dirmd

Generate markdown documentation from directory structure. Optimized for LLM ingestion.

Features

Recursive directory traversal
ASCII tree visualization (LLM-friendly, minimal token overhead)
Full file contents with explicit delimiters and metadata
Filters dotfiles, binaries, and blacklisted extensions
Vertical slices mode: root file + one markdown per top-level directory
Append mode for single files or directories
Force overwrite of existing output files
Configurable depth, file size limits, ignore patterns
Optional upload to Proton Drive after generating output

Build

go build -o dirmd .

Usage

# Create new documentation
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/myproject

# Overwrite existing output file
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/myproject -f

# Append a single file
dirmd -a -i README.md -o existing.md

# Append another directory
dirmd -a ~/repos/anotherproject -o existing.md

# Generate with vertical slices
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/myproject --vertical-slices

# Generate and upload to Proton Drive (default: /my-files/md/<filename>)
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/myproject --proton-drive

# Generate and upload to a specific remote path
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/myproject --proton-drive --drive-path /my-files/docs/api.md

Vertical Slices Mode

When --vertical-slices is passed, dirmd splits output into multiple files instead of one monolithic document:

Root file (-o output.md): Full directory tree with cross-references to slice files, a vertical slices index table (file counts, total bytes per directory), and full contents of all root-level files.
Slice files (cmd.md, internal.md, etc.): One per top-level directory, placed alongside the root file. Each contains its own tree, a back-reference to the root document, and full recursive file contents for that directory.

This mode cannot be combined with --append or --input-file.

Example output with dirmd -o docs.md ~/repos/myproject --vertical-slices:

docs/
├── docs.md          ← root: tree + slices index + root file contents
├── cmd.md           ← slice: tree + contents of cmd/
└── internal.md      ← slice: tree + contents of internal/

LLM-Optimized Output

Output is designed for RAG ingestion and LLM context windows, not human presentation:

ASCII tree format (+- instead of Unicode box-drawing) to reduce token overhead
Explicit file delimiters: --- FILE: ./path (bytes, lines) --- and --- END FILE ---
Document type markers: [ROOT] and [SLICE] in H1 headers
Cross-references: Directory entries in root tree show -> see cmd.md; slice files reference their root document
Slices index table: File counts and total bytes per slice for informed retrieval decisions
Tilde fences (~~~) to avoid conflicts with backticks in source files

Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-o`, `--output`	Output markdown file path (required)
`-a`, `--append`	Append to existing output file	false
`-f`, `--force`	Overwrite existing output file (non-append mode)	false
`-i`, `--input-file`	Single file input (append mode only)
`--vertical-slices`	Split output into root file + one markdown per top-level directory	false
`--max-size`	Max file size in bytes	524288
`--max-depth`	Max directory recursion depth	20
`--ignore`	Additional ignore patterns (glob)
`--extensions`	Additional file extensions to skip
`--proton-drive`	Upload output to Proton Drive after writing locally	false
`--drive-path`	Full remote path on Proton Drive (e.g. /my-files/md/report.md)	/my-files/md/<filename>

Proton Drive Integration

dirmd can optionally upload the generated markdown file(s) to Proton Drive using the Proton Drive CLI. The upload is performed only when --proton-drive is passed. Without it, dirmd behaves exactly as before — no Proton Drive dependency is required.

In vertical slices mode, all generated files (root + slices) are uploaded to /my-files/md/. The --drive-path flag is ignored in slices mode; each file is uploaded by its basename.

Prerequisites

Install the Proton Drive CLI — see the official guide for download and installation instructions.
Authenticate by running proton-drive auth login.
Ensure proton-drive is in your PATH.

If the CLI is not installed or you are not logged in, dirmd will report the error to stderr and exit with a non-zero code. Local files are always written successfully before the upload is attempted.

For full documentation on the Proton Drive CLI, including installation, authentication, and troubleshooting, refer to the official Proton Drive CLI support page.

Examples

# Custom depth and size limit
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/project --max-depth 5 --max-size 262144

# Ignore specific directories
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/project --ignore __pycache__ --ignore .venv

# Skip additional file extensions
dirmd -o output.md ~/repos/project --extensions .log --extensions .tmp

# Vertical slices with overwrite
dirmd -o docs.md ~/repos/project -f --vertical-slices

# Generate, then upload to default remote location
dirmd -o docs.md ~/repos/project --proton-drive

# Generate, then upload to a custom remote location
dirmd -o docs.md ~/repos/project --proton-drive --drive-path /my-files/projects/docs.md

# Overwrite existing local file and upload to Drive
dirmd -o docs.md ~/repos/project -f --proton-drive

Output Format

Produces markdown with:

Absolute path as H1 header with [ROOT] or [SLICE] marker
ASCII directory tree (indented with +- and | characters)
Vertical slices index table (sliced mode only)
All text files with content in fenced code blocks
Explicit --- FILE: --- and --- END FILE --- delimiters with byte and line counts
Language detection from file extensions

Example output structure (non-sliced mode):

# /home/user/repos/myproject [ROOT]

## Directory Tree

~~~
myproject/
+- cmd/
|   +- main.go
+- internal/
|   +- config.go
~~~

## Contents

--- FILE: ./cmd/main.go (45 bytes, 3 lines) ---
~~~go
package main

func main() {}
~~~
--- END FILE ---

Note: Uses tilde fences (~~~) internally to avoid conflicts with nested backticks in source files.

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