project_finder

A Windows CLI tool that scans all your drives to find old coding projects. No dependencies — pure Python stdlib.

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Features

• Three scan speeds — Fast, Medium, or Slow depending on how thorough you need to be
• All drives — scans C:, D:, E: and any other attached drives automatically
• Smart detection — identifies projects by marker files (requirements.txt, package.json, Cargo.toml, Makefile, etc.)
• 14+ languages/stacks — Python, Node/JS, Rust, Go, C/C++, Java, Kotlin, C#/.NET, Ruby, PHP, Docker, Arduino, Lua, and more
• Three output formats — a .txt file, a .json file, or a folder with one file per project type
• Results on your Desktop — always easy to find after the scan

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Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11
• Python 3.10 or newer
• No third-party packages required

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Usage

python main.py

The tool will walk you through three prompts:

1. Scan speed — pick Fast, Medium, or Slow
2. Drives — scan all drives or choose specific letters
3. Output format — .txt, .json, or a folder

Then press Enter and wait. Results are saved to your Desktop.

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Scan Speeds

Mode	Depth	Hidden files	Estimated time
Fast	5 lvls	Skipped	1–3 min
Medium	8 lvls	Skipped	3–8 min
Slow	15 lvls	Included	10+ min

Fast is good for a quick sweep of obvious project folders.
Medium is the default sweet spot.
Slow digs into hidden folders and very deep paths — useful if you're missing projects.

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Output Formats

1 — Single .txt file

projects_20260406_143201.txt

Plain text, grouped by project type with path, last-modified date, and size.

2 — Single .json file

projects_20260406_143201.json

Machine-readable. Each project has name, path, type, size_kb, modified.

3 — Folder

ProjectScan_20260406_143201/
  00_INDEX.txt        ← master list of all types and counts
  Python.txt
  Node_JS.txt
  Rust.txt
  ...

One file per detected project type, sorted by last-modified date.

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Detected Project Types

Marker file(s)	Type detected
requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, etc.	Python
package.json, yarn.lock, bun.lockb	Node/JS
Cargo.toml	Rust
go.mod	Go
CMakeLists.txt, Makefile	C/C++
pom.xml, build.gradle	Java / Kotlin
*.sln, *.csproj	C#/.NET
Gemfile	Ruby
composer.json	PHP
Dockerfile, docker-compose.yml	Docker
*.ino	Arduino
*.rockspec	Lua
index.html	Web
.git	Git Repo

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Project Structure

project_finder/
│
├── main.py               ← entry point
│
├── core/
│   ├── scanner.py        ← filesystem walker
│   ├── detector.py       ← project type detection logic
│   └── profiles.py       ← speed profiles + skip-dir constants
│
├── output/
│   └── writer.py         ← txt / json / folder writers
│
├── ui/
│   └── menu.py           ← interactive CLI prompts
│
├── utils/
│   ├── console.py        ← ANSI colours, banner, summary printer
│   └── drives.py         ← Windows drive enumeration
│
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

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Tips

• Run from Windows Terminal or PowerShell for full colour support
• If a project isn't found, try Slow mode — it includes hidden folders
• The .json output is easy to import into a spreadsheet or another script
• Skipped automatically: node_modules, __pycache__, .venv, AppData, Windows, Program Files, build artefacts, and other system noise

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License

MIT — see LICENSE