feat: add configurable file metadata column by Goutham-AR · Pull Request #54 · corwinm/oil.code

Goutham-AR · 2026-03-21T14:42:26Z

feat: add configurable file metadata column

📝 Description

Adds opt-in file metadata columns to the oil directory listing, displayed as
virtual text decorations to the left of each filename — similar to Emacs Dired
and oil.nvim's column system.

The buffer text format (/NNN filename) is never modified, so the
save/diff pipeline is completely unaffected. Metadata is rendered purely via
VSCode before: decorations and never written into the document.

New setting oil-code.columns (default ["icon"] — no breaking change):

"oil-code.columns": ["icon", "permissions", "size", "mtime"]

Column	Example	Fixed width
`icon`	📄	existing
`permissions`	`-rw-r--r--`	10
`size`	`12K`	4, right-aligned, NBSP-padded
`mtime`	`Mar 14 14:23`	12

New command oil-code.toggleDetails — toggles metadata display on/off for
the current session without changing the setting.

Binding	Key
Native / non-Vim	`Alt+Shift+D`
VSCodeVim normal mode	`<C-d>`
neovim `oil` filetype	`<C-d>`

🔧 Type of Change

🔗 Related Issues

Closes [Feature]: Configurable file metadata columns in directory listing #53

Testing

I have tested this change locally
I have added/updated unit tests
All existing tests pass

Screenshots (if applicable)

Checklist

My code follows the project's coding standards
I have performed a self-review of my code
I have commented my code in hard-to-understand areas
I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
My changes generate no new warnings
I have checked my code and corrected any misspellings

Additional Notes

None

- Add MetadataColumn type and FileMetadata interface to constants.ts. - Extend OilState with a metadataCache field. Add metadataUtils.ts with fixed-width formatting helpers (formatSize, formatMtime, formatPermissions, formatMetadataColumns) and populateMetadataCache. - Add getColumnsSettings() to settings.ts. - Add peekOilState() to oilState.ts for use in the decoration layer. - Initialize metadataCache in both OilState init functions.

- Call populateMetadataCache at the end of getDirectoryListing when at least one non-icon column is configured. Clear the cache entry for the current directory on refresh, alongside visitedPaths. - Add oil-code.columns setting (array, default ["icon"]) with enum values icon/permissions/size/mtime. Register oil-code.toggleDetails command and alt+shift+d keybinding.

…mand Add columnState.ts with session-level getDetailsVisible/toggleDetailsVisible. - Add toggleDetails command that flips the flag and redraws all visible oil editors. - Update updateDecorations to inject metadata as before: virtual text at the filename start position when non-icon columns are configured and details are visible. Metadata is never written to buffer text, so the /NNN filename format and the save/diff pipeline are entirely unaffected. - Register oil-code.toggleDetails in extension.ts.

- Map <C-d> to oil-code.toggleDetails in both the neovim Lua autocmd block and the VSCodeVim normal-mode keymap registration. - Add three tests: toggleDetails executes without error, rename with metadata columns enabled does not corrupt file operations, and buffer text always stays in /NNN filename format regardless of columns setting.

corwinm

This looks really great so far, thank you! I added some comments for some improvements and I want to align the default keymaps so they don't conflict with the existing "" keymap.
Once those keymap changes are in place, we should update the README.md and help.ts content to include the new keymaps.
Thanks again! Overall this is really great work 😃

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:07:54Z

src/vim/oil.code.lua

    map("n", "<C-t>", function() vscode.action('oil-code.selectTab') end)
    map("n", "<C-l>", function() vscode.action('oil-code.refresh') end)
    map("n", "`", function() vscode.action('oil-code.cd') end)
+    map("n", "<C-d>", function() vscode.action('oil-code.toggleDetails') end)


Let's change this to "gd" so it doesn't conflict with the default keybind for moving down half a page. This also aligns with the example https://github.com/stevearc/oil.nvim/blob/master/doc/recipes.md#toggle-file-detail-view

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:10:43Z

src/utils/metadataUtils.ts

+      case "mtime":
+        parts.push(meta.mtime); // always 12 chars
+        break;
+      // "icon" is not a metadata column — silently ignored


I think I will want to consolidate the two but that might have to be a follow up refactor unless you want to make that update.

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:13:10Z

src/vim/vscodeVim.ts

+      );
+      if (!hasOilToggleDetailsBinding) {
+        updatedKeymap.push({
+          before: ["<C-d>"],


Same as above, lets default to "gd" to not conflict with the default.

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:17:37Z

src/utils/metadataUtils.ts

+
+  for (const name of listings) {
+    if (name === "../") {
+      continue;


Looks like oil.nvim uses dashes for this row:

Not sure if that should be set here or somewhere else in the code.

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:21:15Z

src/utils/metadataUtils.ts

+    }
+  }
+
+  oilState.metadataCache.set(folderPathUri, fileMap);


I think it would be good to do a pass here to normalize column widths. Right now we can have a view with inconsistent column widths:

With oil.nvim:

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:25:05Z

src/decorations.ts

+    metadataDecorationType = vscode.window.createTextEditorDecorationType({
+      before: {
+        color: new vscode.ThemeColor("editorInlayHint.foreground"),
+        fontStyle: "italic",


I would remove this. If you think it would be valuable I would make it a config option that can be opted into. The color does a good job of indicating that this is text that can't be edited.

corwinm · 2026-03-21T17:48:27Z

src/decorations.ts

+  // Clear previous metadata decorations
+  editor.setDecorations(getMetadataDecorationType(), []);


Minor change but this will cause the file icons to show before the metadata which I think is a better default for now.

Suggested change

// Clear previous metadata decorations

editor.setDecorations(getMetadataDecorationType(), []);

// Clear previous metadata decorations (avoid creating the decoration type too early)

if (metadataDecorationType) {

editor.setDecorations(metadataDecorationType, []);

}

Goutham-AR added 5 commits March 21, 2026 19:55

fix: correct size column padding and update documentation

9409ba6

corwinm requested changes Mar 21, 2026

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feat: add configurable file metadata column#54

feat: add configurable file metadata column#54
Goutham-AR wants to merge 5 commits intocorwinm:mainfrom
Goutham-AR:feat/add-metadata-columns

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		// Clear previous metadata decorations
		editor.setDecorations(getMetadataDecorationType(), []);

-  // Clear previous metadata decorations
-  editor.setDecorations(getMetadataDecorationType(), []);
+  // Clear previous metadata decorations (avoid creating the decoration type too early)
+  if (metadataDecorationType) {
+    editor.setDecorations(metadataDecorationType, []);
+  }

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Goutham-AR commented Mar 21, 2026

feat: add configurable file metadata column

📝 Description

🔧 Type of Change

🔗 Related Issues

Testing

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