TOML)
- Filters files by:
- Size
- File extensions (e.g.,
.txt,.md) - Directory inclusion/exclusion
- File inclusion/exclusion
- Independently controllable walk rules, each on by default (except symlink-following): hidden files/directories (
--no-hidden),.gitignore/.git/info/exclude/parent.gitignore(--no-gitignore), plain.ignorefiles (--no-ignore-files), git's global excludes file (--no-git-global), and symlink traversal (--follow-links) - Always respects a
.fyaiignorefile (gitignore syntax), regardless of the walk rules above
- Preserves file boundaries with headers showing filename and size
- Customizable input directory and output file
cargo install feedyouraiOr,
cargo install --git https://github.com/alexandretrotel/feedyourai.gitThis installs the feedyourai binary (and its fyai alias) to ~/.cargo/bin/. Ensure this directory is in your PATH.
You can specify options in a config file (TOML format):
- Local config:
./fyai.toml(used if present in current directory) - Global config: System config directory, used if no local config found —
$XDG_CONFIG_HOMEif set to an absolute path (any platform), otherwise the platform default (e.g.~/.configon Linux,~/Library/Application Supporton macOS) - Precedence: CLI flags >
FYAI_*environment variables > local config > global config > built-in defaults.
To see the exact global config path on your system, run:
fyai init --globalEvery config option can also be set via a FYAI_* environment variable, taking precedence over fyai.toml but not over CLI flags:
| Variable | Corresponds to |
|---|---|
FYAI_DIRECTORY |
-i/--input |
FYAI_OUTPUT |
-o/--output |
FYAI_INCLUDE_DIRS |
--include-dirs |
FYAI_EXCLUDE_DIRS |
--exclude-dirs |
FYAI_INCLUDE_EXT |
--include-ext |
FYAI_EXCLUDE_EXT |
--exclude-ext |
FYAI_INCLUDE_FILES |
--include-files |
FYAI_EXCLUDE_FILES |
--exclude-files |
FYAI_MIN_SIZE |
-n/--min-size |
FYAI_MAX_SIZE |
-m/--max-size |
FYAI_HIDDEN |
--no-hidden (inverse; true/false) |
FYAI_GITIGNORE |
--no-gitignore (inverse; true/false) |
FYAI_IGNORE_FILES |
--no-ignore-files (inverse; true/false) |
FYAI_GIT_GLOBAL |
--no-git-global (inverse; true/false) |
FYAI_FOLLOW_LINKS |
--follow-links (true/false) |
FYAI_TREE_ONLY |
--tree-only (true/false) |
FYAI_HUMAN |
--human (true/false) |
List-valued variables use the same comma-separated format as their CLI counterparts (e.g. FYAI_INCLUDE_EXT=rs,toml).
directory = "./src"
output = "combined.txt"
include_ext = ["md", "txt"]
exclude_dirs = ["node_modules", "dist"]
min_size = 10240
max_size = 512000
hidden = true
gitignore = true
ignore_files = true
git_global = true
follow_links = false
tree_only = false
human = falseAll CLI options can be set in the config file. CLI flags always take precedence.
Drop a .fyaiignore file (gitignore syntax) anywhere under the scanned directory to exclude matching paths, as an alternative or complement to exclude_dirs/exclude_files. Unlike .gitignore, it's always respected — none of the walk-rule flags (--no-hidden, --no-gitignore, --no-ignore-files, --no-git-global, --follow-links) affect it, since it's fyai's own dedicated exclude mechanism rather than a git one.
fyai # combine everything in the current directory into fyai.txt
fyai --help # show all options
fyai man > /usr/local/share/man/man1/fyai.1 # print a roff-formatted man page to a file
fyai completions zsh > /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_fyai # print a zsh completion script to a file| Goal | Command |
|---|---|
Only .txt/.md files, from ./docs |
fyai -i ./docs --include-ext txt,md |
Exclude .log/.tmp files |
fyai --exclude-ext log,tmp |
| Only specific files, from specific dirs | fyai --include-dirs src,docs --include-files README.md,main.rs |
| Exclude specific files everywhere | fyai --exclude-files LICENSE,config.json |
| Size window: 10KB–500KB, custom output | fyai -n 10240 -m 512000 -o ai_input.txt -x dist,node_modules |
| Tree only, no file contents | fyai --tree-only -o tree.txt |
Tree with tree-style connector glyphs |
fyai --tree-only --human -o tree.txt |
Include hidden files, still respect .gitignore |
fyai --no-hidden |
Include .gitignore-excluded files, still skip hidden files |
fyai --no-gitignore |
Include everything (hidden + gitignored + .ignored + globally-excluded) |
fyai --no-hidden --no-gitignore --no-ignore-files --no-git-global |
| Follow symlinks while walking | fyai --follow-links |
| Remote repo, specific branch | fyai --repo https://github.com/owner/repo.git --repo-branch main |
| Remote repo, specific commit | fyai --repo https://github.com/owner/repo.git --repo-commit 1234abcd |
| Generate a config template | fyai init |
| Suppress status output | fyai -q |
| Machine-readable run summary | fyai --json |
| Disable colored error output | fyai --no-color |
| Overwrite an existing output without prompting | fyai -o out.txt --force |
| Print a roff man page | fyai man > /usr/local/share/man/man1/fyai.1 |
Every run starts with a - Tree Structure section. By default it uses a minimal two-space indent:
- Tree Structure
src/
main.rs
utils/
helper.rs
Pass --human (or human = true in fyai.toml) for tree-style connector glyphs instead:
- Tree Structure
src
├── main.rs
└── utils/
└── helper.rs
Each source file follows as a heading plus a language-tagged, fenced code block, with a human-readable size:
### src/main.rs (1.2 KB)
```rust
fn main() {}
```
### notes.md (66.3 KB)
```markdown
[contents of notes.md]
```
The fence widens to four backticks for any file whose own content contains a triple backtick, so the block's end is never ambiguous.
The directory is walked once, in parallel, and every file is read and UTF-8-checked in parallel too; output is written through a single buffered writer. Nothing to configure — it's just how fyai scans.
GPL-3.0 or later. See LICENSE for more details.