Git Repositories

February 2, 2026 · View on GitHub

A powerful VSCode extension for managing multiple Git repositories with support for worktrees, smart grouping, and workspace tracking.

Features

📁 Intelligent Repository Organization

Automatically organizes your Git repositories in a hierarchical tree view:

Remote-based Grouping: Repositories are grouped by their remote domain (github.com, gitlab.com, etc.)
Owner Hierarchy: Supports nested organization paths (e.g., organization/team/project)
Local Repositories: Repositories without remotes are grouped separately
Worktree Support: Display and manage Git worktrees with branch and commit information

🎯 Current Workspace Tracking

The extension automatically highlights and expands the currently open workspace:

Visual Indicators: Different icons for currently open repositories and worktrees
Auto-Expansion: Parent nodes automatically expand to reveal your current workspace
Real-time Updates: Tree refreshes when you switch workspace folders

Fast repository and worktree switching:

Quick Picker: Press Cmd+Alt+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows/Linux) to open a searchable list
One-Click Open: Click any repository or worktree to open it
New Window Support: Open repositories in a new window via inline action buttons

🔍 Recursive Scanning

Automatically discovers Git repositories in configured paths:

Deep Scanning: Recursively scans up to 10 directory levels
Smart Filtering: Ignore patterns to skip common build directories (node_modules, dist, etc.)
Environment Variables: Supports $HOME, ~, and other environment variables in paths

🌲 Git Worktree Support

Full support for Git worktrees with detailed information:

Display all worktrees under their parent repository
Show branch name, commit hash, and commit message
Identify main vs. secondary worktrees
Handle detached HEAD states

Installation

Open VSCode
Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X or Ctrl+Shift+X)
Search for "Git Repositories"
Click Install

Getting Started

1. Configure Repository Paths

Open VSCode settings (Cmd+, or Ctrl+,) and search for "Git Repositories":

{
  "git-repositories.paths": [
    "$HOME/projects",
    "$HOME/work",
    "/path/to/your/repos"
  ]
}

2. View Your Repositories

Click the Repositories icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
Your repositories will be automatically scanned and organized by remote domain

3. Navigate Quickly

Press Cmd+Alt+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows/Linux)
Type to search for a repository or worktree
Press Enter to open

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

`git-repositories.paths`

Type: array of string Default: []

List of directory paths to scan for Git repositories. Supports environment variable expansion.

Examples:

{
  "git-repositories.paths": [
    "$HOME/projects",
    "$HOME/work",
    "${HOME}/repos",
    "~/development"
  ]
}

Supported Environment Variables:

$HOME, ${HOME} - User home directory
$USER, ${USER} - Current username
~ - Tilde expansion to home directory
Any environment variable: $VAR or ${VAR}

`git-repositories.ignorePaths`

Type: array of string Default:

[
  "**/node_modules/**",
  "**/.vscode/**",
  "**/dist/**",
  "**/build/**",
  "**/target/**"
]

Glob patterns for paths to ignore when scanning for Git repositories.

Glob Pattern Syntax:

* - Matches any characters except /
** - Matches any number of directories
? - Matches a single character
{a,b} - Matches a or b
[abc] - Matches a, b, or c

Examples:

{
  "git-repositories.ignorePaths": [
    "**/node_modules/**",
    "**/.cache/**",
    "**/temp/**",
    "**/private/**"
  ]
}

Commands

Command	Keybinding	Description
`Git Repositories: Refresh`	-	Rescan all configured paths for repositories
`Git Repositories: Quick Open`	`Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+P`	Show quick picker for fast repository/worktree navigation

Tree View Structure

📁 github.com (domain)
├─ 📁 username (owner)
│  └─ 📦 simple-repo (repository - single worktree)
├─ 📁 org (owner)
│  ├─ 📦 direct-repo (repository)
│  └─ 📁 team (nested owner)
│     └─ 📦 project-name (repository)
│        ├─ 🌿 feature-branch (worktree)
│        └─ 🌿 bugfix-branch (worktree)
└─ 📁 another-user (owner)
   └─ 📦 another-repo (repository)

📁 gitlab.com
└─ ...

📁 No Remote (local repositories without remotes)
└─ 📦 local-project

Visual Indicators:

✨ Highlighted icon - Currently open repository/worktree
📦 Repository icon - Main repository/worktree
🌿 Branch icon - Secondary worktrees
📁 Folder icon - Domain/owner groups

How It Works

Repository Scanning

The extension reads paths from git-repositories.paths configuration
Recursively scans each path for directories containing .git folders
Ignores paths matching patterns in git-repositories.ignorePaths
Extracts repository metadata using simple-git:
- Remote URLs and names
- Current branch
- All worktrees with branch/commit information
Stores discovered repositories in VSCode's global state

Tree Organization

Domain Grouping: Repositories are grouped by their remote domain (extracted from first remote URL)
Owner Hierarchy: Owner paths are split and organized hierarchically
- For example, a repository with remote URL git@github.com:org/team/project.git:
  - Domain: github.com
  - Owner path: org/team
  - Repository: project
- This creates: github.com → org → team → project
- Each path segment becomes a nested owner node
Local Group: Repositories without remotes are placed in a "No Remote" group
Worktree Display: Secondary worktrees appear as children under their parent repository

Workspace Tracking

Tracks the current workspace via vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders[0]
Compares repository/worktree paths against current workspace path
Updates icons and expansion state automatically
Refreshes tree when workspace folders change

Requirements

VSCode 1.108.1 or higher
Git installed and available in PATH

Known Limitations

Maximum scan depth: 10 directory levels
Only the first remote URL is used for domain/owner grouping
Submodules (where .git is a file, not a directory) are detected but treated as regular repositories
Worktree commit information requires read access to the worktree directory

Performance Tips

For Large Directory Trees

Add ignore patterns for large directories you don't need to scan:

{
  "git-repositories.ignorePaths": [
    "**/node_modules/**",
    "**/.cache/**",
    "**/venv/**",
    "**/vendor/**"
  ]
}

For Many Repositories

The extension caches discovered repositories in VSCode's global state, so rescans only happen when:

VSCode starts
You manually trigger a refresh
Configuration changes

Troubleshooting

No repositories appear

Check configuration: Open Settings → Extensions → Git Repositories
Verify paths exist: Ensure paths in git-repositories.paths are valid
Check permissions: Ensure you have read access to configured directories
Manual refresh: Click the refresh button in the tree view

Repositories are missing

Check depth: The scanner stops at 10 directory levels. Move repositories higher in the tree.
Check ignore patterns: Ensure your repositories aren't matched by ignore patterns
Check .git directory: Ensure repositories have a .git directory (not submodules with .git file)

Performance issues

Add ignore patterns: Exclude large directories like node_modules, build outputs
Reduce scan paths: Only include directories that actually contain repositories
Increase specificity: Use more specific paths instead of scanning entire home directory

Development

This extension is built with:

TypeScript - Type-safe development
simple-git - Git command execution
minimatch - Glob pattern matching
ESBuild - Fast bundling
Mocha - Testing framework

For development setup and contribution guidelines, see AGENTS.md.

License

MIT

Feedback & Issues

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub.