PSDirectoryTree

PSDirectoryTree is a PowerShell module for visualizing directory structures in a clear, tree-like format.

Supports .gitignore filtering, JSON output, progress indication, and optional file export — making it ideal for documentation, automation, or codebase exploration.

Why?

Manually browsing or documenting large codebases can be messy.

• Plain dir/ls outputs are too noisy
• File explorers don’t give a shareable “snapshot”
• Keeping README trees up to date is tedious

👉 PSDirectoryTree generates a clear, structured tree with filtering, colors, and export options — so you can understand, document, and automate directory layouts quickly.

Features

• 📂 Tree view of any directory
• 🙈 Honors .gitignore rules (disable with -IgnoreGitIgnore)
• 📊 JSON output support (-AsJson)
• 💾 Save output to file with -OutputFile
• 🎨 Color-coded output for common file types
• ⏳ Built-in progress feedback (Write-Progress)

Installation

Install from PowerShell Gallery:

Install-Module PSDirectoryTree -Scope CurrentUser

📦 View on PowerShell Gallery

Usage

Visual tree in the console

Get-DirectoryTree -RootPath "."

Output as JSON

Get-DirectoryTree -RootPath "." -AsJson

Save tree output to a file

Get-DirectoryTree -RootPath "." -OutputFile ".\tree.txt"

Save JSON structure to file

Get-DirectoryTree -RootPath "." -AsJson -OutputFile ".\structure.json"

Parameters

Example Tree Output

project-root
├── src
│   ├── index.ts
│   └── app.ts
├── dist
│   └── bundle.js
└── README.md

GitIgnore Integration

• Per-directory parsing of .gitignore
• Respects wildcards, trailing slashes, and folder patterns
• Use -IgnoreGitIgnore to disable filtering entirely

JSON Structure

When -AsJson is used, the output looks like:

{
  "Name": "project-root",
  "Path": "C:\\Path\\To\\project-root",
  "Type": "Folder",
  "Children": [
    {
      "Name": "index.html",
      "Path": "C:\\Path\\To\\project-root\\index.html",
      "Type": "File",
      "Children": []
    },
    {
      "Name": "src",
      "Path": "C:\\Path\\To\\project-root\\src",
      "Type": "Folder",
      "Children": [
        {
          "Name": "main.ts",
          "Path": "C:\\Path\\To\\project-root\\src\\main.ts",
          "Type": "File",
          "Children": []
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

👉 Perfect for piping into frontend tools, documentation systems, or CI reports.

Output Colors

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

Author

Developed and maintained by Vikansys AB (Sweden).
For issues or feature requests, please send us an email.