Automatic Markdown Documentation and Directory Tree Generator

This script generates 2 files (directory_tree.md and all_files_content.md) of structured Markdown documentation for any project directory:

• directory_tree.md: Directory structure with Git metadata (branch, commit, repo, etc.)
• all_files_content.md: Grouped file index and content previews (with truncation for large files, CSV/Excel previews, and special handling for binaries and logs)
• Skips configured folders/files (see configuration)
• Automatically adds the documentation folder to .gitignore
• Supports GitHub/GitLab links to each file at current commit (if Git is configured)

Example of files generated by the script

• Markdown example of directory_tree.md file

• Markdown example of all_files_content.md file

Installation

A. Install from PyPI (recommended for most users)

pip install document-folder-structure

B. Install from Source (GitHub)

• 1. Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/sdkng44/document-folder-structure.git
cd document-folder-structure

• 2. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage

A. As CLI (after installing from PyPI):

Once installed, run from any folder providing the full path to the project you want to document as an argument:

document-folder-structure C:\path\to\myproject

or in Linux:

document-folder-structure /path/to/your/project

B. From Source (if you cloned the repo):

Always run from the root of the cloned repo (where the document_folder_structure/ folder is).

python -m document_folder_structure C:\path\to\myproject

or in Linux:

python -m document_folder_structure /path/to/your/project

The documentation files will be created inside the INTERNAL_DOCS/ folder within the target project directory you specified.

Optional arguments:

--config Path to JSON configuration file (default: config.json)

--max-depth Maximum directory depth to display (default: 4)

--tree-title Custom title for the directory tree Markdown

--truncate-lines Max lines for README/large files (default: 10)

--truncate-chars Max characters for file previews (default: 2000)

--max-log-lines Max lines to preview for .log files (default: 10)

--max-preview-columns Max columns to preview in CSV/Excel tables (default: 20)

--no-lines Turn off line numeration on Markdown file content preview (default show line numeration)

Example with arguments (on Windows):

document-folder-structure C:\home\user\myproject --max-depth 3 --truncate-lines 8 --max-preview-columns 15 --no-lines

When using --no-lines, line numbers will not be shown in the file previews (except for CSV/Excel tables). Section headers, line totals, and file separation are always included to keep the documentation clear.

Output

All output files are placed in INTERNAL_DOCS/ inside your project root:

• directory_tree.md: Directory tree with Git and file extension summary
• all_files_content.md: File index and preview for all non-binary, non-excluded files

If .gitignore does not exist, it is created. The folder INTERNAL_DOCS/ is always added to .gitignore (if not present), to help avoid committing generated documentation.

Configuration

You can customize exclusions, tree directory depth and truncate file content on Markdown documentation in a JSON config file. First 4 lines are for files, extensions and directories exclusion before the tree generation, 5-12 lines are for truncate file content on Markdown documentation.

Example config.json:

{
    "excluded_dirs": ["node_modules", "__pycache__", ".git", "deps", ".fingerprint", "build", "incremental"],
    "excluded_files": [".gitignore", ".849C9593-D756-4E56-8D6E-42412F2A707B"],
    "excluded_extensions": [".log", ".tmp", ".bak", ".db-shm", ".db-wal", ".npmrc", ".prettierignore", ".prettierrc"],
    "max_depth": 4,
    "truncate_files": ["README", "LICENSE", "CHANGELOG", "CONTRIBUTING", "SECURITY"],
    "truncate_exts": [".md", ".txt"],
    "truncate_dirs": ["docs"],
    "truncate_file_pairs": [["document_folder_structure", ".html"]],
    "max_truncate_chars": 2000,
    "truncate_lines": 10,
    "max_log_lines": 10,
	"max_preview_columns": 20
}

Features

• Handles large files, binary files, and non-text files smartly (binary omitted, logs/README truncated)
• Markdown code highlighting by extension (.py, .js, .md, etc.)
• CSV files: Markdown table preview of first N rows and M columns (configurable)
• Excel (.xlsx): Markdown table preview of first N rows per sheet and up to M columns (requires openpyxl)
• Customizable file/folder exclusions by name, extension, or directory
• Adds the documentation folder to .gitignore automatically (with checks for missing/newline)
• Shows a summary of unique file extensions found in the tree
• Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows

Limitations

• .xls (old Excel format) preview is not supported—use .xlsx instead.
• For correct GitHub/GitLab links, your repo must have a remote named origin.

Example Output

After running, you'll find the following in INTERNAL_DOCS/:

• directory_tree.md
• all_files_content.md

Both files are readable Markdown, suitable for project documentation, onboarding, or quick file audits.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• openpyxl (for .xlsx preview)
• All dependencies listed in requirements.txt

License

Apache License 2.0

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Created by sdkng44@gmail.com