FileFlattener

FileFlattener is a Windows desktop app that scans a folder tree, deduplicates files by content, and exports a clean, flattened ZIP archive — complete with an ASCII directory structure and a JSON manifest. Built for quickly packaging messy project folders (or any deeply nested directory) into a single, organized archive.

Crafted by Dvvyom — GitHub | omvs077@gmail.com

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Features (v1.0)

• Recursive folder scanning with a 20GB size cap, symlink and depth guards
• Content-aware deduplication via SHA-256 hashing (size-grouped for speed)
• Smart name-collision resolution using path-based renaming (folderA__file.txt)
• Gitignore-style filter rules plus quick presets (Standard Backup, AI-Ready Source Only, Media Only, Documents Only) — presets auto-fill sensible default excludes
• Smart Filter Prompt — if a scan exceeds the 20GB limit, FileFlattener offers to auto-exclude common heavy folders (node_modules, build, .venv, target) and re-scan
• Split-view dashboard — file tree (with live search, sort, expand/collapse) alongside an extension/size analytics table
• Pre-Export Preview — review scan diagnostics, warnings, and a clear notice before committing to export
• Background export — non-blocking UI with a progress dialog showing live stage and the current file being zipped, plus clean cancellation (partial ZIP is deleted)
• Recent Projects — quick access to your last 5 scanned folders, persisted across sessions
• Self-documenting ZIPs — every export includes a structure.txt (ASCII tree) and manifest.json

Features (v1.1 — Phase 3: Code Visualization)

• Folder Graph tab — interactive, force-directed visualization of the scanned folder tree, with draggable nodes, zoom/pan, expand/collapse, and file-type icons
• Code Graph tab — auto-detects the project type (18 supported languages/ecosystems) and renders a structural graph of files → classes/structs → methods/functions, with #include, containment, and inheritance edges
• Call Graph tab — C++-only static call-graph analysis: detects which functions/methods call which others and renders a directed graph (with arrowheads) of real call relationships across the codebase
• Both Code Graph and Call Graph run their analysis on a background thread, so the UI never freezes even on large (10k+ file) projects
• Safety caps throughout (node/edge/file-size limits) with on-screen warnings when a graph is truncated

Building from Source

Requirements:

• Visual Studio Community 2026 (or compatible MSVC toolchain)
• CMake
• Qt 6.11.1 (msvc2022_64)
• vcpkg (x64-windows triplet)

Build:

cmake --preset default
cmake --build build --target FileFlattenerApp --config Debug

Run:

cd build\Debug
.\FileFlattenerApp.exe

A headless CLI test harness (FileFlattenerCLI) is also available for scripted/automated testing of the core engine without the GUI. It supports --graph, --code, and --calls modes for testing the Folder Graph, Code Graph, and Call Graph engines independently of the GUI.

Project Structure

FileFlattener/
├── core/   — Static library: FileScanner, Deduplicator, Renamer, ZipWriter, StructureExporter,
│             FilterEngine, GraphModel, ProjectDetector, CodeLexer, CallGraphAnalyzer
└── app/    — Qt GUI (MainWindow, PreviewDialog, FlattenWorker, GraphView, CodeGraphView,
CallGraphView, CodeAnalysisWorker, CallGraphWorker) + CLI harness

Roadmap

Phase 1 (headless engine) and Phase 2 (Qt GUI + security hardening) are complete, with v1.0.0 published on GitHub Releases. Phase 3 (Folder Graph, Code Graph, and Call Graph visualization) is now complete as of this release.

Feedback

Suggestions and bug reports are welcome — open an issue on GitHub or reach out directly at omvs077@gmail.com.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.