Settings and Configuration

Settings & Configuration ⚙️

This page lists the current export2ai.* settings, defaults, and safe usage notes for Export2AI v1.2.9.

Open settings from:

• Export2AI → Settings
• Command Palette: Export2AI: Settings
• status bar token estimate click

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Recommended Defaults

{
  "export2ai.llmModel": "gpt-5.5",
  "export2ai.enableTokenCounting": true,
  "export2ai.showExplorerTokenBadges": false,
  "export2ai.softDeleteGitMetadata": true,
  "export2ai.useBuiltInExcludePatterns": true,
  "export2ai.removeComments": false,
  "export2ai.compressCode": false,
  "export2ai.includeManifest": true
}

These defaults preserve readable source context and minimize accidental leaks.

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Token Estimates

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.enableTokenCounting	true	show token estimates in status bar, Explorer menu state, and zip notifications
export2ai.showExplorerTokenBadges	false	opt-in compact token badges on Explorer folders
export2ai.llmModel	gpt-5.5	target model for token estimates, zip names, menu rows, and manifest

Details: Token Estimates & AI Model Support.

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File Collection

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.ignoreGitIgnore	true	merge workspace .gitignore rules into the ignore list
export2ai.ignoreDotFiles	true	skip files/folders whose names start with . unless soft-delete preserves them
export2ai.ignoreDollarFiles	true	skip $* and **/$* temp-like paths
export2ai.softDeleteGitMetadata	true	keep repo-control files; omit unsafe local .git/ internals
export2ai.softDeleteGitMetadata.realGitPathPlaceholder	false	advanced: write marker at .git/EXPORT2AI_SOFT_DELETE_PLACEHOLDER.txt
export2ai.useBuiltInExcludePatterns	true	use Export2AI's built-in safe default excludes
export2ai.disabledBuiltInExcludePatterns	[]	built-ins disabled through the checklist or enum-backed array
export2ai.excludePatterns	[]	additional glob patterns to exclude
export2ai.excludePaths	[]	workspace-relative files/folders to hard-exclude
export2ai.maxFileSize	1048576	max bytes per file; larger files become placeholders
export2ai.fileConcurrency	4	parallel file reads, clamped 1–32

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Zip Archive

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.compressCode	false	optional whitespace compaction for exported text
export2ai.compressionLevel	9	zip compression level 0–9; affects upload size, not post-extract token count
export2ai.includeManifest	true	add _EXPORT2AI_MANIFEST.txt
export2ai.copyPathAfterCreate	true	copy new zip path to clipboard after create

Compression level is archive compression, not LLM token compression. To reduce token count, reduce included files or opt into comment/whitespace processing.

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Comments

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.removeComments	false	strip comments by syntax family when exporting
export2ai.commentStripLanguages	generated display string	read-only list of supported syntax families/extensions

Keep removeComments off for debugging, audits, architecture review, or AI agent handoff where comments may contain rationale.

Details: Comment Stripping & Compression.

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Copy Structure

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.maxDepth	5	maximum folder depth for Copy Project Structure
export2ai.outputFormat	plaintext	one of plaintext, markdown, xml

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Advanced

Setting	Default	Meaning
export2ai.debug	false	log diagnostics to the Export2AI Output channel and reveal it when enabled
export2ai.extensionInfo	generated	read-only version and last-updated display
export2ai.exclude	[]	deprecated; use excludePatterns
export2ai.outputFolder	.	deprecated; zips always go to workspace root

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Built-in Exclude Management

Use the Command Palette action:

Export2AI: Manage Built-in Exclude Patterns

This opens a multi-select checklist:

• checked = excluded
• unchecked = disabled and included again if no other rule blocks it

Disabled built-ins are stored in:

"export2ai.disabledBuiltInExcludePatterns": []

This keeps export2ai.excludePatterns clean for project-specific additions.

---

Example Profiles

Maximum readability for AI review

{
  "export2ai.removeComments": false,
  "export2ai.compressCode": false,
  "export2ai.includeManifest": true
}

Smaller upload with formatting tradeoffs

{
  "export2ai.removeComments": true,
  "export2ai.compressCode": true
}

Project-specific sensitive folders

{
  "export2ai.excludePaths": ["fixtures/private-data", "local-secrets"],
  "export2ai.excludePatterns": ["*.sqlite", "coverage"]
}

Enable Explorer token badges

{
  "export2ai.showExplorerTokenBadges": true
}

---

Runtime Clamps and Fallbacks

Setting	Clamp / fallback
fileConcurrency	1–32
compressionLevel	0–9
maxFileSize	minimum 0
maxDepth	minimum 0
malformed booleans/numbers/strings	fall back to documented defaults
malformed arrays	non-string or empty entries are ignored

v1.2.9 specifically hardened malformed scalar settings and empty excludePaths entries.

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Deprecated Settings

Deprecated	Replacement
export2ai.exclude	export2ai.excludePatterns
export2ai.outputFolder	none; zips are always written to workspace root

Legacy export2ai.exclude is still read and appended as additional patterns for compatibility.